Mike Pomeranz Takes KARE of His Career

Image via WikipediaAnother news anchor at KARE (NBC Channel 11) is headed west.  You might recall that Paul Magers, the most popular Twin Cities anchor since brother Ron (now at WLS-ABC 7 in Chicago), left for the bright lights of Los Angeles a few years ago.  Now he's the star anchor at KCBS there.

Mike Pomeranz, who survived six years at KARE mainly because he didn't directly succeed Magers (Frank Vascellaro did and paid the price.  He ended up at WCCO-Channel 4 co-anchoring with wife Amelia Santaniello.), has taken a job with the San Diego Padres to be part of their baseball telecasts. Pomeranz was once a pitcher in the Minnesota Twins' minor league system, so it wasn't a surprise when he began moonlighting as a part-time host on Fox Sports North.

No disrespect to Pomeranz, who did a fine job of anchoring. With his departure, maybe it's time for KARE to rethink its news coverage.  They used to have the top-rated newscast under Magers.  But that was before NBC's prime time ratings tanked, and WCCO started beating KARE at their own game of "news lite".  Besides, their longstanding reputation as the "KARE Bears" was wearing thin.

Owner Gannett doesn't seem to spend much money on KARE these days, its profits suffering along with every other media organization in the Great Recession.  Due to layoffs and cutbacks, sportscasters Randy Shaver and Eric Perkins have had to double as news readers.  The weather department's "backyard" is still an asset, though no longer a novelty since the days of Paul Douglas.  And, except for its website, KARE is one of the few NBC affiliates that doesn't use the peacock in its logo.  Should we read something into that?

Check out You Tube, and you'll find a video montage of Gannett stations in Denver, Cleveland and elsewhere using the same driving music and opening for its newscasts.  They literally scream "Big Market Local News!".  Now check out the opening for "KARE 11 News".  Their new-age music puts you in the mood for "News 4 Missoula Midday".
 
Oh, KARE does win awards for feature reporting and for photography.  Reporter Boyd Huppert has won a truckload of journalism honors for his "Land of 10,000 Stories", some of which has gotten the attention of NBC News.  But it seems that KARE is more concerned with community service than with breaking news and investigative reports, what with "Eleven Who Care" (we call it "Eleven, Who Cares?") and various charity events.

This is the station Mike Pomeranz leaves behind in late March.  His replacement hasn't been selected yet, but whoever that person is had better channel his inner Matt Lauer than his inner Brian Williams.

UPDATE:  And the winner of the Great KARE-11 Anchor Search is (drumroll please) . . . Randy Shaver.  Shock.  Surprise.  He's been subbing as anchor for the past few weeks, sometimes with Julie Nelson.  He'll do well, but you have to wonder if the station did a real search, or if they just told Shaver:  "Hey, the job's yours if you want it."  Shaver starts July 16, just in time for the Olympics on NBC.  Now who's going to replace him on sports?

The Politics of Pink

Image via WikipediaWomen make up half the population of the United States (or close to it).  They have become a major presence in the workplace, and gaining ground in the boardrooms and the halls of government.

Yes, as the cigarette ads used to say, women have come a long way.  Society is better off for that.

So how come they don't seem to be in charge when it comes to their own bodies?  In a word, politics.

• The Susan G. Komen organization briefly pulled its funding from Planned Parenthood, which handles breast cancer screenings as well as family planning, because of their alleged misgivings over PP's better-known mission concerning abortion.  Breast cancer survivors and others who have supported Komen's work in the past responded by pulling their funding, and in some cases moving them to PP, causing Komen to give up.  Thanks to Komen's act of stupidity, breast cancer has been needlessly politicized.
• The Obama administration got into it with the Catholic Church over requiring faith-based health care providers to allow coverage for women employees seeking contraceptives.  Since Obama needs Catholic votes to ensure another term for himself, that requirement was taken out and put on the backs of insurance companies.
• It may be nearly 40 years since Roe v. Wade, but a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy has become an endangered species.  With religious and political zealots placing ridiculous restrictions on those women while picketing at the few remaining clinics that still perform legal abortions, it's no wonder they get scared into having a child they don't want or can't afford--and the rest of us pick up the tab.  
• If you're a conservative Republican running for President Obama's job, it's a given that you're anti-choice.  If you happen to be Rick Santorum, who believes contraception should be outlawed, and whose major financial contributor makes a bad joke on TV about women who practice birth control by putting aspirin in the place between their thighs . . . well, that's something else altogether.
• Republican congressman Darrell Issa recently chaired a Capitol Hill hearing on contraception that lacked one thing:  testimony from a woman.

