Charlotte Local News Story - WSOC-TV

This morning on WSOC-TV Channel 9 news in Charlotte, NC, I caught the tail-end of a story about something happening overnight at the Student Union at UNC Charlotte. It was either a fire or a gas leak or something. There were fire trucks shown parking outside the Union in the segment that I missed.

Since I missed the entire story, but wanted to hear what happened, I went to the www.wsoctv.com website to hopefully read an accompanying article. However, there wasn't one.

I sent an email inquiry to the station, asking why there wasn't an article, because I felt there should be some consistency in their stories.

My response from Robin Whitmeyer, News Director was:

Our website (wsoctv.com) is not, nor will it be, a direct copy of every news item that we broadcast on television. We have to make editorial decisions on what the "web user" needs and not every news item will be posted. Since there were no injuries or health issues involved, this was not viewed as an item to be posted. Every day the editorial judgments are different- based on weather, news and traffic items.

Ouch. It sounds like Ms. Whitmeyer needs some customer service training. What crawled up her ass? Nor will it ever be? An interested viewer contacts the station looking for information about a news story that was broadcast and that's the kind of response one gets? If the "story" was important enough to warrant a broadcast on the morning news, including film footage, wouldn't it be important enough to put on the website, too? Obviously not.

This "web user's" needs were not met, so I guess there's no need for me to even visit the site unless I'm looking for information about an injury or death. For your information, Ms. Whitmeyer, there are other news stories of equal value and importance.

UPDATE: Thankfully, News Channel 14 was happy to post information about the incident on their website.

A Lukewarm Reception

I wrote an email to Sprint asking them why my densely populated neighborhood in a major US city only came up with "fair" reception on their grid, meaning my cell phone might work outdoors, but most likely wouldn't work indoors at all.

I got an email response back quickly. They apologized for the "fair" reception and, as a token of their concern, added an additional 60 minutes every month onto my plan. Great! So I can not use these 60 minutes from home just like the other 700.

Phil Spector, Guilty of Murder!

Phil Spector, the legendary record producer, eccentric and recluse with a reputation for building walls around people as much as his signature music, was found guilty of second-degree murder by Los Angeles jurors today in the 2003 shooting death of cult-movie star Lana Clarkson.

ISF: I think the REAL crime here is that hairdon't.

Madonna and No-Child

Madonna will not be allowed to adopt a second child from Malawi, a 4-year-old girl named Mercy James, the African country's High Court ruled on Friday. The ruling will please campaigners who say authorities have given the singer special treatment. Malawi's government, which came under fire after Madonna adopted a 13-month-old Malawian boy, had said on Thursday it would support a second adoption. Court registrar Ken Manda told reporters Madonna's bid to adopt Mercy had been rejected because the star was not a resident of Malawi.

An AIDS epidemic in the impoverished southern African country has orphaned more than one million children. In her ruling, Judge Esimie Chombo warned against celebrity adoptions, saying they could lead to child trafficking. "Anyone could come to Malawi and quickly arrange for an adoption that might have grave consequences on the very children that the law seeks to protect," she said.

Prominent rights activist Mavuto Bamusi defined said the decision was a "defining moment for child protection" but urged the pop star to continue her charity work. "We finally appeal to Madonna to take this positively and continue to help the children of this country," he told Reuters.

ISF: Uh huh. Ask the kid about her "defining moment" twenty years from now when she has a starving kid hanging off each tit and eating what resembles shit from a clay bowl.

"We finally appeal to Madonna to take this positively and continue to help the children of this country." We hate you, but please keep sending money!

Fly the Friendly Skies. Or not. Whatever. We don't care.

I received an email today from United's E-Fares:
"Thank you for having subscribed to our E-Fares emails. These weekly emails are being discontinued, and this is the last issue that you will receive. E-Fares will continue to be available on united.com Tuesday through Friday of each week. To see these fares, you can select the E-Fares link in the News & Deals section of the United.com home page or on the Special Deals page, whenever E-Fares are available. You can also use the united.com booking tool and look for fares marked with a blue star and the label " E-Fares." We hope that you will continue to enjoy available discounted fares each week through united.com."

In other words:
"We feel confident enough in this economy to not have to use free email marketing to advertise our fares. If you want to know what they are, you can go out of your way to check our website, so we don't have to provide this service for you. In other words, please market United to yourself. For us. Thanks!"

Drop it like it's Brown!

Wrigley says it's suspending ad campaigns featuring Chris Brown as its spokesman for Doublemint gum. The company stopped short of saying they will drop the troubled R&B star completely. A company statement expresses concern about what it calls "serious allegations made against Chris Brown." He was arrested Sunday night for an alleged battery on a woman, and canceled his Grammy performance. Wrigley said it would suspend any current advertising or any related marketing until the situation is resolved, adding that the 19-year-old should be "afforded the same due process as any citizen."

ISF: Oh, come ON. It's not like he was smoking pot or anything at a party. He just beat up a girl! Give the guy a break...

Friday Morning Headlines

Two headlines on Friday morning:

(1) Economy shrinks at 3.8 percent pace in 4Q (AP) - The economy shrank at a 3.8 percent pace at the end of 2008, the worst showing in a quarter-century, as the deepening recession forced consumers and businesses to throttle back spending.

(2) Exxon Mobil sets record with $45.2 billion profit (AP)


ISF: Huh. Am I the only one who sees anything wrong with this picture?

Exhaustion

What the fuck is up with Celebrity Exhaustion (CE)? It seems like every other week there's some new celebrity or pseudo-celebrity who suffers from "exhaustion" and must be hospitalized. The latest being Lindsay Lohan's girltoy, Samantha Ronson, DJ-extraordinaire. What's really exhausted is their illegal drug supply. Do they think the American people are that stupid? Oh, wait...they did vote (allegedly) for George W. Bush. Twice. Now I'm exhausted. Medic!

Heeeeeeeeeeeeere's your bailout!

Publicist Howard Bragman confirmed that TV icon Ed McMahon and his wife have no plans to move from their home, which has been facing foreclosure for nine months. Bragman said he doesn't have details about the deal that's allowing the 85-year-old McMahon to stay, but added: "They ain't leaving." Public records show there was a series of transfers of the loans last month on McMahon's house. A Southern California company, Foreclosure Trackers Inc., has taken credit for brokering the deal and say they plan to negotiate a better deal for McMahon. For months, several people, including Lee and Donald Trump, have pledged to help McMahon and save his house.

WP: Whew. Thank God. First the automakers, now Ed McMahon. I hope the gov't has a plan in place to help out the oil companies next, now that gas has gotten "cheap."

In a time of bleak financial news, Bragman expressed hope that the resolution to McMahon's situation served as a good omen. We hope every other American in trouble has the same experience," he said.

WP: Yes, Bragman (ironic name, eh?), I'm sure every other American will have the same experience with Donald Trump and mortgage companies. Thank you for your genuine concern. Now kindly take your legal fees and get the fuck outta my face.

Worst. Opening. Ever.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/delgo-worst-opening-ever.html

Umm...here's why the film did poorly, people: nobody had ever heard about it or seen anything about it! I saw Madagascar 2 and Bolt in the past couple of months. Neither featured a preview of this Delgo. There was no buzz about it online. There was nothing about it in Entertainment Weekly. I was flipping through a magazine a couple of weeks ago at the doctor's office, saw an ad for the movie, and thought, "What's that? I've never even heard of it." Then Monday comes around and I see that the movie opened this past weekend. It looks like crap anyway from the movie poster, but a little promotion (and previewing) of the stupid movie might have helped it. A little .