Jump to content

Local Media in GR -- what do people think?


LA Dave

Recommended Posts


  • Replies 60
  • Created
  • Last Reply

As much as I don't like the lead anchors on WoodTV8, their weather department rocks! They really go into detail about what causes weather patterns, which a geek like me enjoys. :thumbsup:

And note to the Business Journal: your website is terrible! Many times the links don't work, not all the articles are posted, and it's very cumbersome to move around on it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As someone who has been on both sides of the fence. I can say that if you don't like what the media is up to you need to let them know. Otherwise it's really your fault. I spent three years trying to tell the publication I worked for that our web site was a bunch of trash, but it doesnt mean anything unless it comes from the market. Think something blows? Let them know. I've worked with several local publications, and I couldn't tell you how much stupid stuff happens because one reader takes the time to pick up the phone and complain.

A related problem is that there is so little talent in the local market. With a few exceptions, the better journalists eventually leave the market or the industry for more opportunties or better pay. To me it seemed like all the senior staff in town were stuck in the early 90s, when Grand Rapids and the world were much different places.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Too many opinions and thoughts to write them all but here are a few random observations and gripes:

First (and this is a recent development), it appears the GR Press now relies upon me to assemble the sections of my daily paper inside the front section. Is it too much to ask that it arrive in my box assembled into one fold? I wholeheartedly agree that the GR Mess is a sorry excuse to consume recycled paper - but I read it to simply see how badly they mangle facts and misrepresent the statements I make in Planning Commission meetings...

As for local radio: I'm a huge NPR junkie (have been a day sponsor on Michigan Radio on and off for years). I find GVU to be amateur at best. Shelly Irwin has to be the worst interviewer I have ever witnessed and her extremely odd speech patterns and emPHAsis makes my stomach turn. She should be imprisoned for a decade and forced to watch Charlie Rose do it right 24 hrs per day... traffic is the only reason I ever tune in, and Kevin Richards is decent but only as good as the info he receives..

I can confidently say that Wood radio in the mornings is one of the worst assemblages of juvenile idiocy to ever be sent over the airways. These two "personalities" are merely aging ex-rock jocks who were so bad at that they couldn't make a career path out of it - I remain dumbfounded that the station owners think they are worth airing let alone paying... My housekeeper listens to them whenever she cleans our house and it drives me nuts. The moronic blather that gets spewed on that show epitomizes everything that is wrong with America these days...

And my final word on radio is this: aside from NPR and the BBC (which aren't perfect), 90 percent of what gets aired on talk radio (on all sides of the opinion fence) is pure trash. I am very selective and often switch to my Podcasts instead.

As for local TV... I must say that my views are colored by the fact that my father built TV13's original newscast back in the 60's when investigative reporting and TRUE community service were hallmarks of broadcast television (and in fact even required to some extent by the FCC at the time). Jack Hogan and the other respected veterans of his era were the product of my father's efforts. There hasn't been a newscast since that delivered the quantity and quality of reporting they did back then. They earned multiple National Emmies (not the wimpier state version) with their work. The fact that so many TV13 reporters over the years have gone on to national success in larger markets speaks to that era (when was the last time you saw a TV8 reporter go on to the big time?)(and who can forget the GeeHa's brief and almost comical stint in Detroit after which she was unceremoniously spit back to West MI?). Unfortunately, the cycle of ownership and consolidation in the industry have rendered local stations almost powerless to do anything worthwhile. They are all so burdened by debt and indebtedness to their conglomerates that they don't have money to hire decent talent. Funny side story here is that my father used to laugh that as long as TV8 had idiots at the anchor desk, TV13 would rule. That was certainly the case until TV13 got bought out by Gannett and the down hill slide at 13 began...

Locally, I mostly watch Fox17 for a variety of reasons - (including the fact that it is earlier) - not the least of which is the fact that they avoid the unnecessary and self-serving drama that the GeeHa loves to spew... if you can get past Michelle DeSelms fascination with American Idol, the banter between she and Christian Frank is sometimes very spot-on and funny.