Women fought for the right to vote nearly 100 years ago.  They kept the country running while the men fought the Second World War.  They fought for equal rights while breaking down barriers in areas previously closed to them.

Now women must fight again, this time to protect their bodies against government interference, party politics and religious intolerance.  They may have come a long way, but they still have a long way to go.

Whitney Houston (1963-2012): Almost Having It All

Image via WikipediaWhitney Houston died in a Beverly Hills hotel the night before the Grammy Awards at the age of 48.  Police haven't figured out the cause just yet, but anyone who's followed her life and career in the past few years could have told you it would end the way it did.

Houston had a great career as a singer with a powerful voice in the 1980s and 90s with hit records like "I Will Always Love You", which topped Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart for a then-record 14 weeks at the end of 1992.

She performed the "Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl in Tampa in 1991, not long after the United States entered the first Gulf War.  A recording of it made the pop charts soon after, and was released again following the 9/11 attacks.

Houston became an actress, appearing in such films as "The Bodyguard" with Kevin Costner and "Waiting to Exhale". 

She had initially benefited from great musical bloodlines.  Her mother was gospel singer Cissy Houston.  Her cousin was Dionne Warwick.  And her godmother was Aretha Franklin.

Houston became a major influence to future stars Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, and others who now grace TV singing competitions--for better or worse.

But that was 20 years ago.  In recent years, Houston was much better known to a tabloid-saturated public as a former diva with drug problems, and whose bizarre marriage to R&B star Bobby Brown was chronicled on reality TV for one season.  She did attempt a comeback with an album and a worldwide concert tour in 2009, but that fizzled.

Whitney Houston's life wasn't a train wreck.  It was a plane crash.  All the bright promise of her early career disintegrated into just another Hollywood cautionary tale of substance abuse and bad relationships, and all the help that she reportedly was offered didn't take.  But the music remains, and that will last much longer than one moment in time.

Santorum's Symbolic Sweep

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeIt's Rick Santorum's turn in the political spotlight.  The former Republican Senator from Pennsylvania staged an upset of sorts Tuesday, winning caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado and a primary in Missouri.  Mitt Romney, the acknowledged GOP front runner, finished out of the money.  Ron Paul, the party's resident libertarian, had his best showing with a second-place finish in the Gopher State.  And Newt Gingrich was a no-show in the Show Me State because he wasn't on the ballot there.

That's impressive for Santorum, but it doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot in the long run because these were non-binding primaries and caucuses.  No delegates were won here.  That will be decided at a later date, and by then the nomination could be wrapped up in Romney's favor.

So what happened to Romney?  Can you say overconfidence?  He won Minnesota in 2008, but visited the state only once this time (in Eagan) and got glitter-bombed by some activist.  Also, voters are starting to react to the millions of dollars Romney and friends have spent on negative advertising in primary states, most of it used to tear down Gingrich.  Not to mention gaffes such as betting $10,000 with one of his debate opponents, and saying on TV that he doesn't really care about the poor.

Santorum spent more time than the other candidates in Minnesota, visiting sweater factories and suburban mega-churches, building support as a real conservative alternative to Romney.  As in Santorum is Christian and Romney is not.

It's been reported that more than 45,000 Republicans attended the caucuses in Minnesota Tuesday, far fewer than four years ago.  The reason few people give a rip about caucuses is that they exclude all but the most politically committed in the guise of public meetings, and both Republicans and Democrats want it that way.

So what does voting for Santorum say about Republicans in Minnesota?  That they're a bunch of backward hicks who want to keep women barefoot and pregnant, who don't want to pay taxes, and who believe God is on their side?  Then maybe most Minnesotans were better off staying home.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama's job approval ratings are improving, and so is the economy.  But he's not just sitting back and letting the GOP candidates stumble through the primaries.  The President has just allowed a Super PAC to be formed on his behalf, after vowing never to use one.  He had to, really, because taking the high road while negative ads put up by the Romney campaign are all over TV is just wishful thinking if he wants a second term.

