Reel to Too Real in Colorado

AURORA, CO - JULY 20: A Popcorn box lies on the ground outside Century 16 movie theatre where a gunmen attacked movie goers during an early morning screening of the new Batman movie, 'The Dark Knight Rises' July 20, 2012 in Aurora, outside of Denver, Colorado. According to reports, 12 people have been killed and at least 59 wounded when James Holmes allegedly opened fire inside the a movie theater showing the 'The Dark Knight Rises.' Police have James, 24, of Holmes of North Aurora, in custody. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

It's lovely in the Rocky Mountains at this time of year, as people bask in the natural beauty that John Denver once sang about.   As for the rest of the state of Colorado, it's getting considerably uglier.  First, Colorado Springs was nearly burned to the ground by wildfires.  Now, not far from where the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 took place, the Denver area has another one of those to deal with. 

At an Aurora movie complex, where a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" was taking place, a man tossed a smoke bomb and started shooting at the audience.  As of Friday night, according to the website for ABC station KMGH, 12 people are dead and 58 are wounded.

Police arrested James Holmes, who they believe is the only suspect in the shootings and is not terrorist-related.  Not only was Holmes alleged to have brought four legally-bought assault weapons into the theater, but he was reported to have told police his apartment nearby is ringed with explosives.

Along with reporting on the dead and injured in a situation like this, the media usually like to "include" the fact that women and children were involved, as if they're a special species apart from humankind.  In this case, a months-old infant was injured in the shooting, then released from the hospital.  Excuse me.  This was a movie that was shown after midnight.  What the hell were the parents thinking, letting their kids out at that hour?

This isn't the first time tragedy has visited the current "Batman" movie franchise.  Heath Ledger, who played The Joker in the first "Dark Knight" installment, had died after filming due to a drug overdose.  He was awarded posthumously in 2008 with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.  (Holmes was said to have told police that he came into the Aurora theater pretending to be the Joker.)

In times like these, people running for public office usually say something pious like this:  "Now is not the time for politics.  We must all stand together as Americans.  Our hearts go out to the victims of this terrible tragedy".  Too late.  ABC News had to back off of a Brian Ross report linking the alleged shooter to the Tea Party.  And CNN aired a political attack ad from President Obama's campaign during its coverage of the massacre.

Gun control?  Are you kidding?

Coming soon to a theater near you?  Security checkpoints, where you can either be wanded, or poked and prodded by a minimum-wage screener.  That'll add a buck or two to the price you already pay just to buy a ticket to the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

Once you finally get in to see the movie and pay extra for those big tubs of butter-drenched popcorn and soda, you'll also have to endure on-screen commercials and rude patrons with smart phones.  Now you have to worry about some individual whose actions don't gibe with what's on the screen.

Apropos of nothing, Warner Brothers is expected to rake in billions of dollars around the world for "The Dark Knight Rises".  Understandably, the studio is keeping a low profile on this one, giving sympathy to the victims of the massacre while watching the money roll in.

You know who really benefits from all of this, unseemly as it sounds?  Netflix, and other new technologies where it's now possible to stream movies from your computer.  Not only is it cheaper and safer, but there simply is no movie out there that can't wait a few months for the video release.

Yes, it is lovely in the Rockies this time of year.  In the shadow of the mountains, families will be grieving for the ones who thought the violence of Gotham City existed only on the big screen, instead of being right in front of them.  So did we.

Tom Barnard Sticks With KQRS. World Disaster Averted.

92 KQRS Morning Show (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Proof that the Mayan Apocalypse isn't happening:  Tom Barnard is remaining with KQRS (92.5 FM) as ringmaster of "The KQ Morning Show" until 2016.  Barnard had previously announced that he was leaving the Twin Cities-based station when his contract came up this coming December, which just happens to be when the Mayan calendar was ending.

Barnard has been at KQ for a quarter century, with much of it spent at the top of the local morning radio ratings--some would say by default, because of the lack of quality competition on other stations.  There have also been times when Barnard's mocking of certain minority groups made headlines, causing KQRS management to make apologies and promises to the aggrieved parties that it would never happen again.

