My $.02: THE SKY IS FALLING... (AKA: It is going to snow!)

The Springfield and Joplin evening newscasts have led with the impending snowstorm of doom. If you listen to some of the meteorologists you might believe that when you wake up in the morning that you might find this image:

(This image courtesy of library.thinkquest.org)

While I do think that it is likely to snow many inches, a couple of stations are really hyping the storm to the point that if it isn't the "Blizzard of the Century" many Ozarks residents will believe that they missed it again, blowing another light snow completely out of proportion.

We shall see what tomorrow brings... until then, go stock up on your supplies. Who knows? You might even get in a tv station's live shot at Uncle Bob's Booze and More.

CNN Republican Debate Tonight

McCain, Romney, Huckabee, and Paul will battle it out tonight on CNN live from the Reagan library in California. The debate will start at 7:00 local time. I will be unavailable to live blog the event, but will post if we have any newsworthy moments. This debate comes just hours after Rudy Giuliani endorses John McCain and the rumors are swirling the Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger might do the same. That would be a blow to Obama, who was seen a shoe-in for the governor's endorsement after the Kennedy family ceremony earlier in the week.

ABC is going Super next Tuesday

Variety is reporting that ABC News will go wall-to-wall with continous coverage of Super Tuesday returns throughout primetime next week. This is in stark contrast to NBC's decision to run only one hour of information and CBS, which will likely feature a 2 hour special. One has to wonder how much this programming decision is linked to the writer's strike. Nonetheless, this marks the first time a major network has gone wall-to-wall against the cable news networks in primary coverage this election season.

KSDK will remain the St. Louis station for Cardinals baseball

KSDK and Fox Sports Midwest have been announced as the stations who carry the Cardinals baseball games again this year. This is the second year for this arrangement. Coming from someone who has family members obsessed with Cardinal baseball, this seems like great news. For some St. Louis residents who aren't as swept away with Cardinal fever, KSDK is trying to find a place for NBC's programming the games will interrupt. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a nice article detailing the shuffling of some other sporting events, which you can check out by clicking here.

Obama Heading To KC; Edwards to Springfield, Jeff City

KCTV is reporting that Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama will be holding a town hall meeting in Kansas City on Tuesday. For more details, head to KCTV 5's website.

Meanwhile, fellow Democratic candidate John Edwards will be in Springfield tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. followed by a rally in Jefferson City on Tuesday at noon.

Grant, Beck, and Rose... The Tops in Springfield!

Lisa Rose, Steve Grant, and Meteorologist Brandon Beck all topped 417 Magazine's Best Of List this year. Rose won for female anchor, Grant for Male Anchor, and Beck for Meteorologist. You can see the complete list of winners for other categories and runners-up for the areas listed above by heading here.

KY3: Steelman Announces Run For Governor

KY3's political blog has a great write-up on Sarah Steelman's announcement concerning her decision to run for governor. Something tells me the number of people jumping into the race will only increase in the coming days.

MSNBC's Chris Jansing Moving

The last of the true MSNBC anchors will be leaving to become NBC's LA-Based Coorespondent. Inside Cable News has an amazing piece on what her departure means for MSNBC, while reviewing all she has accomplished on the network. There is no word on when Jansing's last anchor day will be. She was seen anchoring on MSNBC this afternoon.

Heath Ledger Passes Away

Cable news networks have been updating its viewers all evening on the latest concerning the death of Hollywood actor Heath Ledger at the age of 28. The news broke in the 3:00 hour this afternoon. CNN and FOX News Channel have been devoting a large amount of time to this story. At this hour, Anderson Cooper and Greta Van Susteren are covering the tragedy. Headline News' Showbiz Tonight will have complete coverage at 10:00 as well!

BREAKING NEWS: Matt Blunt Won't Seek Second Term

The KY3 Political Blog and news websites from across the state have been breaking this story over the last few minutes. KSPR just aired the televised message from Matt Blunt. They were first station to do so in the Springfield or Joplin market. More to come as it develops...

UPDATE: KY3's political blog has the entire press release here.

UPDATE 2: KY3 has announced they will carry a press conference by the governor, which will air at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. According to KOMU's website, it appears they will cover it as well. I will be working to find out which stations will and won't carry the press conference.

