MediaMaven

For those of you who may not have heard, WMAR-TV in Baltimore, where I worked for 13.8 years, has elinated all anchors from newscasts as part of the Scripps mass layoffs there and elsewhere and its swtich to AI produced and hubbed shows.    It's only the next sad step of this evolution and I had a chance to weigh in for a column written today by Leslie Streeter Smith in The Baltimore Banner, a Pulitzer-winning paper born to compete with the now Sinclair-controlled Baltimore Sun. Submitted for your approval, with some scrolling: In the nautical sense, an anchor is a heavy metal device that, when used, holds a ship in place. In journalism, a news anchor does the same job, as the grounded support that holds down all the moving parts around them, from the meteorologist to the field reporters. So what is a television station without anchors? WMAR-2 , an ABC affiliate owned by E.W. Scripps, is now figuring that out. They laid off more than a dozen producers, photographers and anchor...

Well, I know all of you Seahawks fans watching KOMO Sunday were on pins and needles to know when the opening game will take place, but this is ridiculous.  Just an absolute insult to any of the team's fans, 60,000 plus fans who have tickets and thousands more set to watch.   Not 10 seconds, Not 10 hours, Not 10 minutes.  TEN DAYS!    Whose idea was this?   NBC has the game!     Same person who won't give Menino a riser with Hussion on mornings.   Management gone awry as usual.

ICYMI, Fox 13's weather wizard Abby Acone bade a fond farewell Sunday to her weekend morning co-anchor Taylor Winkel.  You're welcome.  

KING+ will be streaming a big high school football game this Friday night between Graham-Kapowsin and Lake Stevens with play by play and plans for replays.  It's the K5 Big Game.  Developing story, more to come.  Is this a Seattle TV first on the big channels?    

KREM2 in Spokane says goodbye to Regan Gallo-Fenz, who is leaving to tend more to her marriage and family per her social media post.    She says she elected not to renew her expiring contract after a two-year stint.  Regan is an Arizona State U. Cronkite School Masters grad.   She won Miss Pierce County and Miss Washington in 2022.

  "This is an extremely heart-wrenching and personal thing to share, but I need your help. My son ran away from home Wednesday after a tumultuous summer of mental health issues.  He ran with a girl his age; she was found in Gresham, Oregon late Thursday night after separating from him. My friends in the Portland Metro area, can you please share his pictures?  My heart is breaking.  I need your help."