Let's get a conversation started on this first day of the year with a personal commentary:
On Dec. 31, 2024 one year ago, Mark Neerman was named the new news director for Sinclair's KOMO. Amid my personal expectations as a former ND who had to push creative change, I want to ask viewers what changes or improvements they have seen during his tenure to make the newscasts better (or worse). Has he been able to put a true stamp on the product?
Most of the change that I have noted here came in personnel. Meteorologist Rebecca Stevenson and weekend news anchor Hannah Knowles left, as did reporters Paul Rivera, Ryan Simms and Denise Whitaker. New anchor Chris Nguyen was gone in February after just a couple of months. On the plus side, he brought anchor Steve Soliz over from KING, Natalie Fahmy from Ohio, reporter Claire Weber from SC and Tyler Cunnington from Colorado. Standard turnover in TV newsrooms.
On screen, the only tangible change I have seen is putting newscast anchors in a smaller one-box,while simultaneously voicing over video, which, I believe distracts a viewer from focusing on the key pictures. We know what the anchor looks like. Were there others I failed to catch? Are there more changes ahead? Has digital content improved? Less emphasis on crime or more?
There have been plenty of short anchor promos that claim the station 'holds officials accountable,' but I have noticed no breakthrough investigations or interviews. Maybe I missed them?
Of course, I did see quotes from this memo apparently sent by Sinclair corporate news boss, Scott Livingston, on how the company's news departments should handle stories about the 'Epstein Files.':
"If there is a legitimate, verified development tied to this topic and confirmed through reliable sourcing and supported by facts, we will pursue.” The email concludes with the direction that "Moving forward, any story on this topic must be vetted by a corporate news leader and/or legal."
YIKES...corporate guard rails are not new, but this smacks of prior restraint and seemingly compromises unilateral power in the newsroom (or at least severely complicates it).
Other than talent changes, I honestly don't feel that KOMO News has really changed for the better or for the worse in the time Neerman has been in charge. It feels very steady-as-she-goes. That, in and of itself, is a double edged sword.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand, with all the turmoil at KIRO, the major changes Fox 13 has made to its newscasts, and KING's pending change of ownership, KOMO staying fairly stable is a good thing as they could gain viewers who are not happy with what is going on at the other stations.
On the other hand, KOMO is still heavilly tainted by Sinclair's influence in a market where the majority of potential viewers do not align with Sinclair's politics. This limits how many viewers KOMO can realistically expect to attract.
If Neerman wants to make KOMO a better station, he needs to maintain most of the stability that exists in order to take advantage of the chaos at the other stations, while simultaneously expanding the distance between KOMO and Sinclair's influence to the greatest extent possible in order to actually appeal to the majority of potential viewers in this market.
I wonder if he is ever going to give Nikko help in the sports department. For a station that once had Bruce King, Bob Rondeau, Rick Meeder and Eric Johnson as a sports anchors, and three of them at the same time, this is hard. One man postgame show last night was a hard watch.
ReplyDeleteChris Daniels will, needless to say, be heavily involved in the home game coverage, which will help Niko, but Daniels is a band-aid wannabe. There should be a true #2 on hand.
ReplyDeleteOr find a freelancer for three weeks. Speaking of the past, dont forget Mike Ferreri.
Mike Ferreri was a worthy successor to Eric Johnson when the time came for Eric to transition to news, and his presence in KOMO's sports department really helped keep it going for well over a decade. I hope he is doing well.
DeleteAs for Niko, he is doing quite well. But the sports beat in Seattle these days with all the teams we have now, the Mariners becoming relevant again, the Seahawks doing well, and the World Cup on the way, really requires two, if not three or four, journalists to truly be able to cover everything that matters.
KIRO should push it's partnership with KIRO radio and hire Salk or Brock or Stelton to supplement coverage if they are available for a short term run. KING is fine. So is Fox 13. KOMO needs one more person.
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