KOIN 11pm Newscast - Sunday, September 3rd

Submitted by pdxtvinsider on Mon, 09/04/2006 - 4:49pm.

It's been a while since I've taken an interest in watching and critiquing a KOIN newscast - and being a bit bored tonight - thought I would give the Labor Day weekend, Sunday 11pm newscast a look-see. I hoped recent staff defections, declining morale, dismal ratings and a problematic news production automation system wouldn't impact the on-air product. While the weekend Sunday 11pm show wasn't an unqualified disaster; there is tremendous room for improvement and the overall product is below market standards. Let's go to the videotape...

-11pm Open with Ken Boddie is solo anchoring and the pre-show tease is about a local boating accident with injuries. The other stations have it too; though it's still a fluid and developing story, KOIN failed to give it any 'breaking news' treatment. Eric Taylor is live in North Portland along the river with a vo/sot which he delivers without enthusiasm. There is barely a reference to where he is - or more importantly - where the boating accident took place in relationship to where he is standing live. Eric does an non-demonstrative live shot which fails to set the scene. This was an opportunity for the station to highlight a fairly significant new story in a head-to-head situation with their competitors. It's treated with the similar ho hum-ness that most stories get on KOIN.

-I-205 sniper victim interview: Taylor has a decent package - which he would no doubt have fronted from the newsroom - about a woman who was shot in her car while driving along I-205 on Friday. The interview is pretty good; and Taylor does a decent job of telling it. The information about the suspect arrested seems to be oddly attached to the end of the story - almost as if an afterthought.
- I-205 rollover crash: We get a map, then vo of the smashed up Honda Accord and an update on the victims. We also get an outdated sot with a pd officer on scene. This is the first of many unnecessary official soundbites in the first block of the 11pm show. KOIN loves officials.
- Bike hit and run ax - mug shot of suspect arrested in bicycle hit and run ax
- Vancouver hit and run - another sot with a police pio.
- Lane county drownings - Boddie tells us that on this Labor Day weekend, the number of drownings is down in Lane County over last year. We have an interview with yet another pio - but the question begs: Why Lane County? Why not get the stats for the other local counties? Guess that kind of information is hard to come by and time intensive for a newsroom staff cut to the bone. How many people are working on KOIN's assignment desk?
-Camp group evacuated near Sweet Home due to fires.
- SW Washington brush near St Helens. No video - but they do have a map and the promise for more information tomorrow morning on the morning news - I can hardly wait.
- Statewide forest fires - a confusing and unreferenced map showing fires across the state. I'm not sure why they bothered - it's sort of sloppy producing that confuses viewers and makes viewers of local newscasts to reach out for the newspaper - or at least KGW's webpage for clarity and answers.
-Weather Update with Sara Bagley. They go to her for about ten seconds but we don't hear anything - her microphone is not podded up. It takes a while for the control room to figure this out - and finally Boddie takes control. We never get the 'first look' at weather.
-Immigration reform rally in downtown Portland. KOIN's producers think it's worth only a vo/sot and manages to make this emotional and complex issue boring. As usual, no context is presented and we only get one side of the story from someone at the rally with an eight second soundbite. I remembering why I stopped watching KOIN.
-Labor Day work-aholics - We get a predictable and inane story about Americans who are work-aholics and how the United States compares to other industrialized countries. The story reported by CBS's Bianca Solorzano is forgettable. For that matter, so is this newscast.

tx 1 - trimet changes.
tx 2 - horse rescue.
Break 1

- Scenic byways? i have no idea of what Ken is talking about with three locations on a map of Oregon - 2 out of 3 of them unreferenced by the anchor. I'm sure if you quizzed Boddie and the producer about this story they wouldn't be able to explain it either. Another effort to keep the show local - remember, there's no national/international news in this newscast - with a questionable story. I"m sorry for viewers who have to sit through this - it's painful.
- Trimet fares and service increases.
- Diamond Lake clean up - vo/sot on people hauling up garbage as part of a Boy Scout's program to become an Eagle Scout. Unfortunately for viewers, we're deprived of an interview with the scout in question and get an interview with a volunteer who doesn't say much. Also, no map showing where the lake is located.
- Weather with Ms. Bagley. I do hate get personal here, but she's wearing a rather ill-fitting outfit and needs to remember that clothes often need to be tailored before being worn. No doubt she failed to get a proper clothing allowance before signing her deal with this sad-sack station.
-SktyWatch Weather: One of my previous complaints has been the lack of referencing of the previously-overly-promoted SkyWatch weather presentation. Once again, it's only mentioned in passing. Surely, Ms. Bagley didn't get the memo. Does Jeff Alan write memos? Does Jeff Alan still work there?
-
break
tx 1. horse stuck in a swamp.
- Crocodile wrangler Steve Irwin has been killed.
- Snohomish County, Washington [that's Seattle market for those who don't know] - horse rescued - it's a vo/sot
- Another insipid Ed Whalen sportscast.