Lastly we have print. Not much to be proud of here in GR. The GR Press is as incompetent as everyone here as described, nuf said. As for the GRBJ (GR Blow_ Jo_ as far as I'm concerned), their naivete is so remarkable, words cannot adequately describe it. It is very clear who butters their bread - and the reporting, while significantly harmless in many ways is equally unremarkable as a result. Their editorial stuff is so ridiculously misinformed and meaningless that I have to wonder what they honestly think they accomplish with their efforts. The Business Review isn't really any better - although I think they at least don't attempt to hide behind the guise of being original - as their content is so clearly the product of PR releases and pre-written copy.

In a nut shell: I do follow local news outlets - but I only do this in order to laugh (or grimace) every time they fumble to ball (which is about 80 percent of the time). Otherwise, I go to national outlets (primarily respected web-based sources) when I need legitimate information and reporting.

One final thing: who else remembers the crazy weather guy from TV3 a few years back? My wife and I used to LOVE watching him whenever the weather got crazy! We found it hilariously entertaining how he used terms like VanB to describe VanBuren County... and how he used to physically lurch all over the screen as he described weather patterns on the map. If nothing else, this guy loved his job and it showed... and it made for great local TV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can confidently say that Wood radio in the mornings is one of the worst assemblages of juvenile idiocy to ever be sent over the airways. These two "personalities" are merely aging ex-rock jocks who were so bad at that they couldn't make a career path out of it - I remain dumbfounded that the station owners think they are worth airing let alone paying... My housekeeper listens to them whenever she cleans our house and it drives me nuts. The moronic blather that gets spewed on that show epitomizes everything that is wrong with America these days...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

BTW, I have called the Press repeatedly to cancel the "Home and Garden + advertisements" teaser that is so thoughtfully dropped off on my porch every weekend to no avail. The worst part is, is that I do not believe that the plastic it is wrapped in is recyclable because it does not have a "2" on it, or any number for that matter. Way to go Press, thanks for forcing your litter on me.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Speaking of rags, is that God-awful newsletter called "The Rant" still being published at GVSU? They once accused my then employer of being fascists because we required logins to use the school computers. I'm convinced they didn't know what fascism is, but it sure sounded good. They refused to publish my response because I couldn't refrain from calling the editor an idiot. Sorry, sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade. And to think all our tax dollars funded that pile of $(%*.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FilmMaker:

I don't know your father, but his counterpart at Channel 8 was Dick Cheverton, a great journalist. When I was a kid, both Channel 8 and 13 had first-class newsrooms and were real competition to the Press in terms of hard news coverage. Going to school in Ann Arbor and seeing the shlock on Detroit TV (e.g., Eyewitless news with Bill Bonds) made me realize how lucky I had been.

From the above comments, it sounds like GR TV today is simply down-market shlock.

By the way, Martha Teichner made it big time. She was at WZZM and before that at WJEF radio; I will never forget how she skewered George McGovern with tough questions when he visited GR just prior to the 1972 convention. She made it to CBS national news. (Well, I guess as a classmate of Hillary Clinton's at Wellesley, she was bound for glory!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One final thing: who else remembers the crazy weather guy from TV3 a few years back? My wife and I used to LOVE watching him whenever the weather got crazy! We found it hilariously entertaining how he used terms like VanB to describe VanBuren County... and how he used to physically lurch all over the screen as he described weather patterns on the map. If nothing else, this guy loved his job and it showed... and it made for great local TV.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think WOOD is crazy - I can't stand to watch it. They're like CNN-wannabes where everything is breaking news! Good thing I don't watch a lot of shows on NBC or I'd be pissed by the multiple interruptions.

WZZM is okay - I watch it once in awhile but really only for the weather. I probably watch once a week. Their Take-5 Grand Rapids show is useless IMO. I used to watch WZZM a lot years ago when they had some really good reporters like Kim Covington and Catherine Berhandt - her morning show was the best to watch she was so funny.

WXMI - doesn't really phase me.

GR Press (MLive) - eh - it's ok - I'd say once every 2 weeks I'd rummage through the articles online and that's about it.

NPR - Yeah baby! Diane Rehm, All Things Considered, and my favorite show Fresh Air. Diane is a fantastic interviewer...to me she's like the Barbara Walters of radio. And I love it when they get the chance on NPR to interview musicians and they tell about their lives back in the 60s and 70s and ahead.

UP - I come on here almost every day - I find it very resourceful - and I also check Rapidgrowthmedia every Thursday for the new content.

But the true thing that I listen to the most are podcasts. I have a lot of video casts from living green to comedy shows, and they have NPR of course. I don't even really need tv.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.