I'm not even putting this in the streetcar thread because it is just so guano crazy.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/i-team/cincinnati-streetcar-critics-streetcar-will-cause-accidents-deaths

WCPO informs of the dangers of the streetcar - apparently drivers run into these things and die.

Brinkman? check

They even dragged out tongue tied Michael Patton.

Wonder why these guys haven't come out against buildings & guard rails...

We hadn't heard from Patton in 4 years.  I'm working on an account of the streetcar saga -- few recall that the very first people opposed to the streetcar were the Beacon Boys -- Patton, The Dean, and former 98 Degrees singer Justin Jeffre. 

 

 

Jeffre tweeted in support of continuing the streetcar in December, FYI. Not that I think he likes the idea, but he recognized the idiocy of stopping it. His buddy Nick Lachey is a vocal streetcar supporter.

 

WCPO is getting insane. They are copying the Enquirer, with streetcar hate and a paywall, but in an even more extreme way.

It is kind of funny because what did they say, 28 deaths attributed to the Portland Light Rail and Streetcar since 1986.  I was looking at some numbers on ridership, and just from 2000 through 2013, there was a total of 377,423,607 riders on MAX.  (Not sure if this takes in their streetcar too, or if this is just light rail)?  I got this numbers from their TriMet website:

 

http://trimet.org/about/performance.htm

 

Even if there were 28 deaths attributed through those 13 years, that would be a .000000074 chance of dying per rider.  Now more likely it was closer to say 15 deaths over that period of time since 2000, or probably even less, but let us use that amount.  That would mean there is a .000000039 chance per dying per rider. 

 

How does this compare to other odds?  The odds of being struck by lightning in any particular year are 1 in 700,000, or .000001428, where as the odds for being killed by a TriMet streetcar / lightrail are, using the 28 deaths over the 13 year time period, 1 in 13,479,414.

 

Better yet, the odds of dying from a motor vehicle incident over a lifetime is 1 in 108.  So yeah, good argument :wtf:

 

I should be a journalist for WCPO!!!

Isn't that article supposed to be behind their paywall? Or does 10 minutes Googling crash statistics and calling Brinkman not count as in-depth enough?

 

 

It was their "I-Team" that broke the story.... Isn't that the best of the best at WCPO?

The new Political Cocktail thing by Kevin Osborne has now become a podcast. Is this a sign that it isn't doing well?

"In most cases, the I-Team found the streetcar did not cause crashes. Often, people and vehicles would run or drive into the train."

 

We had this same issue in Salt Lake.  When TRAX first opened, every accident was big news until people, and reporters, realized that "Car turns in front of TRAX train" wasn't any different then "Car turns in front of truck."

 

Also, a number of the TRAX pedestrian deaths seem to be suicides.

Noel did a good job in finding the original article about the SUV running into the streetcar (not the streetcar's fault, at all) and that the driver of the SUV was ticketed.

 

I have some friends that work for WCPO and what they have told me is that this subscription failure - even at 7 cents per day for a month (introductory fee), has been a failure. They switched off free commenting on their site and made it a requirement to have a subscription to even voice an opinion, so whatever few comments they had to begin with have all but dried up.

 

Their streetcar Facebook post had 55 likes and 87 comments - and on their website - 0 comments. I actually can't find any recent article with ANY comments.

 

Kevin's -free- Political Cocktail has podcast abilities, but the videos are behind the paywall.

Can't imagine who thought the paywall was a good idea. They did hire some decent people, but then forced an agenda on them which stifled any quality in their work. I'm happy to sit back and watch them fail. They thought they could emulate the Enquirer and WLW and people would flock over to gobble up the poo.

Can't imagine who thought the paywall was a good idea. They did hire some decent people, but then forced an agenda on them which stifled any quality in their work. I'm happy to sit back and watch them fail. They thought they could emulate the Enquirer and WLW and people would flock over to gobble up the poo.

 

I think they probably waved some cash and some promises at those reporters and now they're realizing they've been tricked. 

 

Didn't they hire over 30 staff just for the online/paywall venture? That seems like a massive investment, and if they weren't even able to get subscribers for the introductory price, I doubt they'll be successful in the long run. They could lose millions. Will Cincinnati have to settle for ABC out of Dayton in the near future?

Since WCPO is owned by Scripps, I am sure they can weather the storm. 

City Bleat dresses down WCPO

 

Since I joined CityBeat two years ago, I’ve read and watched a lot of bad attempts at investigative journalism. But on Feb. 24, WCPO genuinely surprised me with the worst piece of reporting, journalism or whatever one wants to call what I saw: a so-called “investigation” into deaths related to streetcars.

 

http://citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-29741-wcpo’s_sloppy_streetcar_reporting_misses_real_concerns.html

I have heard from some typically anti-streetcar people and most people realized that article was complete and utter BS. I think WCPO may have gone too far this time - people are starting to no longer take the anti-streetcar hysteria seriously. Trying to trick people into thinking the streetcar will kill them came off as a wee bit too desperate, I think.