The mission at KOIN is to squeeze every once of revenue out of the place while maintaining daily newscasts. The product is poor and that's why viewers are defecting - as well they should. The employees are feeling the brunt of the pressure and pain while the managers fail to lead and inspire. Tonight's show is an example of why so many viewers are no longer watching local television news - and will continue to get local information from other sources. VIewers might be encouraged to go to the station's website, but there's even less thre. KOIN's website has to be the only top 25 market network affiliate that does not have streaming video of stories. Come again? Yup. Despite the 'atta boy' comments on Mike Donahue's 'promotion' to anchor of the noon show, the station is a mess and it's just going to get messier before it gets better.

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pdxtvinsider's blog | quote
( topics: )
Boating accident? Where?
Submitted by Anonymous Source (not verified) on Mon, 09/04/2006 - 5:57pm.

Of course it doesn't matter where the accident occurred, because local tv news is all smoke and mirrors and perception is reality. A boat accident occurs, but the audience will never know, or care, where it happened. Darkness makes it even less important. Just get the standup, the audience will believe it happened right at that location, and life goes on. This is the reality of local tv news in market #23.

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Hey Insider man... I think
Submitted by drchaps on Mon, 09/04/2006 - 6:19pm.

Hey Insider man...

I think its about time for us to pick another station and another time period for us to critique.

For me, I am not a KOIN employee nor am I affiliated with them in any way, however some of the obvious little shortfalls you mention happen at every station.

Let's look at the unnecessary tape from the official in the rollover crash. Sure, it may be somewhat outdated, but we see crap like that all the time from KPTV, often showing things at night filmed in the daytime. That in mind, I honestly don't see the difference from something filmed late at night, say midnight, but showing on the 5pm news almost 18 hours later.

In regards to the Lane County drownings, they happened in Lane County of all places. I mean far be it from me to get pissed off that they didn't bring in stats from Seattle or Boise or something, but the focus of the story was on that county and that county only. I know you want to see what's happening in Multnomah or Clackamas county, but then you might criticize them for bringing in unnecessary information, or even, god forbid, a pio from the sherrif's department.

The little talk about Labor Day work-a-holics and then the drop in about scenic byways begged the question to me... If the newscast is focused only locally then why did the last story have a national reporter on it?

I'm curious, do Katu, KGW or KPTV still promote their weather segments like that? No, because they oversaturate and piss off the consumer. I like the fact that they don't ram it down my throat, unlike the weather plus channel which I still haven't seen.

Look, KOIN may be doing a terrible job at certain times and the ratings prove it, but mix it up rather than only doing a review or a critique on one station. It makes you look bias like an ex KOIN employee who is sour about being fired.

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I tried
Submitted by LynnS on Mon, 09/04/2006 - 7:45pm.

I gave up doing the weekly critique because I couldn't get anyone else interested in playing along. I would dearly love it if someone would branch out beyond this reviewer's KOIN focus.

-----
Lynn Siprelle * Fairy Blogmother

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Welcome Back
Submitted by Anonymous Source (not verified) on Mon, 09/04/2006 - 8:06pm.

Hey Insider,
We missed your KOIN bashing. The calculated stripping of that
station is old news now. We know they suck. Anybody who talks
to the folks still working there, who got fired
from there, or who just got hired there know it.
How about taking your arguments up a little higher on the
evolutionary scale?
What would you do about it?
What do you think SJL's ultimate plan is?
To me, that would be more interesting than these
critiques.
You're right in that the KOIN news product now is technically
subpar, even for a market much smaller. I've worked at stations where somebody would have to suffer consequences
for continued fuck-ups like that.
IMHO, SJL's priorities aren't in putting on a good newscast.
They want a cheaply-made product that's just credible enough to sell, and as long as it sells, they couldn't care less how good
it is, or what the ratings are.

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Podded up?
Submitted by Anonymous Source (not verified) on Mon, 09/04/2006 - 8:56pm.

> her microphone is not podded up <

For your glossary, the word is "potted" as in potentiometer.

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Feedback
Submitted by pdxtvinsider on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 6:59pm.

