One of the most irritating things about television news is the tendency to copy stories done elsewhere and pass them off as original. One example would be 90 percent of what gets aired at Channel Sux.
Another would be Kristi Andersen's story on KETV about "staycations"—vacations spent at home rather than traveling. Andersen introduced the term as if she'd just invented it. "Call it a 'staycation!'" she enthused.
Unfortunately, the internets are full of examples of "staycation" stories going back months.Like this one by AP in March.Or another from a Consumer Reports blog in April.Or this one from MSNBC in May.
Wordspy.com even finds examples of the term going back to July of 2003.
Someone needs to remind Kristi that she's just a reporter in Market 75, not a cutting-edge cultural observer. Failing to recognize this could make her eligible for a spot at the SuxNews morning anchor desk.
Feeds
2816 items (2816 unread) in 11 feeds
Political
(766 unread)
-
U. of Nebraska - Omaha College Democrats Blog (289 unread)
-
Leavenworth Street - the talk of Nebraska politics (477 unread)
Personal
(767 unread)
-
Plains Feeder (767 unread)
Misc
(132 unread)
-
A View of Historic Dundee (34 unread)
-
Omaha Blog
(85 unread)
-
The Voice of the Mavericks (13 unread)
Media
(565 unread)
-
Omaha TV News (120 unread)
-
The Reader's Media Notes (445 unread)
Photos
(110 unread)
-
Omaha, NE: you are here Photo Pool
(110 unread)
Sports
(476 unread)
-
MavRick's UNO Hockey Pages
(75 unread)
-
Husker Mike's Blasphemy (401 unread)
Omaha TV News (10 unread)
-
Imitation
Posted: July 23rd, 2008, 12:17pm CDT by Ted Brockman
-
Finished
Posted: July 22nd, 2008, 5:31am CDT by Ted Brockman
The transformation of SuxNews morning girl Malorie Maddox into a complete moron is now complete.
Coming out of a break, Malaprop had this to say about the live shot of I-480 and the North Freeway:We are taking a live look off onto the highway system this morning, we've got a lot of highways in this shot for you to take an overview at.
Not more than 30 seconds later, she pronounced the word, transient, "transit."
Let this be a warning to you kids at home: just sitting next to a stupid person like Jimmy Thiedlecki can cause brain damage. Spending too much time with people like Jimmy is the equivalent of eating a handful of lead-based paint chips with every meal. -
Of Course
Posted: July 19th, 2008, 6:10pm CDT by Ted Brockman
Yes, Omaha's first on-air talking horse, Ejacucaster Andrea Rich, really did interrupt a Saturday Night Live repeat this weekend to tell viewers that there were "no active warnings" for the Channel Sux viewing area.
Other things not happening that she failed to mention...--It wasn't snowing.--Fubar Fazal was not mumbling unintelligibly through the news on KETV.--No one at the Brockman estate was eating a cheeseburger.--There was no earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter Scale shaking Omaha.--Channel Sux wasn't updating its set.--Dozens of road construction projects weren't proceeding at a fast pace.--Travis Justice (unfortunately) wasn't eligible for an unemployment check.--Mayor Mike Fahey wasn't screwing up the downtown stadium deal again. At least not that we know of.--Channel 3rd wasn't drawing tens of thousands of viewers with its high-quality product.
--The sun was not out.
It's clear that WOWT has learned a lesson from being AWOL during the June tornado: people want weather updates on Saturday night, even if nothing's happening. We heard it straight from the horse's mouth. -
Replacementplex
Posted: July 14th, 2008, 4:31am CDT by Ted Brockman
KETVNewswatchseven'sJulie Cornell finally announced what's been widely known for months: she's vacating her anchor position at the end of July and being replaced by Brandi Peterson.
The complete announcement is here.
While many have speculated that Cornell is being "Schradered"—shown the door for reasons of age, in the same way that Cornell's legendary predecessor, Carol Schrader, was forced out in 1997—word has it that the move really was Cornell's idea.