I have heard from some typically anti-streetcar people and most people realized that article was complete and utter BS. I think WCPO may have gone too far this time - people are starting to no longer take the anti-streetcar hysteria seriously. Trying to trick people into thinking the streetcar will kill them came off as a wee bit too desperate, I think.

 

You're probably right, though the fact it was attempted at all shows how lowbrow the conversation has gone. And the extent to which local media is willing to elevate anything COAST says to mainstream discourse.

 

I bet we could find more people who think the country is run by reptilian shape-shifters. Where's the WCPO story?

With Osborne leaving, anybody know if that horrible 'Political Cocktail' show will continue?

 

--------------

 

 

UPDATE:

 

Less than 24 hours after this thread was created, WCPO quickly moved to

modify their 11PM news open, which aired last night.

For those interested, I have posted a image and video link below.

 

As you can see, the San Diego image has been replaced with

a slightly more familiar looking city...

 

 

video link:

 

 

Kudos to the staffer who took the extra effort to create an UrbanOhio

account in order to publicly address the oversight.

 

The original post has been preserved below:

 

 

--------------

 

 

 

So I happened to be watching TV around 11:00pm late last week, and while flipping between channels and I saw something on WCPO,

Channel 9 (the Cincinnati ABC affiliate) that immediately caught my attention.

 

Being a TV news nerd, I noticed that they had updated their late news open. But since I’m also sort of an architecture nerd,

something else immediately caught my attention. I had rewind my DVR to confirm that WTF I just saw wasn’t a hallucination…

Hilariously, it really happened.

 

WCPO-TV – (A CINCINNATI-based television station), owned by E. W. Scripps (A CINCINNATI-based billion-dollar media conglomerate) -

has been running a news open (almost) every night, which prominently features the skyline of…SAN DIEGO!

 

Here are a few screenshots of the relevant portion of the animation sequence:

 

 

And here is a link to a video, so you can view the whole thing for yourself:

 

www.youtube.com/embed/ZGvBE0LkGEQ

 

I know that this isn’t the biggest issue in the world, nor is it the most egregious offense ever committed by a local television station.

To be fair to WCPO, the screw-up likely originated at the Scripps Graphics Hub in Tampa, Florida.

 

Since all of channel 9’s in-house graphic designers were laid off in 2009, nearly all of the animated graphics have been provided by

the Florida-based centralized graphics hub which provides creative services for every other Scripps station, from Cleveland to Phoenix.

 

Also, I realize most viewers probably wouldn’t notice this mistake, even if you pointed it out to them.

 

But that’s still no excuse. Someone at WCPO should have caught this.

They continue to embarrass themselves night after night every time they run it.

Which would be kind of sad…if it wasn’t so hilarious.

 

 

Stay Classy, WCPO.

 

OMG PARADOX24 WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN???

 

You're like a reclusive celebrity genius around here. Like Jeff Mangum.

 

Good catch on the skyline. They should commission one of your shots to replace it.

The image does move very fast so its hard for the casual person to actually notice the error.

 

I'm sure those that did catch it just would assume it was some image associated with another part of Cincinnati.

 

I'm willing to bet we'd find that skyline in the popular San Diego section of Cincinnati. :-P

 

Hopefully along with its weather!

 

I used to be an editor in Ohio. I would have caught that immediately. That is a glaring error that should have never hit air. But am I surprised? No, news has been on a quality slide for quite some time...

 

But hey, maybe it gives viewers something to dream about...

sitting here wondering if any of the other local media has noticed

Thanks for letting us know.  It's been fixed.  We invite you to watch the newscast to see the correction.

^wow.  UrbanOhio makes waves.

@natininja: Thanks for the kind words!!! I will slowly crawl out of my cave and try to be less of a recluse.

 

@JYP: If there was a “San Diego” section of Cincinnati, that’s where I would have been posted up for the past 6 or 7 months of winter that we’ve been enjoying in the “Cincinnati” section of Cincinnati…ugh...

 

@C-Dawg: You’re right. In short, as traditional news operations have become a more profit-driven commodity desperate to remain relevant in a fast-evolving media landscape, there has been an increasing demand for more production out of fewer and fewer resources.  These efforts have often directly led to a reduction of quality control and editorial oversight across the board. IMHO, of course.

 

@Quimbob: Ha! I wouldn’t doubt it.

 

@WCPO: Wow. Totally did not expect to see you here. Cheers to you for publically recognizing the error and moving so quickly to rectify it.

 

cool web story

Everything was lifted from FaceBook, pictures & all

And while the story says people couldn't be reached Robert I(nhuman) says he was reached & responded.

 

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/northside/northside-park-vandalized-as-part-of-promotion-for-bands-show-resident-acts-to-clean-it-up#.Uzw-ILwaMBQ.facebook

Scott could have done a better job matching the wall color. Though it's nice he did what he did.

 

Also interesting he said he did it for people driving by: “If you’re driving by you never would have noticed it was there at all, which was the goal.” Especially when he had referred to the spot as the "town square."