I'm not going to 'mix it up.' I've reviewed some of the other stations before but they don't have the same internal problems as KOIN. My reviews of KOIN have been for the purpose of pointing out 'cause and effect' of what happens when a television news operation is systemically dismantled in the name of higher profits. What happens is the shows get on the air - but they're not very good. And ultimately viewership declines, sales decline, profits decline and the place is either sold or the news operation farmed out. My advice to SJL: Return resources to KOIN, hire experienced personnel, create a plan and watch the ratings and revenue grow. Simple enough?

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Call A Shrink
Submitted by Anonymous Source (not verified) on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 12:36am.

<- Another insipid Ed Whalen sportscast.>

Another insipid pdxtvinsider KOIN critique.

Seriously, pdxtvinsider, your obsession with KOIN sucking and bashing their employees seems very unhealthy. You're starting to sound like a TV news consultant who has gone over the edge. I think I speak for a lot of people who read this blog when I say these blow by blow critiques are getting disturbing.

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I like the critiques, I just
Submitted by drchaps on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 10:49am.

I like the critiques, I just want to see something different. KOIN deserves all the shit they are getting IMO and countless attempts from KOIN employees to squash it just make us do it more.

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KOIN comments
Submitted by pdxtvinsider on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 7:20pm.

My advice to you is not to read my newscast critiques. To be certain, they're dead-on when it comes to what does and doesn't work in the shows. Sloppy reporting, editing, producing and directing needs to be pointed out. KOIN is a suffering product - cancerous, dying and probably not around much longer. But until SJL farms out the news product to a different operation, fixes it or shuts it down outright, the critiques will continue.

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Lets talk about the Ignite!
Submitted by Anonymous Source (not verified) on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 11:05am.

That's a fun topic. KOIN's on air quality sure has improved with this new technology!

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Sunday 6pm & Ignite
Submitted by pdxtvwatcher on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 11:57am.

Anyone notice how KOIN's 6pm newscast didn't air at 6pm on Sunday? It aired at 6:30pm, with the CBS Evening News airing at 6pm instead. The two newscasts were swapped that day for some reason.

Is this a schedule change on Sunday's only? Or... could it be that Ignite took a dump and KOIN had to do some last-minute rescheduling to delay their newscast?

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why pick on KOIN?
Submitted by superfly on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 12:01pm.

Because:
A once mighty news organization is being picked clean by vultures. In all the station sales, this one is the worst. And whether you work there, worked there, or work on the opposite team, it's sad to see.
The layoffs took many of the best and brightest, not the so called "dead weight" the sales department claims. leaving everyone wondering - if hard work isn't enough to keep my job, what is? That was really bad for morale.
The owners have instituted a Walmart health insurance, in fact there are employees there who can't afford it. And for those who can, it is really costly if you have any on-going issues.This is considered a huge paycut.
The sales department delights in bashing its own co-workers, and seems not to care a bit about the product they are selling.
The Ignite system is not working. People want to know why.
I disagree with much of the critiquers comments too, he has his opinions, and there are plenty others regarding what is a worthwhile news story.
But when the mystery owner finally shows up at his biggest station, cancels the station meeting, and doesn't even meet with the anchors who had to cancel their vacations to be there, that says more than the meeting would have.
Whether you like it or not, mr salesman, people inside and outside of the tower care about KOIN.

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WELL SAID
Submitted by Anonymous Source (not verified) on Tue, 09/05/2006 - 8:35pm.

It's obvious the IGNITE is not working. They've gone to
it too fast, and without enough resources (people)
to operate it and fix the bugs in a new system.
The industry is going to this, and the KOIN experience
could have been a benchmark. Instead, it's a disaster,
coupled with all the layoffs and turmoil.
The technology will be commonplace one day.
However, in my opinion, KOIN has managed its
implementation abysmally.
No one else is using IGNITE full time. The smart
stations are phasing it in.
Only the SJL stations are pushing this envelope.
Their impatience reflects their size, and
their hurry to get the changes onto the bottom
line.

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Ignite
Submitted by Anonymous Source (not verified) on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 2:47am.

KOIN looks worse than Medford or Lewiston Idaho, its sad. Very very very sad. Its not just the Ignite, the news writing is vomit and the new young producers and reporters don't know their ass from their elbow (or a dollar from a cent).

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tvinsider has explained
Submitted by shifty on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 11:43am.

tvinsider has explained clearly why he "obsesses" with KOIN, and his reasons are valid. Don't like the critiques? Don't read them (or block them, if you're Lynn). He's under no obligation to provide variety in his content. Want to critique KATU, or the seriously overrated KGW? Start typing.