Breaking: Fred Thompson To Leave Republican Presidential Race

We knew it was only a matter of time, but now it is official. TV Newser is reporting that Fox News was first with the news at 1:16 p.m., followed by MSNBC at 1:22. CNN was last with the news at 1:25.

Pujols Still Mad; KTVI Banned From Presser

According to my copy of the Sprinfield News-Leader this morning, Albert Pujols is still upset over false rumors about his name being in the Mitchell Report. This report discussed baseball players using performance enhancing substances (ie: steroids). KTVI, the FOX affiliate in St. Louis, ran reports about Pujols possibly being mentioned in that report, citing a New York TV station's website. I blogged about this story last month.

Yesterday, at a press conference, Pujols asked that the cameraman and reporter from KTVI leave the room where he was speaking. Pujols was apparently following the tride and true piece of advice passed down for many years... Don't get mad. Get even!

Yikes! That has to sting.

Here Come The Ads...

While it might not technically be directly news related, it is part of the news cycle. Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has started running ads across the state. KY3 Political Reporter David Catanese blogged late last week about the Democrats and their ad ambitions.

I have seen the ad for Obama running at news time in Springfield markets and know it is running in St. Louis. It will be interesting to see how saturated the airwaves become with ads around newstime in the next few days leading up to Feb. 5th primary.

New Link Added: Simple Thoughts

The News2K has added a new link to its blog roll... Simple Thoughts of a Complex Mind. It is a great read! Be sure to check it out early and often.

KMOV Wins duPont Award

KMOV recently was awared a silver baton award from the duPont-Columbia University Awards. Only 13 television stations in the country received the honor. The award was given to the story reported by Craig Cheatham about East St. Louis school districts and their continued struggles to meet the educational demands of its communities' children.

John McCain Wins SC Primary

FOX News called the South Carolina primary first, followed by MSNBC. CNN just called the race. The polls closed about 2 hours and 15 minutes ago.

Hillary Wins; McCain and Huckabee Down To The Wire

All of the news networks called Hillary's Nevada win a few hours ago.

Now the focus turns to South Carolina where it looks to be extremely close between John McCain and Mike Huckabee. Polls close there at 6:00 local time. The News2K will be following this story throughout the evening.

Cable news networks main anchors covering the primary:

MSNBC: Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann
CNN: Wolf Blitzer
FOX News: Brit Hume

Nevada Republican Caucus: FOX News and MSNBC Call Race; CNN Finally Joins It

**UPDATE** CNN has finally called the Nevada Caucus for Mitt Romney at 1:00 p.m. If it took them this long to call Nevada for the Republicans, it may be a long afternoon for the Democratic Caucus... not to mention the SC GOP Primary.

FOX News and MSNBC called the Republican caucus concerning Nevada at the beginning of the 12:00 hour. Still, at 12:45 p.m., CNN has not called the race. Entrance poll data from CNN has this a close race between Romney and Ron Paul. Is that why CNN is holding the call? More as it develops...

Is Wolf Blitzer Human?

One has to wonder how one man can spend so much time standing and anchoring on election nights. Wolf will again be standing in and delivering a Nevada Caucus special on CNN from 1-3 p.m. central and then will be back for South Carolina results from 6-9 p.m tomorrow. Someone get that man a chair...

Update on KSFX Morning News...

News Director Polly Van Doren-Orr recently posted on her Ozarks First Anchor Blog some details about the upcoming launch of the show:

"I have some news about OUR news. We're growing again. Beginning Monday,
February 4th - we will launch Ozarks Fox in the Morning at 7 a.m. It will be the
Ozarks' only local newscast during this time period. And it will further
distance the competition, in terms of news produced in Springfield. We're
excited about that. We know a lot of our viewers would like an alternative to
the network morning shows. They'd like local news, with plenty of local weather
and some interesting local features. That's what we're going to offer you.
Sports anchor Rob Evans is moving over to news to anchor this show. Veteran
meteorologist Tom Trtan will have your weather several times during the hour. It
promises to be a great show! "

Dana Does Mornings

Bottom Line Communications has a follow-up story on Dana Wright and her first days on the job as the new co-anchor on KCTV's morning news programs. She had recently been on KCTV 5's evening newscasts.

