just wanted to send a quick thank you to a guy you may have heard of but may not typically think about. On my wife’s radio show on 92.5 KISS FM, Bacon is the producer and this Friday will be his last day.
He is one of those guys who typically does his work behind the scenes without much fanfare. He’s done it well for several years.
Guys like him are what keep our business running whether its news or entertainment programming. There are tons of people who keep the machine running that don’t get the air time that others do. I hope by no means do people think that the anchorman or woman on TV is the only one who has made that product get on the air that day.
The teams that do that every day are large, but often not noticed. Let’s notice today and say thanks.

Sometimes we joke about the power of Mother Nature, but until you have seen all of this video from Japan you can’t really imagine her power.

What’s fascinating about this tragedy is the use of what are called “citizen journalists.” The most compelling pictures you have seen are not put on tape by 30 year veterans of the news business They are captured by people who grab their closest video camera and roll.

Our world of journalism is changing and much to the dismay of news people, it’s working out better for the viewer/reader. We are getting information quicker, but that does come with a price. Sometimes these new “sources” have their weakness and quicker information is sometimes given a higher precedence to accurate information.
It’s a balance, a balance that is still in the works.

Time for a homework assignment, kids. This week the US Supreme Court sided with the Westboro Baptist Church, the group that protests soldier funerals. I want you to look past the headline and past your own opinions.

Here is your task: Read the court’s opinion. See how the First Amendment is interpreted in our country. I found it to be a fascinating read.

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-751.pdf

I just wanna take a quick to second to let you know I am thinking about all those journalists in Egypt would have been roughed up by those protestors. Especially that CBS correspondent who was actually sexually assaulted after being swept up in one of those frenzies.
No one in this business ever expects to become part of the story and to this extreme is almost unimaginable. Sure we are often times put into uncomfortable situations, but that’s the job and we all know it going in. But violence against people just trying to tell a story never makes any sense and really has no place in our society.
I admire the work these foreign correspondents do by going to the hotspots of the world and getting involved in all of the mess there. But their work should never come to this.
We can have a lot of fun in this business and do some cool stuff. But I wanna say a quick thank you to those involved as well because in these no so glamorous times you have my respect.

The internet is an amazing thing. At a moment’s notice we can look up the capital of Algeria, the average weight of an adult monkey, and the recipe for tuna a la king. But the internet has its bad side has many “To Catch a Predator” episodes have demonstrated.
But I have found a new problem that I knew about but didn’t really understand.
I won’t give all the specifics of the “who” because then I would be doing exactly what I am upset actually happened.
Someone posted on the thread of a chat that certain basketball players on a team I root for were in trouble for shaving points. That’s basically missing shots so someone betting on the game makes money. Three players were named and to give it creditability, the poster said that ESPN was about to break this story.
Let the wildfire begin. Someone in the mainstream media saw the post, posted it on Twitter and off it went. After circulating from twitter to facebook, to the internet it became just about fact in some people’s minds. Here’s the thing, it was NOT fact at all. It was one guy posting one thing on a website. No attribution, no nothing.
The next day, it was gone, deleted from everything like it never happened. I feel bad for the people named in it because people might now have a lingering doubt about them every time they miss a shot. I won’t be one of them. Count me in the column of doubting the posting, before the post up.

We have seen all kinds of really scummy scams, but trying to profit off 9/11? That’s gotta be high/low on that list. Take a look at what some people are trying to pull off:

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/27/kth-coin-scam-exploiting-tragedy-of-911/?iref=allsearch

Hype or help? This is a question we news people always seem to ask ourselves when we cover snow storms. Should we hype up 14 days out that the “Storm of the Century” is coming when in reality that’s way too far out to see anything. Or does that help you plan your next two weeks?
I am not sure I know the perfect way to cover things like a snow storm and clearly in Toledo every station has a different philosophy about how to do it. I will always argue that our way is the best, but everyone in town can justify their reasons. Reasons that I bet are pretty valid.
This business we work in has a lot of responsibility that goes along with it, that wasn’t in “the manual.”
As for what you the viewer wants? If I knew that I would be a very rich man. Everyone is different and wants different things.
So my goal is not to scare you… but I would buy the biggest bag of salt you can find in the next 30 minutes.

“We had 15 nice years and gave Toledo every ounce of energy we had. We are proud of our restaurants and what we created. I just want to thank Toledo for the past 15 years. I really don’t have much energy to say anything else at this time.” From the Toledo Free Press.

That’s a quote from Tom Cousino just hours after shutting down a Toledo institution, the Navy Bistro.

Classy in the time of such uncertainty and I am sure pain.

Let’s all try to make this the best year we can.
I say “we” because if we all treated each other a little better, had a little more patience with each other, a little more tolerance maybe, just maybe, we can all leave 2011 saying “What a great year.”
No doubt things will come up in the time that could possibly derail us, but that’s when we need each other the most.
Have a great 2011.
All of us.

I have covered many stories in my career and hopefully there are many more to follow. But it’s hard to remember as many twists and turns as this story out of Morenci. The three boys disappeared after Thanksgiving and as we see Christmas on the calendar, still no sign of them. Police are getting tips, but still no boys.
The community and family are desperately looking for closure. Although every day the new little pieces of information must be stinging more because sometimes they give false hope and sometimes just anger.
Hope and anger are two emotions at the polar opposites. That doesn’t mean they can’t tear a person inside just the same.
One thing none of us can truly grasp is how the boys are dealing with all of this. Maybe that’s something we forget and maybe something we will better handle when we know where they are. When that will happen is yet another twist that has yet to play out. So inside we wait, but don’t forget.