Lately, Barnard has been ripping KQ's current owner Cumulus Media on the air for its allegedly poor treatment of its employees and the radio stations they run.  So it's surprising that Barnard and Cumulus have decided to stay together.  Either they needed each other, or Barnard figured he had nowhere else to go.

As part of the new deal, Barnard's show now runs nearly four and a half hours from 5:38 to 10 a.m., which means he's no longer throwing it to Wally Walker at 9:20 with another long set of classic rock.  What will he do with the extra time?

KQRS is no longer the powerhouse radio station it used to be in the Twin Cities market.  That honor now belongs to (depending on the ratings book) country K102, adult hits KS95, and contemporary KDWB.  KQ has had a classic album rock sound since the 1970s, and its listeners are growing old along with it.

So what's Cumulus gonna do about it?  They have already switched the Love 105 stations to an adult contemporary format.  They're starting all-news stations on FM in some cities.  And they've made a distribution deal with the new CBS Sports Radio network, which will replace the one they've had with ESPN.  They could change KQ or sister rock station 93X into a news or sports outlet if they really wanted to.

Or Cumulus could decide to keep things the way they are.  Given the way the radio business is going, it's possible that the only local voice left on KQRS by 2016 could be Tom Barnard--if he's there long enough.  Everything else will be programmed by computer from somewhere else.  It may not be the end of the world, in terms of radio.  It'll just seem like it.

Randy Shaver: Third Time Lucky

KARE (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Randy Shaver has been at KARE (Channel 11) for nearly three decades, the last few years as the Twin Cities' NBC affiliate's sports director.  On occasion he's been moonlighting as a substitute news anchor, and apparently he did such a good job that he found himself on the short list as a future candidate to sit next to co-anchor Julie Nelson.

Having been passed over twice, Shaver finally gets his chance as KARE's new evening and 10 p.m. news anchor, starting July 16.  He replaces Mike Pomeranz, who moved to California to work on San Diego Padres baseball telecasts.

It doesn't sound as if KARE or its parent company Gannett put much effort into finding a replacement for Pomeranz.  Instead, what they probably did was to give Shaver a test run before offering him the job.

Shaver isn't the first sports guy in this market to make the switch to news.  There's Jeff Passolt at KMSP (Channel 9), who used to do sports on KARE.  Joe Schmit of KSTP (Channel 5) briefly co-anchored "5 Eyewitness News" in between stints as the station's sports director.  And Eric Perkins doubles as weekend news and sports anchor on KARE.

With ESPN and the Internet, there's not much of a need for folks to tune in to see how the local sports teams did these days.  (In fact, there are some local stations that have dropped the sports segments on newscasts.)  Instead, if it's a major sports story such as the Minnesota Wild signing two big-name free agents or the latest Viking to run afoul of the law, you're more likely to find it at the top of the newscast alongside the Amy Senser trial coverage and the anchors promoting their latest projects.

Shaver isn't abandoning sports completely.  He's still going to recap high school football games on "Prep Sports Extra" during the fall, which doesn't leave much to do for whoever replaces Shaver as sports director.

With Shaver's promotion, KARE should become less of a girls' club than they already are, matching its suburban mom audience.  Besides Nelson, there's weekend anchor Rena Sargianopolous, Belinda Jensen on weather, and reporters Jana Shortal and Lindsay Seavert (who just moved over from WCCO).  How many male personalities on the station can you name besides Shaver, Perkins and Boyd Huppert?

Randy Shaver should do well in his new position.  But the fact that he is now a news anchor after so many years in sports raises an interesting point.  Anybody can read what someone else has written on a Teleprompter, and sound like he or she knows what they're talking about.  Anybody.  At least that's what they seem to teach in News Anchoring 101.

UPDATE;  Shaver's old position has been filled by none other than Eric Perkins, who takes over as KARE's sports director as soon as the Olympics are over.  Which means he's no longer going to double-dip in news and sports on weekends.  And maybe, just maybe, he'll get over himself and grow up.

Andy Griffith (1926-2012): Mayberry's Finest

N_79_1_10 Andy Griffith (Photo credit: State Archives of North Carolina)

On Monday nights in the 1960s, viewers gathered in front of their TVs to watch the adventures of Sheriff Andy Taylor, enforcing law and order in the small North Carolina town of Mayberry.  Unlike the rest of America at that time, Mayberry had almost no crime, and the stories were mostly about Taylor's relationship with the townsfolk and his family.

