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- All of the News
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Usual Suspects Are Afraid to Print!
Note:
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all inclusive.
The February 18, 2010 edition
of The
Tennessean contains PETER
COOPER's article titled Country
stars sign on for 2010 CMA
Music Festival.
Cooper reports that “Musicians
donate their time for the festival, with half of the net proceeds over
the past three years going to support Metro Nashville Public Schools...
More than $3 million has been raised... with the 2009 festival raising
$1,066,632."
Thus, readers who didn't know
before are now informed where half the proceeds are destined.
The question remains (although the answer is obvious, despite
it detracting from the other promotional aspects of the
blurb), who gets the other half of the dough?
****
During
WTVF-TV
reporter
MARK BELLINGER February 13, 2010
Channel 5 News at 10 p.m. report on the closing of Nashville's
Musicians
Hall of Fame & Museum, Bellinge informed
viewers that "A judge ruled the city could take the building through
eminent domain.
He
ordered CEO Joe CHAMBERS to get out of the
building in seven days.”
The "he" to whom Mark referred was actually
Davidson County Third Circuit Court Judge BARBARA HAYNES!
****
During the course of WTVF-TV reporter MARK
BELLINGER's February 12, 2010 Channel 5 News at 5 p.m.
report on an elderly scam victim, the woman's personal check,
including her phone number, was clearly visible to viewers.
****
Segment
for segment, any
resemblence between
CMT Insider and TV
broadcast journalism is purely coincidental. The February 6,
2010 edition of the program, in a Grammy wrapup segment, proclaimed
that, during the pre-telecast,
CARRIE UNDERWOOD "won best country
collaboration for
I Told You So,
her duet with
RANDY TRAVIS."
The piece was clearly
intended to focus on Underwood. And if casual viewers weren't
payiing attention they wouldn't realize that the definition of
"collaboration" underscores that this was a shared
award. Not only did Randy receive equal honors, he, unlike
Carrie, wrote- and had the original hit version- of the song.
CMT's shorthand also failed to acknowledge theat the full
name of the award is "Best Country Collaboration with
Vocals."
During another segment of the
same program, the 2010 Academy Award nominations were discussed.
It was mentioned that "The
Blind Side, starring TIM McGRAW
snagged two nominations, including Best Picture."
Huh? Why wouldn't
the film's other nomination (
SANDRA BULLOCK, Best
Actress) be disclosed? Here's a hint:
McGraw was not nominated for an Oscar, which begs the point of the
purpose of this "news item," as reported, was anyway. (BTW,
NPT2's February 11,2010 telecast of The Charlie Rose Show
included Rose's interview with Bullock about
The Blind Side.
During the chat, which ran a little over 30 minutes, Sandra
never once mentioned Tim.)
But my award for perhaps the
saddest segment was the one on ROY ORBISON's posthumously
receiving a
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Forget, for a moment that
Roy, unlike many others similarly honored, had a tenuous connection
with Hollywood- at best- CMT not only had to inform its young audience
of who Orbison was (identifying his widow, BARBARA and surviving sons,
ROY and ALEX, though not by their names), but
when it came to recruiting someone with the show biz
credentialls to provide affirmation for the Walkway's choice of Roy- a
common journalistic practice- the most appropriate celebrity in CMT's
judgement was apparently the only one featured: DAN AYKROYD.
(The comedian is probably not the first person who comes to
mind when one thinks about celebrities who have either known or been
influenced by Orbison.)
****
In
an article titled Downtwon parking citations enforced on Saturday now,
NANCY DeVILLE wrote in the February 5, 2010 edition
of The Tennessean that,
according to Metro Public Works' GWEN HOPKINS-GLASCOCK,
"Metro
Public Works enforced meter parking on Saturdays until 2003 when
a special ordinance was passed by the Metro Council to amend the law to
exclude Saturdays... It expired in 2004, but wasn't reinstated until
last month."
The truth is that Metro
Public Works enforced meter parking on Saturday mornings
but that, up until January 2010 motorists could park Saturday
afternoons at downtown meters without fear of receiving a
citation.
****
Over
the years, veteran WKRN-TV
anchor ANNE HOLT has
been known to quietly assert herself when the respected broadcast
veteran disapproves on decisions made by Channel 2's news directors who
often have less news judgment than she (or the average viewer for that
matter, though "News 2" has arguably become the best news station in
Nashville over the last few years, owing to its emphasis on local news
rather than on the station's media personalities).
