Monday, January 29, 2007

Musings on a Monday Morning

I love Memphis! It seems like at least a couple times a week that some article is written in the Commercial Appeal about thieves stealing copper. Usually it involves destroying an air conditioning unit at some church or some other place of business. Some enterprising thieves have found (at least in my neighbhorhood) that while money doesn't grow on trees, it does grow on utility poles. Just about every utility pole has running up the side of it, a ground wire made of copper. I noticed a couple of months ago as a walked the dogs that someone had clipped the ground wires on many of the poles in our alley as high as one could reach (about seven feet) and then cut the wire off at ground level and made off with the goods. Then a few weeks ago MLG&W crews came back and spliced a new shiny section of copper back on the pole. I figure the thieves are waiting for the work crews to get caught up before they (the ner-do-wells) start their second round of harvesting copper. Nothing like seeing your utility dollars at work.

I haven't heard much from folks at local stations these days. Has a News Director been named at WMC? Are things humming along nicely these days? Will the battle plan to reclaim the top spot be made with the existing troops or will they bring in someone from out of town? I'm not sure of the dates of the February book but I would think that it's started already.

I do know of one announcement from DOTR. Apparently during a conference call a couple of weeks ago, the head of the Broadcast Group told the GMs of the group that he was retiring when the sale of the group goes through. Wow, what a surprise. That sale is expected to be completed around May or June. Not sure if that means construction on the big vacation house in the mountains of North Carolina is finished or not. No word on what happens to everyone else, especially the corporate folks with the Broadcast Group.

And I just read a thread on ShopTalk's Watercooler section about changing one's name to reflect an ethnicity that may or may not exist. The original poster was wanting reaction on what others thought about the idea of changing one's last name from something very whitebread such as Jones or Smith to something Hispanic. Some claim they can do this because a grandmother or mother was from (you fill in the country) to justify this move. An interesting read on the responses. Apparently it serves a growing number of people well to do that. Afterall, what's a little white lie from the people who are supposed to bring you the truth about what goes on in the world.

13 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

That reminds me of the producer DOTR whose mother's family was originally from Mexico. The mother married a whitebread American and the resultant daughter looked Caucasian and had a rather ordinary "American" last name. The then-news director DOTR proudly billed her as our "hispanic" producer, I guess because of the family connections. I think the producer was a little embarrassed by the attention. While proud of her heritage, she didn't feel like a minority and I don't think she wanted to "cash in" on it like Jerry Rivers whose career took off when changed his name to "Geraldo Rivera."

Come on, most all of us are the descendents of immigrants, except my mother's family. Like a lot of people in the southeast, my mother is part Cherokee...Oh wait! I guess I'm a minority because my great-great grandmother was a Native American. It's too bad no one would believe it...because my father was full-blooded Irish (first generation born in America), so I look a little too European.

My point is, isn't it a little ridiculous to put so much emphasis on race? Most Americans are a mix of racial and ethnic groups. Why should claiming kinship to one ethnic group or another give someone an advantage in the broadcast business?

I understand that people want to see faces on TV that they can relate to. But wouldn't it be better if stations hired people who actually ARE from our community, instead of people who they think LOOK like they from our community? No matter what race they are, reporters from Seattle and Los Angeles can't relate to Midsoutherners as well as someone born and raised here.

7:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Joe,
I think the Feb sweeps starts Thursday of this week.
Do you know what this is all about?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibYU1hZ0-Mk

What pictures of Mary Winkler does WMC have?

Also, The station DOTR is doing a sweeps piece about fire fighter training.

10:00 AM  
Blogger Joe Larkins said...

I'm not sure what pictures WMC has but I guess we'll know Thursday night.
Regards,
Joe

10:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So, the head of the group is retiring. Why couldn't it have happened while I was there? Oh well.

Interesting to hear about people trying to corner the copper market. Makes me wonder if I should worry about moving back there (yes, folks, this is the nationwide announcement that I'm moving back to Memphis. But since this is Joe's blog, I won't take up space with details).

And as far as names go, Joe if you had dropped a couple of letters and added a couple of others, "Jose Larkino" could still be on the air here.

12:17 PM  
Blogger Joe Larkins said...

Doug,
I've kept quiet about your impending return until now. Let me be one of the first to offer congrats publicly as yet another news veteran steps away from the business. Memphis has not been the same since you left.
Tu amigo,
Jose Can-u-see Larkino

12:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My guess on Winkler story: It's WMC over-hype of her working at a laundromat or something...not unlike the OC Smith story... which also didn't deliver.

1:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i seen the pictures, they are good...

5:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

WMC has nude photos of Mary Winkler. They were shot about five years ago by the man mary entertained while her husband was earning a living for his family. WMC has scored a big one with this. Stayed tuned. I just wish I can get my hands on the unedited pics.

1:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No official word yet on the new News Director here OIMT (over in MidTown). Rumors abound, at least one of which will undoubtedly prove correct. Things are okay for now, but there is anticipation. I would expect some fairly big changes in our attempt to recapture ratings supremacy.

8:23 AM  
Blogger Carol McClain said...

Personally, I think if there are nude photos of Mary Winkler, if WMC airs it, this is really gonna tarnish WMC , due to the fact that it's such a tabloidy thing to do, very sleazy in my opinion .
Regards ,
Carol

11:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Once again WMC was all hype and little substance in the Winkler photos.

woopie dooo

Three cell phone photos of Mary Winkler sitting at a bar which WMC actually paid for (what dumb azzes). snoresville

11:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As a former WMC'er...those Winkler pictures were a joke! They have hit an all time low. I'm really disappointed. I thought once PP left, you would start seeing real journalism again. I guess not. I hope the new news director has better judgement.

Long Ago At WMC

8:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Winkler non-story was pitiful. The promos were sleazy and phony, too.

WMC is single handedly destroying what's left of its reputation.

Much like the O.C. Smith non story that was promoted with all hype, WMC delivers nothing again.

Is 24's ND secretly calling the shots at WMC?

Pitiful.

7:48 PM  

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