Local Media Thoughts

Lee Cruse screwed up. So did LEX 18. His first mistake was in not reading over his copy before reading it on air. His second was in not understanding the story he was reading. Which, BTW, concerned a British broadcaster who came up with a pix of Harry & Meghan and their new baby, an African chimp. Lee thought that was funny. His station, properly, didn't. When Cruse recognized his mistake he apologized, several times, as he should have. LEX took him off the air to consider what to do. Then they fired him. After 20 years of presumably good and loyal service, one mistake and you're out. That's a load of meadow muffins. Or, to use an old Brit expression, the punishment doesn't ft the crime. It was announced by the current GM, from the previous owners, but probably is the decision of the new owners, Scripps Howard. That bodes no good for their new tenure as owners of the #2 TV station in town.

Speaking of TV, two notes regarding our local Fox affiliate. Co-Anchor Erica Abe has left us. She will be missed. Besides doing a creditable job as anchor, she is off to Harvard to study for an MA in foreign relations. We wish her well; that fields needs all the educated people it can get--and we will miss her.  And you shouldn't miss the Fox 56 10 pm news on Wednesdays, for sure. Erica's longtime anchor, Marvin Bartlett remains, and on Wednesday nights treats us to his weekly feature "Spirit of the Blue Grass." It's the closest thing we have to a Kuralt-type feature report, and--week in and week out--is well worth your watching. Wish more local stations would do the same.
 
WKYT's Sam Dick did do an excellent in-depth report last week on "the Boys from Kentucky,"and how a school class was following them from childhood to their deaths in Normandy after D Day. The student scholars dug up things the GI's families didn't even know, all presented in an emotional and excellent report---which we also need more of locally.

Then there's our leading morning newspapers, the Herald-Leader.  Some days it's quite good. Some days it doesn't know what day it is. Such as last Saturday's paper which arrived on my doorstep listed as "Early Sunday Edition." I expected next day's paper to arrive as "Early Monday edition," but it didn't.  Thank Heavens. The H-L doesn't even put dates on its inside pages (which its staff as well as readers have complained to management about and have gotten no explanation for this more than aggravating omission.) If you feel, as I do, that this is silly as well as aggravating, please let them know.

And you might also let President Eli Capilouto know it's about time our flagship university stopped trying to keep its dirty linen (or what it thinks may be its dirty linen) from us. Recently UK lost another in a long line of Freedom of Information cases. It has won very few of these, while trying to keep from us vital (?) stats on sex assaults on campus, incompetent profs firing settlements, you know-little things like that. Hard to teach citizenship and leadership when you don't follow the law yourselves.


I'm just sayin'...