Oregon Media Insiders

Seems like a nice guy - says New vision wants to invest in KOIN - but what does that mean? We are short people in EVERY department - and right now with vacations - folks are getting wore out and short tempered. Some days there are only 3 reporters on the day shift.
We are barely keeping our heads above water - will they send us a life ring? Or proceed with the plan to strip the company (and building!) bare - investing only in the minimum to flip this house?

General Managers are like streetcars - they come and they go. All you have to know about new GMs versus old GMs was summed up in one line in the song, "We Won't Be Fooled Again," by the Who when Roger Daltrey sang: Meet the new boss...same as the old boss.

Take a piece of advice from someone who's been there. The broadcast business is a fading entity. Get out and start another career as quickly as you're able to. Local television is in the worst shape of all.

I'm serious. If you don't get out early on, you'll be trapped in a pattern that won't allow you to do much of anything else. This happened to me and now, in the twilight of my career, I have finally understood that Hunter Thompson was absolutely spot on when he said:

"The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason."

Can you have two consecutive posts using the same old cliche quote?

Hunter Thompson chose to get out of the business altogether, the business of living.

It is fast approaching the day when KOIN no longer matters. In terms of journalism, ratings and resources,they do ok with what they have, but they don't have much. New Vision doesn't seem to value KOIN as much as people hoped. The hot shot GM took his money and ran to a better job, after only seven months- more instability in a shop that's been chaotic for years.
It's a money machine- same song as SJL and Emmis(although Emmis at least gave employees a nice parting gift after they squeezed the place dry).
There hasn't been any investment in people or equipment since SJL installed IGNITE, and that was just so they could fire a bunch of people once they got it up and running.
It's too bad. They still have a few good people over there.
We'll stay tuned, just not for the news.