It's been a few weeks, so let's get right to it:
Major changes at KFOX: The big news from KFOX last week was that morning anchor Ben Swann is gone. Station officials would say only that his contract was up and that negotiations were "fruitless." Expect a replacement within a few weeks. Sara Morris leaves to take a weekend anchor job in Virginia Beach. Arleen Barrios moves up to full-time reporter, leaving a traffic anchor/morning reporter position open.
The big news today is the promotion of Elizabeth O’Hara, from interim to News Director at KFOX. She started in March 2000, was an Emmy-award winner, and moved to weekend anchor in 2002 and primetime anchor in 2004.
At KTSM, reporter Amanda Hernandez leaves to Las Vegas' CBS affiliate; General Sales Manager Danny Aguilar heads to the Weslaco/McAllen/Brownsville ABC affiliate.
***
More moving up: El Paso market, from No. 99 in the country to No. 98.
***
The El Paso Times scored a major coup in getting an interview with Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell. During the interview, a transcript of which was published, McConnell made some comments about FISA that became the basis for national news when they were picked up by the Associated Press.
However, the Times itself did not do the story, instead focusing on a minor part of the story (titled "Intelligence Chief Sees Border as Terrorist Entryway," it was a non-story because McConnell simply stated the obvious, that terrorists could get here by plane, boat, or crossing the border). Does this mean the Times missed the scoop under its own nose? Media Watch thought so, especially after a laudatory piece in Editor and Publisher [link]
in which the interviewee gave reporter Chris Roberts credit for the scoop, even though Roberts, or his editors, failed to highlight the information by breaking it out as a story, or even as a highlight in an introduction to the interview, which was only available online.
Times Online Editor Jay Koester disagreed that the Times missed its own scoop, arguing that the transcript of the interview stood on its own. Roberts said editors determined that local readers would be more interested in the border issues discussed in the interview, but that he knew the other issues were nationally important: "That's why I spent time typing the 150 inches and telling them we needed to put it online. And I think the purpose has been served by the response we got ... the content is there and it's available. I had no doubt the information would get out."
***
The backlash to the backlash is under way. Texas Monthly did an article on the Ramos-Compean case titled, "Badges of Dishonor." Salon also did a piece (discussion of which can be found on the Strelz forum). The gist of these pieces is that the evidence indicates the agents did wrong, and most of the issue has been ginned up by the right-wing anti-immigrant publicity machine. On the other hand, supporters of the agent unveiled a new website aimed at continuing to rally support (as if more than 100 appearances on Lou Dobbs wasn't enough). That can be found here.
***
Washington Post published this column by Alexander Cockburn on militarization of the border. [link]
Excerpts: "The U.S. Border Patrol has just unveiled a total makeover of its traditional uniform. Shiny badges and other emblems of law enforcement are out. Our frontier troops will now have a look more in keeping with their role as frontier troops, with lightweight fatigues and better weapons. Agent Ramon Ramirez told the Associated Press that the new garb looks more military, 'like you mean business.'
"... While immigration 'reform' bills may come and go, the threat of illegal immigration will continue to expand. This is a certainty not because of the state of the Mexican economy or because of government laxity here, but because border control is now an integral part of the military-industrial national security system, which has a long history of profiteering from purported dangers to our safety."
"All those extra Border Patrol officers may be expensive, but as any general or admiral worth his salt will tell you, it's technology -- the more complex and "state of the art," the better -- that really runs up the bills and brings home the pork. This trend is typified by the soaring surveillance towers, not to mention soaring cost, of SBInet (as in Safe Border Initiative), a high-technology surveillance system managed by Boeing."
"It seems safe to assume that $30 billion and more from now, migrants will still be sneaking in to mow our lawns and clean our discount stores, and that this ongoing threat will ensure ever-expanding rounds of spending. That's what 'militarization of the border' is all about."
***
El Pasoans in the news:
-- Border expert Tony Payan, a professor of political science at the University of Texas at El Paso, said Mexican police are "extremely incompetent," poorly trained and lack sufficient forensic equipment or laboratories to conduct complex investigations.
"The likelihood that the police will solve these cases is very, very low," Payan said. [link]
-- Aarón Sanchez (sort of an El Pasoan), the chef and owner of Paladar on the Lower East Side, "Well, the one place I would really love to be is sitting in my grandmother's house in El Paso. She would obviously be alive, and she would make me her famous refried beans, her homemade chorizo, her tortillas—everything homemade, of course." [link]
***
Did this really happen? Does anyone remember this? Tracy Morgan is getting a divorce, according to this Web site, partly because of erratic behavior like this: "Last spring, he had a media relations meltdown during a morning TV show appearance in El Paso, Texas, where he declared that 'somebody's going to get pregnant while I'm in town.' [link]
Update: Yes, it really happened. Here it is: [link]
***
No more staged film on England's Channel 5: Banned are "noddy" shots, where reporters are shown supposedly reacting to interviewees, but which are actually filmed afterwards,
"contrived" walking shots in which people are filmed strolling towards the camera,
"cut-away" shots and staged scenes in which reporters are filmed repeating their questions after they have finished their interviews.
[link]
***
Moles Wanted
Do you have any idea how many Deep Throats it takes to develop this column? Hundreds. We’ve got moles in every medium, so don’t run and hide. Share the news and email us at npt@epmediagroup.com. We love to hear from you.