Rob Evans To Anchor KSFX Morning News Program

A little snippet of info was provided at the close of last night's KOLR-10 Sunday night news. Rob Evans announced he will be anchoring the new FOX morning news show, which premieres Feb. 4th @ 7 a.m. Last night was his last night on the sports side of things.

If you have any more info available on the upcoming morning show, please email me: thenews2k@gmail.com

My $.02: Twister Assembly Line 2008

My internet has been down since last Monday night. For most people in SW MO, it will be a night we won't soon forget. Since the internet came back online this afternoon, I have been perusing blogs and sites trying to find a real good source to rate media coverage. I was unsuccessful.

My Monday night was supposed to be a quiet one. I got in from New Mexico late Sunday, I worked Monday, and then had to head to Nixa to the dentist Monday evening. I was extremely tired, so I decided I would have my mother drive me (what a saint, eh?) so I can rest on the way back home. Well, I left the dentist office at approximately 5:35 p.m. with the sirens blaring. There was no real practical way to get back home. My choices were to either take shelter in Springfield or try to get north of the storms to find a route back home that way. Being I have been through the Storm Spotter classes, I decided that I would try to guide my mother ahead of the storms. Long story short... it took us three and a half hours to get back home.

I said all that to say this. I wasn't able to start watching local coverage on the tv until around 9:15 or so. My analysis will have to be based on the situation after that. First, let me thank KTTS for their amazing radio job (AS ALWAYS!!!!). They helped save lives. Next, let me thank KY3 and KSPR for their great job. I believe both stations were on the air continuously for approximately 12+ hours. They did a wonderful job. I was unable to catch KOLR or KSFX in their coverage, but would assume they did a good as well.

Ultimately, though, the experience of Ron and Dave truly shined. Their knowledge of Ozark geography really helped them provide viewers with life-saving information that gave them a leg up on the competition. That isn't to belittle Kevin and Josh. They did a great job, but still have some catching up to do. I imagine this will come in time as they become more familiar with the area.

I am glad we have tv stations in the Ozarks that allow their mets to cover these severe storms and help save lives. I hope people didn't call in and complain about the coverage. The situation warranted the non-stop info. I just hope we don't have another night like that again any time soon!

Turner Report Insight into News Director Position

The Turner Report, a favorite blog, has reported that Jim Jackson will be name the news director at KSNF and KODE in the wake of the passing of Larry Young. The post also reports that Tiffany Alaniz will be promoted to assistant news director and will anchor news @ noon and 5. This leaves a co-anchor spot open at 6 and 10, which will be filled by Toni Valliere. Jackson will continue to co-anchor the 6 and 10 news.

I received a tip a few days mentioning that there might be additional changes to the morning show, but the Turner Report does not allude to them, nor do I have any way to verify the tip. Stay tuned... there will likely be more forthcoming!

Never Get A Break, Huh?

**UPDATE** Internet has been restored and the blog will start back up and running at full-speed this afternoon!

I arrived home on Monday, just in time for the storms to take out the DSL and my phone lines. My only access to the internet for the time being is at work. I will be answering emails and posting more stories as I have time. Hopefully the internet and phone will be back on at home by Sunday or Monday. One can only hope...

In New Mexico...

I am away in New Mexico for the next couple of days attending a conference. Blogging will be sporadic at best until I return. Have a good weekend!

Former KSDK Anchor, John Roedel, Passes Away

A familiar face to many in St. Louis for decades has passed away. Former KSDK anchor John Roedel passed away over the weekend. KSDK has a story remembering the Missouri news pioneer. You can find it by clicking here.

Bowl Game On CNN?!?

Today is the day for college football fans to rejoice! You can watch bowl games and then some. The New Year's holiday is the time for many bowl games: the Cotton Bowl (go Tigers!), the Rose Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Ballot Bowl... the what?

That's right... CNN is hosting a program all day today, during the hours normally occupied by CNN Newsroom, called Ballot Bowl '08. But this bowl isn't for the sports nut, it is for the political junkie. CNN is pulling out all the stops today with political reporters covering the story, giving an in-depth look at the upcoming Iowa caucuses.

Among those I saw in the the hour or so I caught this morning, included John King and Suzanne Malveaux.