Female Anchor Accused of being drunk on air

Annie Stensrud, an anchor on KEYC-TV in Mankato, Minnesota was accused of being drunk while on air Sunday night. In videos that exploded over the web, she can be see slouching in her chair and looking like she is about to fall asleep. And her voice? She sounds tired, stumbles over her words and slurs just a little bit.

As someone who has read teleprompter before, I can attest that it is difficult and making mistakes and stumbling over words is normal. Her behavior goes beyond that though. Now of course, if she was actually drunk that opens up a whole new can of worms and will probably result in her losing her job.

But, was she  actually drunk or just having a bad day? Judge for yourself:

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Ryan Seacrest takes on Daytime Television

NBCUniversal wants Ryan Seacrest to replace Matt Lauer as co-anchor of the Today Show, should he decide to retire when his contract is up in 2012. NBC is said to be coming up with ways to keep Seacrest in the “Comcast family” and anchoring the Today Show would just be one of those options.

I am a fan of “E! News,” the entertainment news show that he currently hosts and I remember his work from all the way back to the first season of American Idol. I don’t know if I can see him on a morning news television program though. On “Good Morning America” on ABC, Lara Spencer is the Life & Style anchor. I think that Ryan Seacrest would fit into that role very fittingly. I can’t however, see him doing breaking news. Television news relies very much on trust and loyalty. I trust Ryan Seacrest to tell me about Lindsey Lonhan being arrested again. At this time, I don’t think I trust him to tell me about major news.

No Live Tweeting from Sandusky Trial

Reporters covering the Jerry Sandusky trial next week must follow a set of rules that a Pennsylvania judge just set forth. Half of the seats in the courtroom will be reserved for the media, but those seats will be taken on a first come first serve basis. Also, those seats must be composed of 45 percent print reporters, 45 percent broadcast and 10 percent online. Furthermore, there will be no way any reporters can “live tweet” from the courtroom.

Laptops can only be used to take notes, phones must be off at all times, there will be no photography, video or audio recording permitted. If  reporters leaves at any time other than recess, they are not allowed back in.

I understand that these guidelines are set forth due to the high-profile of the case, but what really interests me is that this whole course was based on the fact that online journalism was taking over the industry. In this instance, not only are they stripped of some of their most valuable methods, but most of them won’t even get in. So, is there still hope for the traditional methods?

Take me out to a ball game… in a suit

Major League Baseball is the issuing a dress code in writing for members of the media. The list includes dont’s such as flip-flops and “visible undergarments.”

The MLB claims that the dress code is not based on any single incident, instead it is trying to create a more professional environment, or at least business casual.

As a disclaimer, I’ve never been to a baseball game, let alone covered one. But if you are covering a sports came for a paper, you are representing that paper. One would think that they would want to dress in a way that shows respect and gains some respect as well.

Now that they have this settled, I recommend that they get their heads back in the game and play some baseball.

Media is a “Convienent Target for Politicians”

Herman Cain dropped out of the race for the White House on Saturday. In his speech, along with denying sexual harassment claims and quoting Pokemon, he said the “spin” that the news media put on truth has hurt his family.

A blog named “Live Apartment Fire” discussed how the media has become a scapegoat for politicians and their supporters. As this blog says, supporters would rather complain about the media and how it “spins things” then talk about facts. Or sexual harassment allegations.

If it were me, I’d be more focused on whether Mr. Cain really did all he was accused of. But that’s just me.

Broadcasters want to Broaden Ownership

The National Association of Broadcasters petitioned the Supreme court to lift the restriction on how many stations or newspapers a company can own in the same market. The broadcasters argued that monopolies would  not be created. Instead, letting a company buy as many stations as desired, would help it prosper financially. In turn,it would be able to have better quality journalism.

The most comical thing about this is how blurred the line is between business and journalism. You’d think that  publications would already be practicing quality journalism. I’d like to caution these broadcasters, buying sprees don’t always end up creating good journalism or financial prosperity. Just ask Clear Channel radio. It was buying radio stations left and right…..until it went bankrupt.

Andy Rooney

              Andy Rooney, best known to my generation as the opinionated commentator at the end “60 Minutes” passed away last week after complications from a surgery.

My memories of him are of putting on CBS and catching the tail end of “60 Minutes”  only to hear him complain about one topic or another. In class last week, we discussed how some of his comments sometimes got him trouble, such as slurs against homosexuals, yet CBS never fired him.

The discussion turned towards whether they didn’t fire him because they thought he really didn’t do much wrong or, really because he was a literal goldmine for the station. Personally, I believe that he never got fired because viewers were used to seeing him on the network. This built loyalty, and loyalty turned around and brought in money.

I will go on to say that I believe that if any commentator says something so outlandish against any group they should all have the same punishment. If one is going to be terminated, then shouldn’t they all? Or, I guess there was something to be said for tenure?