It's Not The End...

Well, after working for a year or so to get this place up and running I have decided to shut the door on TheNews2K. This is a decision I have been mulling for some time now, mainly because of my lack of time to completely devote to a blog such as this. It requires a lot of my time and these days (because of my job) I simply do not have the hours to devote to it. What makes this decision so difficult is that I have wonderful readers who have always been around to provide me with tips when requested. I also believe there is a gap in this kind of media coverage, especially in the Springfield, Joplin, and Columbia/Jeff City markets in the state.

That being said, I am not quitting the blog scene. I will be joining Show-Me Opinions as co-admin and blogger at that site. I will continue to work on local media stories, but I will also be free to delve into other issues as well. I think this will be a good move for both Show-Me Opinions and myself. Together we can create a blog that combines the best of what we both do. Effective immediately, I will begin blogging at Show-Me Opinions.

Check out Show-Me Opinions by clicking here.

I will keep this blog up and running for a while until I have firmly established everything over at Show-Me Opinions. You may also continue to email me at thenews2k@gmail.com .

Thanks again for your support...and see you at Show-Me Opinions!!!

Presidential Race Turned Upside Down

Wow... just perusing through a lot of the new polls released today or that are set to be released tomorrow. Wow... can I say that enough? Let's look at the some poll number, shall we?

Gallup Tracking Sept. 2 Gallup Tracking Sept. 8
Obama 50 44
McCain 43 49

Wow...

Plus, let's look at some statewide polls.

Pennsylvania - Obama +4
Ohio - McCain +4
Florida - McCain +3
Virginia - McCain +1
Colorado - Obama +1
Washington - Obama +6
Michigan - Obama +3
Indiana - McCain +5
North Dakota - McCain +4
Missouri - McCain +7

This is going to be interesting...

The New KSPR Turns 1, Part One

It was one year ago, when the "new KSPR" debuted on television sets across the Ozarks. It marked the first time in years that the station actually invested in some promotional work and really made itself a viable newsteam. The last time that had happened was when Bob Snell, Susan Harding, and Tim Drum were a part of the team.

Now, it is a time of reflection and la look back at what helped drive KSPR back into the watercooler talk around Springfield and the rest of the Ozarks.

Among one of the most controversial decisions was to change the times of the boradcasts. KSPR caught some people by surprise with their new times for the early evening newscasts. Joe Daues, co-anchor of the evening news with his wife Christine (edit: duh, I knew that...sorry Michelle and Christine), was gracious enough to discuss the milestone with The News 2K.

"The decision to air our news at the new times was made by much smarter people than me.It involved shifting some programming too, KY moved Jeopardy to KSPR, which gave us not only a great show with a huge following, but allowed us to air it at 5 pm, which is a key spot in afternoon programming. (Keep in mind I'm not a programmer) The 4:30 gave us the chance to have the first newscast of the afternoon. That's good and bad. Good because we're first. Bad because when we have exclusive content it gives the other guys a chance to make some calls and play catch up. It was a risk yes, our entire "experiment" is a risk. But it does work, and we have dozens of emails to prove it."

The risk didn't fully pay off, however. On its one year anniversary, KSPR moved ABC News w/ Charles Gibson back to 5:30 and now run their second evening newscast at 6. The 4:30 broadcast remains.

I also asked Joe how he thought KSPR was doing overall. His answer was quite candid.

"We couldn't be more pleased with how things are going at KSPR. We're coming up on our first anniversary already and we've already won two of the top three state awards for best television newscast from the Associated Press, plus we've seen our ratings increase. The increase isn't as substantial as we would like, but it is movement and I think we all realize a station turn around doesn't happen in one year.Are there changes we'd still like to see - of course! News is all about deadlines... because of that and the "performance" factor it's never perfect, that's a goal we're always striving for.We're still gel-ing as a newsroom, among the producers, reporters, videographers and anchors not to mention with those you never see - the production staff, which I'm particularly proud of. I've never seen production people working with such outdated and malfunctioning equipment put together a newscast night after night in often extremely challenging conditions like they do... I really can't compliment them enough."

In part two, we will look at how the weather department has been partially responsible for driving viewers to the station.

Charles Gibson To Get First VP Palin Interview

So, the media blackout for Republican VP pick appears to be over. ABC News has confirmed that Charles Gibson will get the first Sarah Palin interview. You can read the press release here.

Ike Local Media Coverage

As Ike gets ready to cross Cuba, the northern Gulf coast still has its eyes on potential trouble later in the week. Here are some links to some stories in the some of the potential target areas from their local media.

WDSU (New Orleans) - Nagin: City Needs To Worry About Ike

KPRC (Houston) - Ike Hits Cuba, May Miss Keys

Fox 10 (Mobile) - Mississippi Hopes Residents Will Flee Hurricane

CBS 4 (Miami) - Keys Evacuated, Schools Closed

Winning, Waiting, and Watching

* Bottom Line Communications has the winners of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters Awards by clicking this link. Among the biggest winners was KMBC, the ABC affiliate in Kansas City.


* Most of the national news media is anxiously waiting to see what happens with Hurricane Ike. It is likely that Hurricane Ike will be the big story of the week. Where will it hit? That is what the networks are waiting on.


* And just a reminder for those of you who have been watching KSPR News @ 5:30. Starting Monday night, ABC World News w/ Charles Gibson moves back to the 5:30 slot. KSPR News will follow after at 6.

yIKEs!

While Hanna is impacting the Carolinas tonight, the news networks have their eyes clearly on the next major player. Hurricane Ike is churning near the Bahamas this evening. Take a look at the projected path for the next 5 days and you can see that he has eye set on the Gulf. We will continue to update you this weekend as Ike makes it closer to the US.

Update: As of 10:00 Sunday morning, the Florida Keys are now under a HURRICANE WATCH. The track of Ike continues to look more and more like a Central or Western Gulf of Mexico hit. We will have to wait and see what the final destination happens to be.

Palin Draws A Bigger Audience Than Clinton, Biden

37 million people watched last night as Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin greeted the world with what I believe was a great speech.

Here's how the convention speeches have ranked so far:

Barack Obama - 38 million

Sarah Palin - 37 million

Hillary Clinton - 26 million

Joe Biden - 24 million

(Yes, those spaces are there for a reason.) I would assume that McCain will fall somewhere between Clinton and Palin when he addresses the convention tonight.

Congrats To Jerry Jacob!

The former KSPR sportscaster turned KY3 anchor turned military man got hitched this past weekend in Springfield, according to an article on KSPR. KSPR evening anchor Joe Daues served as the best man. Congrats!

Hanna Now A Hurricane...

Wow, as of 1 p.m. Tropical Storm Hanna has been upgraded to a hurricane and should impact Georgia and South Carolina by the weekend. Anyone else tired?

For complete details, log on to the National Hurricane Center website by clicking here.