I'm new to the blog game.
It's a different beast, that relies on anonymity, trust and the willingness to take the heat in a spirited debate.
Point taken.
Our new website managing editor and seasoned blogger gave me some advice before we started this new venture.
Rule #1: When posting don't get into a back and forth banter with a blogger, because it takes away from the issue.
Yea, forgot that one.
I hopped over to a real estate blog site yesterday, Bakersfield Bubble, and happened into a discussion about the FBI Raid involving Crisp & Cole.
The blood was everywhere.
Amidst the conversation was the occasional media bashing for not being on top of this story sooner. Fair enough.
We've keeping an eye on the story for about a year, and did the occasional piece.
The latest juicy tid bit involves Crisp selling off gold faucets, handles and other fixtures in his home for cash. Still trying to track that one down or at least get a picture from inside the house.
But all the rumors and innuendo's don't mean anything without someone willing to stand up and talk about it on camera.
Perfect example: News Bulletin - Housing market on a downhill slide, sales decline, rates could rise. But that's not what people in the biz tell you here, where everything is fine and dandy.
Yes, we know that's not right, but again, no one willing to step forward and go against the tide.
Sometimes that unwillingness to help break a story you've been dogging for a while can get the best of you.
Especially when you read comments from people who insist your not doing your job.
This is not my story, but KERO takes a team approach to reporting, pitching in whenever something pops up.
I asked for help from an arena that clearly seemed to have their ear to the ground on this one and has so for some time.
That's what a reporter does. That's how you dig. You want documents, background, etc. You talk to people and dig.
Maybe I didn't ask in the right way, because I certainly didn't respond in kind and it got the best of me.
I've been in the news game a long time and work hard to make sure both sides of any story are heard.
But airing opinion and gossip with no one to attribute it to is not journalism.
Better for a blog than the news.
A big thanks to Bakersfield Bubble, or BB, for e-mailing me once the dust settled, along with a couple other people who will go unnamed.
Simply because I don't know their name, only their blog identity and e-mail address.
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2 comments:
Mike,
You don't get it. Us blogger didn't go off on you because you didn't report. It's more about the what they did report on: the media pumped this guy up without looking into his dealings. If the media had properly looked into this C&C background, they've would have noticed all the little straw men.
It's hard to believe that no one in charge at your office, at the very least, stated let's look into this guy's background before we jump on this band wagon. I presume that someone was smart enough, but kept it to themselves or was ignored by a "giddy" boss.
Or, the worst case scenario, no one saw it and you'll are .... as you now look.
Merced "Going Quickly"
Merced,
I DO get you in a big way.
I haven't posted since the day I came in with the olive branch and got whipped with a transparent stick.
No one pumped this guy up, he did that all by himself.
The local media didn't write a big article on this guy, he did that himself.
He left KERO-TV hanging as well, although I'm not sure for how much.
No one backed off of him because he was an advertiser.
Example: A sales manager at a local car dealership was arrested for an incident involving an ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend.
The incident happened in a local park, but he was arrested at the dealership.
We shot video of the DEALERSHIP and used that as the B-Roll.
The reason, he was arrested at the dealership.
As you can imagine the dealership was not pleased, the sales people told us that.
We ran the video because that's where the arrest was, in addition, to the park.
His arrest had nothing to do with the dealership, but unfortunately, that was part of the story.
It hurt, but that's the business.
I've been here 16 years, sports and news.
I agree we were late coming to the party, but the media is always the last to leave.
I understand the frustration of people in the biz to watch this and sometimes feel like it's being shoved down their throat.
We looked, found a few things, but never had the sound bites we need to have a hard hitting piece.
Just a lot of he said, she said.
People don't pay attention to that, no matter how many times you chase him down in a parking lot with a camera.
I'm not one to explain how we do things in the media, because it seems to fall on deaf ears at times.
But I can guarentee you, at ABC23, we play no favorites.
Except when it comes to St. Jude's and the Condors.
But as with life, it all evens out in the end.
Thanks for your comments Merced, and we'll all try harder.
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