Wednesday at 10, with Sabirah Radford anchoring, they break a lead story that Seattle Mayor Wilson has asked the police chief to resign in the wake of the Seattle Center shootings. Big story, but by 10:15 it was back into a news replay with the usual anchor team of Rose and Kim. Not even repeated at the half hour mark to get the story back on the air as an exclusive breaker. The story was up on the station web site, citing multiple sources.
UPDATE: Minutes later, KOMO's Jeremy Harris at KOMO reports this:
Multiple sources saying @SeattlePD Chief Shon Barnes is telling people he has been fired. @MayorofSeattle has NOT confirmed this. At a time when her office is under fire for confusing and slow communication, clarity TONIGHT.
Now, KIRO Radio is confirming:
BREAKING: Shon Barnes was fired from his position as chief of the Seattle Police Department by Mayor Katie Wilson, multiple sources confirmed with KIRO Newsradio
King posted:
According to a high level source inside Seattle City Hall, on Wednesday evening, Mayor Katie Wilson began sharing her plans with other top officials regarding the future of Chief Barnes. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the mayor planned to meet with Barnes sometime late on Wednesday, where she intended to inform him of her decision to make a change in leadership.
Fox updated and posted the firing just before 11:30
Saw nothing from KIRO on TV or online.
Does anyone else have the story on TV or online?
ReplyDeleteFor an O&O station, their newscasts look very second-rate. I’ll give them some credit for being the first to break the story on air, but when the rest of show is replayed from earlier with no other updates? Why are FOX 13’s newscasts even prerecorded in the first place?
ReplyDeleteThey made a major shift in emphasis last August, beefing up mornings, building the LIVE DESK concept during the afternoon (which has gotten mixed reviews) and pushing the 4-7 evening block at the expense of the late news. It was a re-allocation of resources that dimished late news presence despite strong FOX primetime programs, but they likely figure that if they do one live block at 10, viewers who haven't seen a previous replay won't know the difference. No, the anchor change tips it off, right?
DeleteOn Sunday night when Hana Kim signed off at around 11:10 after the press conference, it was funny seeing Franque Thompson magically appear in the studio after her live shot from Harborview just minutes prior. They could’ve stayed on live until 11:30.
DeleteStrange decision-making throughout by 13.
DeleteGood on Fox 13 for breaking the news of this very important development! While it doesn't make up for their failings on Sunday, it does show that they are now taking this story seriously, which is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteKIRO 7, on the other hand, seems to have dropped the ball on this important development. Their coverage has been good up until this point, so I hope this is just a brief lapse and that they'll back on track later today.
This is why stations should not pre-record newscasts. FOX 13 started recording newscasts last year. They only do the 4pm full hour live. The late shows do a live A block but the rest of the show is a recording from the 4pm. This is why Kim and Rose start the B blocks in the lates because it’s recorded. Shabira only does live A blocks live and goes home.
ReplyDeleteYes, it really made Fox look silly to not trumpet the story at the half-hour break and then again before the end of the show. I worked with doing updates to taped newscasts on cable for years and it is easily done on broadcast as well when you record shows and do live break-ins and updates. Radord should have insisted to a manager or pushed the crew herself to handle a breaking story. Basically, the replay system cheated viewers who tuned in late or missed the initial report.
DeleteThe 15/45 segments on NWCN worked quite well for keeping viewers up to date on developing stories and fit seamlessly into the shows. Perhaps Fox 13 needs to do something similar at the half-way market through their pre-recorded hours.
DeleteOn point IDC, it was a way to keep cable replays fresh. Certainly something at 30 after in case of spot breakers or simply to freshen the show. Fox has good primetime programming for the most part, so there are new viewers out there 10-11.
DeleteIndeed there are. Fox 13 needs to make the most of that, and give them compelling live coverage that will keep them coming back night after night. A 15/45 style segment at 10:30, and perhaps another one at 10:55, could help with that.
DeleteWhy was the Mayor’s office not crystal clear putting out a statement?
ReplyDeleteThe late news in Spokane is pre-recorded too. I know this is a Seattle story but 2/3 stations in Spokane air taped 11pm newscasts. KREM replays it’s 10 (which I’m not sure is entirely live) at 11; KHQ replays its 9 streamer at 11. I expected more out of Seattle and Fox.
ReplyDeleteThe Spokane stations need to return to doing live news at 11pm, particularly now with all of the wildfires going on in Eastern Washington. Conditions can change greatly in a short period of time, and it is doing a major disservice to viewers to bring them an 11pm newscast that only has information in it that was valid as of 9pm or 10pm.
DeleteAs for KREM's 10pm newscast, you say it may not be fully live? Is it replaying segments from newscasts earlier in the evening like Fox 13 does here in Seattle? If so, that only makes the situation in Spokane for late news worse.
Frankly all of the Spokane stations need not only to return to live news at 11 but also beef up their reporting staffs. The big wildfires from a couple of years back around Medical Lake should have showed everyone that. All of the stations' resources were taxed to their limits during that coverage and all of them could have used extra help from Seattle IMO
DeleteKREM’s 10 is solo anchored and the early newscasts are mostly not. I feel, just from looking at the quality outside of A-block and weather, that it may have been pre-recorded but not plucked from an earlier show. The 11 is a straight up replay of the 10 unless there is breaking news. KHQ’s dumpster fire is from when they lost the contract to produce the 7a/10p for KAYU. They instead went all-in on the streamer at 9, regionally, and went to tape in Spokane and Tri-Cities at 11. Their live YouTube channel has single digit views at 9.
DeleteI strongly agree with Rhett on the subject of beefing up the reporting rosters in Spokane. Their stations are quite understaffed for the vast amount of territory the Spokane television market encompasses. No doubt the wildfires that are currently raging in that region are taxing the stations to their limits once again.
DeleteThank you, Anonymous, for clarifying the current status of KREM's 10pm newscast. It is good to hear that the segments aren't necessarily being replayed from earlier newscasts. I have to wonder what time the pre-recording is taking place. If the A-block and weather are live at 10pm, the pre-record could be happening quite close to 10pm, which would make it less problematic. That being said, it could also be happening as soon as the 6pm newscast ends, which is at 7pm. That would be more of an issue.
DeleteAlso, thank you for sharing KHQ's YouTube channel viewing figures for their streaming 9pm newscast. Single digit views are absolutley woeful. KHQ needs to rethink this strategy. Its clearly not working for them or their viewers.