It was called "The Andy Griffith Show", which began as a spinoff from "The Danny Thomas Show".  It ran on CBS from 1960-68, and continues to be popular in reruns today.  Tuesday, the show's star and namesake died in his North Carolina home at age 86.

"The Andy Griffith Show" created so many other memorable characters besides Sheriff Taylor.  There was Barney Fife (played by Don Knotts), Gomer Pyle (who moved on to his own show), Goober (played by George Lindsey, who died recently) and Aunt Bea, just to name a few.  Taylor's son Opie was played by Ron Howard, who is now an Oscar-winning movie director.

(To those who complained that "The Andy Griffith Show" should have had blacks in the cast, they need to be reminded that the 1960s were a racially sensitive time.  Appalling as it sounds, if there was so much as one African-American face in Mayberry, CBS would have lost sponsors and stations in the South over this.)

Before Griffith hit it big on TV, he began his career in the 1950s as a standup comedian.  Then he had a starring role on Broadway and in the movies in "No Time For Sergeants".  In 1957, Griffith turned to drama as a country bumpkin-turned-power mad TV star in the film "A Face In The Crowd".  This is a role that's as far away from Andy Taylor as you're going to get.  Watch this movie the next time TCM shows it.

Griffith had one more TV success after his Mayberry days ended, and that was as a crusading attorney in the "Perry Mason" mode named Ben Matlock.  "Matlock" ran for nearly a decade (1986-95) on NBC and ABC.

For eight seasons on TV, Mayberry was this mythical nirvana of small-town values populated by down-to earth citizens.  Andy Griffith made this come alive.  And if you listen closely, you could still hear Sheriff Taylor whistling a tune as he takes Opie fishing.

"Obamacare" Gets Clean Bill of Health

Official 2005 photo of Chief Justice John G. Roberts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld most of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act Thursday by a narrow 5-4 margin.  Which is a surprise because most folks in and out of Washington believed all or part of the law would be struck down.

What's even more of a shocker is that Chief Justice John Roberts, who normally votes with the conservative majority, went with the progressive justices on the Court in this matter as the deciding vote.  Maybe Roberts doesn't always want to be seen as this conservative sellout who happens to be Chief Justice.

Most of the provisions in "Obamacare" (some of which are already in effect)--no denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, young adults being insured until age 26 on their parents' policy, banning lifetime financial limits--will remain.  Expanding coverage to more low-income folks will not.

What the Court modified was the provision that everyone has to have health insurance by 2014, which is when the law goes into effect.  Now consumers face a choice:  Get covered now, or face a big tax bill later.  Some choice.  Many of those who can't afford health insurance now surely don't have the money to pay the IRS.

This is a huge win for the President in an election year, and for a Democratic party that's been mostly in hiding since Republicans have been beating their chests over wanting to repeal health care reform.  After the Supreme Court's decision, GOP leaders in the House still want to get rid of it and replace it with . . . whatever.  The Democratic-controlled Senate and the President will likely turn those notions back.

Meanwhile, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney loses more credibility every time he talks about repealing "Obamacare" once he's in the White House.  Wasn't this the guy who, as Governor of Massachusetts, was for health care reform before he was against it?

Because the Affordable Health Care Act has been so controversial for so long, this will be a campaign issue long after the dust has settled on what the Supreme Court thinks about it.  When was the last time Republicans and other conservatives got so up-in-arms over the Court's opinion about a public health issue?  Well, it's been forty years since that ruling, and we're still seeing protests (some of it violent) at medical clinics and states making restrictions about what kind of care these particular patients are allowed to have.  The political and social landscape has never been the same since that ruling.

Maybe you've heard of it.  It's called Roe v. Wade.

Supreme Court: Waiting for the Main Course

US Supreme Court building, front elevation, steps and portico. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Everyone was waiting on Monday for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on President Obama's health care reform laws.  That's everyone from the White House to Congress to health insurance companies to the media to ordinary folks, ready to react if justices rule one way or another.

