ABC You’re Embarrassing my Affiliate (WPVI).

(O’Reilly above working for ABC News pre Inside Edition) 

This don’t necessarily reflect Matty Thinman’s views.

ddogg on the pulpit.

 

Since the shit has hit the fan with ABC being called on its obvious despicable actions on Wednesday night… All of the major broadcast news shows have been using substitutes.  Yes yes… it is a beautiful spring weekend… I got off too.  

This is not just the shamed ABC, but CBS and NBC too.  I have also not seen any television news programming mention the ABC snafu.  We’ll see what happens Sunday.  Who’s calling out sick?

I haven’t seen the cable news, but the snafu is certainly being reported in print.

WTF,  yo?

I am a broadcast-only home.  I expect to trust the news that comes into it for free. You see the reason it’s free is because someone else is paying for it.  I fear that ABC news is on the take and is being pressured by the “owners” of the network.  ABC was my preferred television news organization… They seemed the most trustworthy to me…  although I wouldn’t say that I have trusted them… just most trustworthy in national broadcast.  They’ve had way too many features and too few worldly news… they’ve all become so tabloid.

I think ABC is either up to something, or someone big asked them for a favor.  It seemed soo creepy in realtime.  Awful questions that were declaratory and not one bit interrogative.

I don’t know who is behind it, but I would be heartbroken it’s any company associated with Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  That would just break my heart.  Speculation… obviously.  There’s no way that I could know who or what could pull a mega media’s strings… but I imagine that they’re really important and powerful.

Wouldn’t it be great if it was Satan and his hooves slipped all over the newsroom floor and everyone laughed at him?  Unfortunately Satan is probably not pulling the strings. There’s got to be a record of the planning and decision-making.  Let’s see the brainstorming notes.  This source is not a protected source.

Besides the questions… the cutaway to Nutter’s daughter yawning while Obama was talking was deliberate and just plain mean.  I want to see who made that call… which producer… was he/she asked to look for stuff like that?  Did they tell their cameraman to get the shot?

I loved that Rendell was all slouchy on his cutaway.  I doubt that shot was deliberate… it’s what he really looks like.  That bastard’s on the take with the casinos… but that’s another pulpit.  He’s being a bad man.

I assume they’re all up to some no-good (television media organizations), so they probably don’t really want to report or investigate themselves.  They are kin. 

Shake them out.  We’re mad as hell and we ain’t gonna take it no more.  Just like that.  Isn’t it funny that they really suck that badly… like in that movie (fyi if you don’t get the ref).  How could they not know that they would be caught?  I’ll bet they saw it coming and have 20 moves planned ahead.  Someone should come forward. Steal a memo or something.  Please.

WPVI should make their opinion on the matter known.  Or at least address that so many people and other news sources are upset with their broadcast.

Support the affiliates though… they’re just passing on a feed.  They have rights like states have rights.  If WPVI gets enough complaints about their national network… ABC will have to fess up.  Don’t let them get away with it.  There’s no reason for them to talk to us this way or think they can get away with it.  We’re smarter than they think.

I can’t find any video of it, but there was an interview with Gibson and Stephanopoulos in the WPVI studio.  The lights and filters were set for the local news staff so the two network folks looked out of place and heavily made up.  Gibson and Stephanopoulos stepped out of the national standard definition 4:3 feed into the best studio in town with the best lenses and lighting (so much nicer than that Mente light down the knob).

So Jim Garnder is all excited.  Big event in the city.  It was HIS station’s gig.  Philly was getting national exposure.  He was stoked. He asks them how they thought the debate went.  Gibson is caught off guard.  He can’t answer.  He finally says that he won’t be able to come up with an answer until the next day… while physically stammering and struggling.   The struggle was just subtle body language… but it seemed very off.  Not to be insulting… but he seemed dopey… as if he wasn’t all with it.

Stephanopoulos stepped in to take the damage control.

Gibson may have been shaken up by being heckled at the end of the national broadcast.  He also seemed to insult the affiliate (unknowingly) by acting surprised that WPVI got a round of applause for their part in hosting the debate.  And  He was heckled and the affiliate got applauded so maybe even bitter.

It’s an insult because WPVI is the sweetheart of Philly news.  Action news has remained loyal to its audience.  The magnetic clouds still make their appearance by request.  The Action News opening has been fast paced montages of the community.  They change it up a bit too.  It seems like there’s a new vignette at the opening of every show.

They still host a large number of local shows.  Many of which are produced in the community’s interest.  They had great kids shows back in the day.  A lot of us grew up with Captain Noah and Chief Halftown and Sally Star.  

They are the best station in town (WHYY and WYBE are in a different category).

I have complained to both WPVI and ABC.  I encourage you to do the same.

 

Links:

Video and link to ABC discussion board.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/16/attention-abc-youre-hurting-america/

Write to WPVI @ 

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/feature?section=resources/inside_station/station_info&id=5770777

Rendell did say Fox News was doing the best job…

Hannity fed Stephanopoulos one of the questions:

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/17/steph-hannity-audio/

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