He's clearly on a mission, and it's a worthy one.

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Thanks.
Submitted by pdxtvinsider on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 6:28pm.

Here's a thought: If the Oregonian's television critic was up to the job - he would be picking at the same things I'm 'obsessing' over on a regular basis. But clearly the Oregonian and WWeek are not up to the job of pointing out the deficiencies in KOIN's production and coverage. So, in a grass-roots spirit which Portland is famous for, I'm taking on the task by myself. And the only way I know of making a good case for a bad situation is to do a blow-by-blow critique of a newscast. Unfair? Too bad. Whatever the people inside KOIN say or think is of little relevance. They are nothing more than stooges; standing up for declining quality and journalistic excellence. What would you expect them to say? 'You're right, we don't do a good job'? Hopefully, some of this continued attention on KOIN's declining product and reputation will bring some attention from other quarters - including CBS and some of the national media watch groups. If others here want to take on the task - be my guest. If you want to write about the shoddy news product at 2/8/12 - please, be my guest. The more we expose mediocrity in the media - the greater chance something will be done about it. They're our airwaves - don't forget it!

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THE CRUSADE
Submitted by pdxcess on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 7:42pm.

I thought you said you didn't want to "mix it up"?
The KOIN fiasco is good fodder for a wider discussion
of the future of local television news in Portland.
I also agree with most of your comments. They're nearly 100% on point.
However, I think the "stooges" you refer to are part of
that wider discussion. In a sense, I think some of your
criticisms are a classic case of blaming the victims.
Hey, I'm sure if they could find a better job, they would.
But, SJL just laid off more than 20 people, they're still
laying them off, and they'll probably lay off some more once (or if) IGNITE starts working right. Hey, a paycheck is better than unemployment, even if the place DOES suck.
The new youngsters have a chance to make decent money (for them)
in the 23rd market in the country. The veterans like Donahue, Gianola, Whelan, Boddie and Day are probably making big bank,
so why would they leave? Journalistic integrity doesn't pay
the bills, and we have no way of knowing if they have the
power or motivation to agitate from the inside.
If your focus is to show cause and effect, that's a noble thing, and very worthwhile.
But, to say that whatever people inside KOIN think is of no relevance strikes me as arrogant.

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'Stooges'
Submitted by pdxtvinsider on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 7:52pm.

When I refer to 'stooges' I'm referring to the meatheads who run the joint; not the newsroom production folks. I'm talking about Alan and Ostrow and the other know-nothings who create, embrace and support the rot coming out of Channel 6's transmitter.

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KOIN.com
Submitted by pdxtvinsider on Wed, 09/06/2006 - 8:03pm.

And while I'm being obsessive about Channel 6's lack of editorial excellence; let me just take a moment out to say, without hesitation, KOIN's website has got to be one of the worst network affiliated television station websites in the top 50 markets. Seriously, has anyone ever seen anything so sad? CBS affiliate in the 23rd market and they can't even get a frame of video on it - not to mention few updates and virtually no breaking news. KGW may be arrogant; but when there's something going on - they have it.

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Koin just laid off their best TD on Friday..
Submitted by Anonymous Source (not verified) on Thu, 09/07/2006 - 8:20am.

The total number of folks that have left one way or the other is approaching 40. SJL has no interst in news, just revenue. Until they spin it, nothing will change.

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KOIN.com is not a site -
Submitted by Zamboni on Thu, 09/07/2006 - 8:27am.

- more like a presence. Or a placeholder. Sorta makes you miss the "KOIN 6000" days under Oslund - without the bad in-newscast live updates from the Web team, of course...

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KOIN is not Coin!
Submitted by Anonymous Source (not verified) on Thu, 09/07/2006 - 8:30am.

I think KOIN will drop to third place in the ratings by year's end and that SJL will layoff more employees to make an excuse.

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Layoffs
Submitted by Anonymous Source (not verified) on Thu, 09/07/2006 - 9:35am.

KOIN did layoff a couple people quietly this past week, so I am told. Technical director Jim Snider is gone, as well as some graphics operator. That freelance production kid that runs audio and cameras is about to lose his job too. Less is more right?

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No Thursday Nooner
Submitted by Anonymous Source (not verified) on Thu, 09/07/2006 - 12:17pm.

At noon today KOIN played a taped entertainment program. I called the switchboard and asked why the news wasn't on. "Technical difficulty" I was told. "This is on until they can get things together."

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Oh great.
Submitted by that freelance ... on Fri, 09/08/2006 - 11:05am.

Oh great.

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