But the notoriously camera-shy justices opted to apply an old showbiz maxim before releasing their decision on Thursday:  "Make 'Em Wait".  Until then, here's a roundup of some of the rulings the Court has made so far.

• The Arizona law where immigrants who are arrested or detained have to show their papers (should they have any) to police was upheld, with the other parts of the law struck down.  Which means, with Obama signing an executive order easing laws for children of undocumented workers, the states have less power to do what the government can't or won't do to control the border as they see fit.
• A 100-year old Montana law limiting the amount of money companies can give to political campaigns was struck down, making it consistent with the Citizens United ruling of a couple of years ago.  Which means the (conservative) justices seem to know which side their bread is buttered on, not to mention who's doing the buttering.  Remember kids, corporations are people, too.

This also happens to be the 40th anniversary of the Watergate scandal, arising out of a burglary at the Democratic National Committee headquarters.  The litany of dirty tricks and corruption brought down President Richard Nixon, put several of his cronies in prison, and made campaign finance reform the law--at least for awhile.  Is that what it's going to take before Citizens United rears its ugly head?

• The Court struck down fines levied by the Federal Communications Commission against Fox and ABC for showing celebrities swearing on awards shows and naked female backsides on police dramas in a fleeting fashion (in that order), saying that the government's rules against that sort of thing are too vague.  The justices did not address the constitutionality of what the FCC considers indecent.  So nothing really changes.  The broadcast networks still can't air certain words or body parts on the allegedly  public airwaves without being heavily fined.  It's just that the FCC needs to clarify its rules a little.

Without minimizing the importance of those rulings, it's safe to say that the preliminaries are out of the way.  When the Supreme Court's decision on Obamacare is handed down Thursday, this is going to set the tone for the rest of the presidential campaign.  And the justices will be nowhere near Washington when that happens.

Rude Awakening at the White House

President Barack Obama has many challenges to deal with every day, which is typical of any Chief Executive regardless of party.  In an election year, those challenges multiply if you're running for another term, and all the nitpickers are watching your every move.

If it isn't running against Republican Mitt Romney, it's an economic crisis in Europe that threatens to damage the recovery here (and some of you are wondering:  What recovery?).  If it isn't awaiting a Supreme Court decision on health care reform, it's criticism about the lack of response to the violence in Syria and the elections in Egypt.

With all that going on, the last thing the President needed was to be interrupted during a speech by a member of the media.  During a White House event announcing the news that Obama had signed an executive order allowing children of undocumented workers the same rights as American citizens (without actually being American citizens), a reporter named Neil Munro of the conservative blog Daily Caller started shouting questions at the President before he was finished talking.

The media was aghast.  How dare Munro treat the President like this?  How rude and unprofessional.  Even conservatives agreed that Munro went too far.

Tucker Carlson, Munro's boss, tried to drag Sam Donaldson into this by saying that the former ABC White House correspondent used the same tactics during Ronald Reagan's presidency.  Donaldson replied that the difference was, he shouted his questions after the president spoke.  Not before.

We don't live in Donaldson's world any more.  Rudeness and unprofessional behavior have become standard operating procedure in Washington during this era of political hyper-partisanship, with neither Republicans nor Democrats giving an inch while the country burns.  Conservatives and progressives regularly bash each other on their own cable news channels.  The rest of us either cut in line or yak away on our smartphones, regardless of who else is in the room.

Why should we be surprised by Munro's attention-grab?  He's no different than protesters who shout slogans during political speeches, or Tea Partiers who ambush town hall meetings.  Except that Munro wasn't led away in handcuffs.  Freedom of the press, you know.  He has a right to ask his questions so long as he's patient enough to wait for the President to finish speaking.

President Obama has been dissed so often by the GOP that he should be used to guys like Munro by now.  Remember the State of the Union address a couple of years ago, when South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson shouted "you lie" while the President was talking?  It raised Wilson's profile with conservatives, at least for awhile.  Munro and Carlson are probably hoping that this little dustup can raise the recognition bar for their online publication.

Most of us want to see a return to civility not just in our politics, but in our daily lives as well.  It's conservatives who seem to want it more, and they're hoping it starts the moment Romney's elected.