And it's still a long way to November.

Controversy "Imported From Detroit"

Image via WikipediaOver 110 million American TV viewers watched the Super Bowl Sunday night.  Besides the game (won by the New York Giants 21-17 over the New England Patriots) and the Unholy Finger wagged by hip hop star M.I.A during Madonna's halftime performance, there were the commercials that advertisers spent millions to get on the air.

Oh sure, there were cute dogs and sexy women selling everything from beer and snack food to brokerage firms and websites.  But the one that stood out included none of the above.  Instead, it was Clint Eastwood giving us a pep talk for Chrysler on why it's "Halftime In America".

If for some reason you haven't seen the ad yet, go to You Tube right now.  We'll wait.

There it was.  Amid the bleakness of modern-day Detroit, Eastwood is telling us that America has been down before, but never out.  And it's not gonna happen this time, either.  This may not be "Morning In America", but it certainly isn't "go ahead, make my day" either.  Oh yes, there's a few cars in here too, just to remind you that the sponsor is Chrysler.

This is an interesting commercial, considering that Detroit's auto industry was down on its knees a few years ago, staring at bankruptcy.  Then the government came to its rescue, bailing out Chrysler and General Motors (only Ford didn't take the bait) for billions of dollars while going through court-mandated restructuring.  Chrysler was purchased by Italian automaker Fiat, which means it's not really an American-owned company any more.

Today, people are buying cars again.  With fewer plants, dealers, workers and brands, the Detroit automakers are profitable again after paying off most of their government loans.

Politically speaking, this commercial had something for everyone.  Conservatives hate it because they opposed the bailout to begin with, and because they think it was nothing more than a campaign ad for President Barack Obama.  Progressive love it because it puts the country's economic challenges in sharp relief, and that Obama's stimulus package is working.  The White House has said that they have nothing to do with the ad, but doesn't seem to have a problem with its message.

Eastwood, who's had a long career acting and directing in the movies, is a Republican who was once mayor of Carmel, California.  He opposed the bailout, too, but he wasn't above appearing in a commercial that went beyond selling cars.  He also said that he's not politically aligned with Obama.

It's been reported that, although millions of people are still out of work, the unemployment rate is going down.  Maybe Clint Eastwood is right.  The country's about to launch a second-half comeback.  Just like the New York Giants.

Don Cornelius (1936-2012)

soultrain (Photo credit: Pants Pants)On the first day of Black History Month, TV pioneer Don Cornelius took his own life at his home outside Los Angeles.  He was 75.

Cornelius started a little "American Bandstand" type of TV show in Chicago that was aimed at African-American audiences.  It grew into a national syndicated powerhouse that ran from 1970 to 2006, the longest such show in TV history ("Wheel of Fortune" is in its 29th season), with Cornelius hosting for much of it.  The name of the show was "Soul Train".

"Soul Train" was not only the place where the hottest R&B acts performed, and where one could watch the latest dance moves, but it was also where the kids could learn a few things about African-Americans and their history through The Scramble Board.  That's where contestants had a minute to decipher the name of a person or event.

This is what "Soul Train" has wrought besides dance trends and music careers:  Exposure for African-Americans on TV in an era before cable and the Internet.  Advertisers started to take notice and began marketing to that audience.  And products intended for African-Americans started turning up in suburban shopping malls.

"Soul Train" was a big deal in cities with significant African-American populations such as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.  But in places like Minneapolis-St. Paul, where there's not as much of a minority population, coverage was hit-or-miss.  When a station chose to carry "Soul Train" and other shows like it, it would seldom be on when people could actually watch it.  It sometimes seemed as if those stations used "Soul Train" as evidence to the FCC of their commitment to minority programming.

Should someone bring "Soul Train" back to TV, maybe a future pair of contestants will try to unscramble the name "Don Cornelius" on The Scramble Board.  But for now, "Soul Train" and its conductor have left the station.  As Cornelius would say to close his show:  "Wishing you love, peace and soul".