It's hard to imagine that a station just now starting to best SuxNews on a regular basis would make such a change on its own. -
Replacement
Posted: July 14th, 2008, 4:06am CDT by Ted Brockman
Since Minge and Weide appear to be posting news only bi-monthly...
An alert reader informs us that half of Channel 3rd's dreadfully dull anchor duo, Carlo Cecchetto, is leaving the station in August and returning to California for family reasons.
According to MediaLine, he's being replaced by Craig Nigrelli, who has been anchoring at KCTV in Kansas City.
See Nigrelli's complete bio here. -
More
Posted: July 11th, 2008, 5:37pm CDT by Ted Brockman
Our Continuing Guide to Mal-Speak, the strange language spoken by WOWT's Maladroit Maddox (with thanks to several alert viewers for their contributions):
ACK-suh-dint: mishapBASE-mint: the below-grade portion of a buildingBIN-ing-tun: town in NW Douglas County
DUB-yo-DUB-ya-TEE: the call letters of the station where Malorie works
MEH-thur (rhymes with weather): a woman who has given birth; female parent
minnie: a large number; more than a few
REST-ee: new meteorologist; out of practice
streenth: a property of being strong; intensitytin: the number between nine and eleventinse: not relaxed Dawdge: main east-west street in Omahafeud: nourishment, sustenanceEEE-mell: message(s) received via the internetMEW-vee: motion pictureSIN-ner: street that runs east-west in Omaha, first major thoroughfare south of Pacific Streetepp: the opposite of downKUN-ver-ter BAWX: device needed to receive digital TV signals on analog setshawt: warmer than warmthim: those peoplehell: frozen precipitation, usually associated with severe thunderstormsheld: past tense of hell, when used as a verb (example: "It held last night and dintid my kawr.")IMM-tee: the opposite of full
rill: authentic; the opposite of fakerint: to leasePEB-lick: not private
-
Strikes
Posted: July 11th, 2008, 5:22pm CDT by Ted Brockman
The tools adjusting the Channel Sux "Sports Machine" came up with this stunning discovery for Friday's 10 p.m. 'cast: an Omaha Royals baseball player is trying to make it to the big leagues.
Sweet Hoover's Ghost, does it really take a staff of four to track down this kind of information? Talk about pissing away money; paying for this kind of work is almost as big a waste as John "J-Pa" Knicely's salary. -
Pride
Posted: July 8th, 2008, 1:41pm CDT by Ted Brockman
Can someone please tell the local media—the local daily newspaper, in particular—to call a halt to the endless self-congratulatory features regarding our fair city's response to recent severe weather outbreaks?
People helping others clean up storm damage is not unique to Omaha. You can find the same "neighbors helping neighbors" non-story in the wake of any natural disaster anywhere in the world. It's what people do.
The blowhards in the glass print-shop should stop suggesting that Omaha has a monopoly on human kindness and decency. Rather than smugly touting how great we are, let's remember that we've also got a skyrocketing murder rate that no one's quite gotten a handle on yet. -
Dolt
Posted: July 8th, 2008, 12:19pm CDT by Ted Brockman
--July 4th highlights from WOWT included soporific reporter Gary Smollen pointing directly at Rosenblatt Stadium's left field wall and saying, "over here in right field."
--In a rare instance of self-correction, Channel Sux has edited its blood drive promo, this time spelling replenish properly. Dictionally-challenged anchorette Malorie Maddox, however, still pronounces it "replinish." You can't fix everything. People might talk.
-
Spilling
Posted: July 3rd, 2008, 3:36am CDT by Ted Brockman
Add spelling to the list of things they can't do right at Channel Sux.
A new blood drive promo starring "Daybreak" dimwits Jimmy Thiedlecki and Malorie Maddox flashes a graphic urging viewers to help "replinish" blood supplies.
Perhaps they spelled phonetically, using Malorie's pronunciation as their guide.