 

Now I am curious to hear the Exploding Skulls. I guess their advertising worked. Can't find a website or anything, though, so maybe they'd do better to amp up their web presence instead of creating bad blood with DIYers in Northside.

probably a bad idea to paint over anyway as it's just going to peel & fade...

I got into stuff like this when i was about 20, the guy is 45.

 

http://explodedskulls.bandcamp.com/releases

.....

 

Bullet points would have been helpful

"and now, sports"

Ice T

A number of Scripps stations, including WCPO, are debuting a new program called "The Now". It appears to be a way to make the local news appeal to the social media generation.

 

It also shows an interesting trend in television. Many of the large station groups are starting to produce their own programming to air across the block of stations they own. There is also a rumor that Craig Ferguson going to start a new talk show that will air on Tribune-owned stations after leaving his CBS talk show. CBS/ABC/NBC may become irrelevant as companies like Scripps and Tribune buy up more and more stations and start producing their own programming.

Report: Local12's Braun gets death threats over Sinclair statement

 

 

Local12 anchor Rob Braun said in a WKRC-TV staff meeting on Wednesday that he has been getting death threats after the station started airing a statement by its owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group, complaining about media companies pushing "their own personal bias and agenda,” WVXU reports.

 

Braun told co-workers that he has had his life threatened in person, and his family's life, since WKRC-TV and WSTR-TV (Channel 64) started broadcasting the corporate-mandated statement read by Braun and co-anchor Cammy Dierking, according to colleagues who attended the meeting.

 

Sinclair has received a nationwide blacklash since Deadspin mashed together three dozen Sinclair anchors – including Braun and Dierking – reading the Sinclair script in unison, as if they were mindless corporate robots. 

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/04/05/report-local12s-braun-gets-death-threats-over.html

Screw this Robocop news garbage

Cincinnati Public Radio has unveiled new branding and is downplaying the WVXU call letters, which don't really make much sense as their primary brand anymore since they also run WMUB.

 

 

Quote

 

WCPO is cutting back on the use of mug shots with crime stories

 

In other news organizations, the mug shot itself sometimes seems to be the purpose of the story.

 

The person’s crimes are minor, but he or she had an awkward expression or a face covered with tattoos. Some journalist then decides that mug shot will be really amusing online and will allow the story to get a lot of pageviews on the website.

 

Spoiler alert: This strategy will probably work. But that’s not the type of newsroom I want to lead — or even work in. That doesn’t seem fair or responsible to me. [...]

 

But what does that photo really add to the story?

 

Not much.

 

It’s not a strong visual — except maybe as the butt of a joke. It doesn’t provide much context or additional information. Most people don’t know the person arrested.

 

That’s why we have decided to generally stop using mug shots on TV and online except in a few circumstances.

 

 

 

More money for the mugshot paper they sell at the liquor store I guess

20 minutes ago, GCrites80s said:

More money for the mugshot paper they sell at the liquor store I guess

 

They had to ban that at my workplace because it's too distracting when someone brings it in.  Everybody knows people in it each week.  

Edited January 9, 20205 yr by jmecklenborg

The mugshot newspaper/website industry has a lot of extortion, blackmail, etc. I have some stories to tell about it but I'm still too afraid to publicly comment.

 

On a related note, in Hamilton County you can view the mugshots and info of everyone arrested/housed in the county jail here - just click on "View All" :

 

http://apps.hcso.org/inmates.aspx

 

 

Some folks in this Westside Capital are not happy with the way WKRC is portraying the city.   Several small businesses have closed due to retirements and the death of an owner.

 

Cheviot Gazette Response:

https://www.cheviotgazette.com/post/channel-12-and-brad-underwood-owe-stone-s-and-the-city-of-cheviot-an-apology

 

Original WKRC article:

https://local12.com/news/local/for-sale-cheviot-sees-string-of-small-family-owned-businesses-closing-in-last-few-years-cincinnati

Edited January 13, 20205 yr by oakiehigh

^That's awesome!

 

Fox 19 take on the situation:   At least Kody went inside to talk to folks.

https://www.fox19.com/2020/01/12/historic-cheviot-restaurant-close-after-years-business/

So the 'burbs are getting mad because local TV stations are treating them like they used to treat the inner city up until a few years ago.

Quote

 

Local radio hosts among casualties of massive iHeartMedia layoffs

 

Cooking guru Marilyn Harris, on the air here for more than 30 years, and auto expert Dale Donovan Harris hosted weekend "how to" shows on WKRC-AM (550).

 

Also losing their jobs were Danny Scott, known as DJ Sab, on WKFS-FM (KISS 107); production producers Ranger Bob (Mark Erickson) and Dave Cuddohy, and some board operators in the Kenwood studios for news/talk WLW-AM and WKRC-AM; rock stations WEBN-FM and WKFS-FM; ESPN WCKY-AM; Fox Sports WSAI-AM; hip-hop FM 102.3 The Beat, and The Project on 100.7 and 106.3 FM.

 

 

Michael Monks is leaving WVXU in December

 

https://www.wvxu.org/media/2021-10-20/michael-monks-leaving-wvxu-december-tvkiese