ClarkAddison's Blog

I don't mean to always complain, but what was the point of your coverage last night?  You didn't give me any numbers I couldn't get from the networks, the reporters kept repeating themselves all night.  The only "insight" was from the Jaco/Warren segments.  I always appreciate Ken Warren's perspective, looking inside the raw numbers to mine for nuggets of information for greater analysis.  Charles Jaco is by far the most knowledgable local reporter on the political beat, althought Betsey Bruce is pretty close.

But, the Jaco/Warren segments were buried for the most part.  You mostly did your news, which is usually OK, but last night called for more.  Did the event you so often promoted, "Super Tuesday," actually take the management by surprise when it arrived?  St. Louis viewers used to depend on Fox 2 for the most in-depth coverage of elections, not to mention breaking news.  Now, it seems as if you are satisified to offer the pretense of blanket coverage by having people all over the place, but in fact offer nothing more than superficial reporting, not investing the time into actually going behind the scenes.

When you went to Chicago for the Obama speech, we heard a few seconds of him, then you went to commercials.  Then, you went back to Obama.  Who is making the decisions around there?  Either he deserved to be listened to, or he didn't. 

Come on, Fox 2.  Decide what you want to be.  We used to know what to expect from you, but, alas, such is no longer the case.

Guess I'm just crabby again, but did anyone else catch the "recue" show Sunday at 5:30?  I was expecting the usual hour of news on Sunday, but instead got a half-hour of news, and a half-hour of rerun news!

Now, I like Shirley Washington as much as any of the anchors on Fox 2, so at least she was the host.  But, why rerun news on Sunday afternoon?  If they wanted to run something like that overnight or early on Sunday morning just to fill time, that would make some sense.  But, I don't get rerunning news stories almost a week after they happened.

Let me try to figure out the logic here:  If I watch Fox 2 for on a regular basis, I will have seen all or most of these stories, so I have no reason to watch this show; If I don't watch Fox 2 on a regular basis, and I'm trying to watch some news, I will turn on the national news at 5:30, so I have no reason to watch. 

So who is this show aimed at -- the segment of the audience that will just watch a half-hour to catch up on all of the stories they missed in the last week and a half, even though those people don't usually watch news?  What am I missing here?

Give us back our hour of real news.  That is one of the things we can count on from Fox 2, an entire hour of news, with more in-depth stories because you have the time to run them.  I even like the occassional Fox News stories on health and political topics, and could usually count on seeing JC spout off about something.  Now, I get reruns!  Most people don't like reruns on the network shows, why would we like reruns of news?

Did Dave Murray get fired?  I'm so tired of Chris Higgins, I've had to turn to other stations the last few days.  All he does is talk about himself, and his blog and now his website!!!!  Like he needed another vehicle to pump his over-developed ego.

If Dave's not coming back, I wish Fox 2 would make an announcement.  But please, give Higgins a rest.  He sure needs one.

That pretty much decribes the Fox 2 Morning Show today.  All of the self-centered perspective that viewers were subjected to was nauseating.

When Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck were rescued a year ago, that was fantastic news for their families.  Why Fox 2 has to revel in their self-promoting "we-were-so-moved-we-still-cry-to-this-day" theme is disturbing.  Can your on-air people ever stop thinking the universe revolves around them?

I watch in the morning because I get up early for work, and can't stay up for the 10:00.  Having watched regularly for the last couple of years, a couple of things are obvious:  most of the anchors believe that we watch only for them; secondly, most of them also can't stand the others -- battling to see who is the wittiest, gets in the last line, wastes the most time telling a "personal" story, which by its very nature, should stay personal.

Give us more news, local and national, and less banter.  The evening shows that I watch have way too much anchor banter too, but at least mostly they carry news.  I don't even mind that the morning is mostly a repeat of the 9:00 -- most people are watching for traffic and weather anyway, with Monica not getting near enough airtime these days.

Anyway, get back to the basics of local news.  Whatever happend to your motto:  "Live, Local and Late-breaking."  If it isn't happening in the copter, it isn't late-breaking.   Give us more news.

When will the STL media take a collective breath and stop the scare-us-to-death coverage of the Hwy 40 shutdown?  It's obvious the management expected, if not hoped for, a disaster beyond our wildest dreams... and are STILL hoping.  Maybe, come Monday, you'll get your wish.  But, enough already. 

The stumbling anchors at 5:00 trying to make out what they were looking at, as if the words on the camera weren't enough, was humorous at times.  And the after-dark shots of the empty highway... be still my heart.

As stupid as the closing is, we've known this was coming for a long time.  And, you've been counting down every day for 2 months, since we must be too dense to figure out that it would be the 2nd of January unless you kept reminding us.  Now, let's move on the news that is important to everyone, not just the poor, oppressed Ladue-ites, having their perfectly pristine community overrun with COMMUTERS!!!!  However will they cope, having their publicly-built roadways with the riff-raff actually going to work.  And the poor children, who may actually have to ride the bus to school -- the schools must have added extra counselors just to deal with the stress.

I think I speak for most of your remaining viewers when I beg you to move on to actual news, that would be events that are really happening, and affect the entire community.  I used to think that the laziest thing the news stations do is shoot and "report" every shooting and empty-house fire that happened, because that fills precious seconds of your shows.  But the 40 coverage has been less informative than it has been obnoxious.

Now that your leader is moving on, and taking his "fox attitude" with him, you can get back to covering news.