KPTV: First, Live, and uh, not local
Watching Good Day Oregon this morning and was disappointed in Good Day Oregon’s choice for a news feed. They have a section called Watercooler news around 7:45am. Along with the story about the Polish upside down house, they had a segments about a new kind of art in New York City. Yep, baristas in NYC are combining art with the making of espresso. They put designs in the foam. Shocking isn’t it. I’m really trying hard to be so sarcastic here that it isn’t working. I was just staring at the screen thinking – this isn’t new. The baristas in Portland have been doing this for years. I bet baristas all over have been doing it for years.
I immediately emailed Good Day Oregon with the following
I am writing about Friday mornings Watercooler News at 7:45am. I was very disappointed that you chose to show a story about barista art, but the baristas being from New York. This style of serving espresso with art in the foam has been around for awhile. In Portland, a true coffee city, we have some amazing cafes where one can see amazing baristas work. Albina Press alone has two of the nation’s best baristas (I say best based on awards from national competitions) – Kevin and Billy who take the creation of an espresso to high art. Our own Stumptown press has won accolades for their roasts also.
Your logo of “First Live Local” didn’t really work in this case. In the future, get local with these types of stories.
Celebrate local first before going to NYC for the stories.
KPTV is more “Fox” than local.
Doesn’t the local news director or producer just select prerecorded stories from the national Fox “pool” that they think will best match the interests of their local viewers?
This is meant to be less in their defense than it is to point out how little they actually do locally as well as how much influence the national Fox News behemoth wields over the local affiliates.
If they actually gave a crap about being local they’d have sent Jamie Wilson to the Stumptown on Division. Those guys and girls are true barista artists. Oh yeah, and they’d quit mispronouncing names of streets and major bodies of water that run through town.
Lame!
Thanks for giving them the heads up. :-)
Joseph,
Yeah, you are correct. I know it is just a feed, but sometimes, shouldn’t the editor step in and say…huh, that sounds weird. Just my thoughts.
Why were you watching Good Day Oregon?
Jamie Wilson looks like a ghoul.
Absolutely! I was just being opportunistic in venting about their model for “local” news that they’ve employed ever since KPTV and KPDX swapped affiliations with each other. Again, I didn’t mean it in their defense. Somebody over there definitely should have stepped in to say “now wait a minute…”
It begs the question: how “local” are the guys pulling the strings at KPTV? Do they even know about the fanatical local coffee scene? Are they so out of touch that they didn’t stop to think that we would rather see our own hometown baristas recognized for more than a decade of coffee artistry than those clever New Yorkers who came up with this fancy “new” idea?
Oh wait: yeah, they are that out of touch.
I’m curious to know if they reply to your email and what they say; they’ve never replied to any of my complaints/suggestions.
Daaaaave,
I knew I would get that question and I don’t really have an answer other than I want to watch some news in the morning and by the time I am watching, ABC/NBC/CBS are all moving into their fluff homemaker news and the feel good news. I guess I could watch CNN or something instead. Or maybe the Colbert Report.
Joseph (and all) – I used to produce that show. Watercooler is one of those things where you snag the video from a feed because you have four hours to fill. It was not a ‘let’s do this story’ and avoid doing it locally. It’s a ‘let’s take this cause that’s what they’re giving us new’ today.
And as for FOX influence – I’ve run out of breath telling people that KPTV is an AFFILIATE owned by MEREDITH Corp.
Only reason we EVER talked to FOX NEW was to tell them what we want or submit our stories for their air.
The FOX conspiracy ranters are so played.
“It was not a ‘let’s do this story’ and avoid doing it locally. It’s a ‘let’s take this cause that’s what they’re giving us new’ today.”
No, I do and have always realized that, but given *this particular topic* whomever picked that feed should have had second thoughts about airing it in Stumptown due to the fact that the story made it seem like it was this new fad that just recently originated in NYC.
I’ll accept defeat if it’s truly Meredith and not the national Fox News that dictates the “Good Day Oregon” & “10 O’clock News” formulas, but it has always struck me as odd that “American Idol” is given daily news coverage on KPTV…
Good to see the ex-producer of a crap local show stand up for what he believes in. Polish up that turd. After the break, we’ll have 15 interviews with American Idol rejects. THEN…terrorists blow up LA on the latest episode of 24…could it really happen??? But FIRST – a METH EPIDEMIC sweeps through Portland. ARE YOUR CHILDREN at risk??? THIS is the 10 O’Clock News.
Fox cross-promotions as news and infomercials dressed up as local reports are so played.
Daaaaave – No sweat. You do your job, I’ll do mine.
Daaaaave – as a matter of fact that’s a pretty good tease. Maybe they’re still hiring.
Oh come on, Fox shows are all over the KPTV local news. “Which contestant on American Idol has close ties to Oregon – his best friend’s cousin’s 1st grade teacher lived in Portland for 6 months! Find out more – only on the 10 o’clock news.” So it’s owned by an affiliate – the content is still Foxarrific.
And a program where they “show what they give us” sounds fascinating. Truly. Defending canned programming is so played.
Thanks for the kudos, mate, but I’m holding out on becoming the next Ramblin’ Rod.
TRUEFACKT: I stole one of his buttons when I appeared on Smith’s High Five. w00t!
Great discussion guys. It’s for this reason that I get my news from the web.
Television watching is so played! Throw away the TV, become one with reality.
All right, Joseph:
What did you you do with Gene Brendler, and where is his by-line?
And don’t say Gary Hill ate it (unless he really did.)