So viewers could only speculate, during the February 4, 2010 telecast
of Channel 2 News at 5 p.m., as to whether Holt was holding her tongue
as she introduced a "News 2 exclusive." (Needles to say, what
follows will explain lack on interest by any other Nashville media
outlet in this "story."
Anne's script read: "A country star chose an unususal way to announce
she's performing at this year's
CMA
MusicFest: a phone call to one of her biggest fans.
News 2's
BRAD
SCHMITT was there for the call you'll only hear on News 2."
Perhaps Holt purposely freed all viewers, with the exception
of country-music fans, to channel surf by providing everything but the
name of the country-music star to whom she referrred. In any
event, remaining viewers heard Schmitt declare with a blend
of feigned excitement and a bit of exaggeration: "I think we
have found the world's biggest CARRIE UNDERWOOD fan. She
wrote the CMA that she "really, really" wants Carrie Underwood to
perform at the 2010 CMA Music Festival, since last year Carrie
Underwood was only there to sign authographs."
To this point, the piece is pleasing Underwood's publicist, if no one
else. Where can you buy the kind publicity Carrie is
receiving gratis? Mention of her name three times to this
point in a positive,. promotional context on a Nashville TV "newscast"?
Cut to Schmitt standing outside of the 15-year-old girl's home telling
viewers he's about to interview the teen inside.
Oh, so this piece is REALLY staged? In case
there's any doubt about that, Brad warns the viewing audience,
"My cell phone might ring in the middle of the interview."
This poor, exploited child. Does anyone know where her
parents are? If so, Brad's not saying. Rather, he's
made his way into the girl's bedroom (camera crew tagging
closely behind, no doubt), which is a shrine to--- guess who?
(No, not Brad...)
Sure enough, Brad's "interview" is interrupted. Schmitt picks
up his cell and advises the fan and viewers "We are now on
speakerphone."
The kid appears clueless as the female voice initially refers to
Underwood in the third person, brightening immeasurably when Carrie
identifies herself and confirms that she will perform at the 2010 CMA
MusicFest .
While there would have been no "story" had the Country Music
Association not received the Underwood fan's email and concluded using
Shmitt (and ulttimately Brad's viewers) would be the perfect
way to drum up some publicity for an otherwise rather yawn-filled CMA
"announcent" on down the line, there's no indication if the letter was
received before or after TAMMY GENOVESE was forced out over the TOM
COYNE PR fiasco. So, while CMA bears its share of the blame
for this crass commercialism (Schmitt to the girl, "I bet I
can guess who your favorite country-music artist is- but go ahead and
tell me!"), how much of that blame, if any, Genovese (or
STEVE MOORE,
Chairman of the CMA
Board of Directors, shares with WKRN-TV, remains to be
determined. (Never quick on the trigger, the rudderless
Country Music Association- at this writing it has a
largely-silent interim head honcho- waited until the next day to issue
its own news release, perhaps after some decision as to whether an
apology- and CMA never apologizes- would be more appropriate.)
****
During
the February 4, 2010 edition of WSMV-TV's noon news, anchors TOM
RANDLES and JENNIFER JOHNSON
announced the death of CASEY JOHNSON, referring to Johnson as
a “Hollywood
celebrity.” In reality (Johnson purportedly
involved in a lesbian relationship with/engaged to a former MTV
"reality star"), it's difficult to
make that case in that Casey's "celebrity" stemmed
from the fact that she was an heiress to the Johnson & Johnson
company fortune (i.e., great-granddaughter of one of the three
brothers who founded the company) and New York Jets' owner ROBERT WOOD
JOHNSON IV's daughter.
****
Don't
ya hate it when stations claim to be first with a story- but they're
not first?
Fox 17 claimed its
February 2, 2010 10 p.m. feature on the theft of veteran Music Row product
marketing director JAMES CARLSON's memorabilia was "first on Fox."
Well, yes and no, considering that WSMV-TV aired
the same story several hours earlier.
****
WSMV-TV's ALAN FRIO may have female fans (in
addition to TERRI MERRYMAN) who
regard Alan as muy
caliente, but one assumes that that's not because of
Frio's inadvertently overreachiing in an attempt to be-
what?- politically correct? Frio, who is prone toward TED
BAXTERisms, was attempting to alert viewers of
Channel 4's January 30, 2010 6 p.m. news to the large number
of winter storm closings following Nashville's being blanketed with
snow.
Overreaching, Alan noted on that Saturday evening
that "a number of churches and synagogues are canceling services
tomorrow." The problem is, Jews congregate
to worship on their
Sabbath. Synagogues don't hold Sunday services, though West
End Synagogue did cancel its January 31st Sunday school
classes.