| Topic Name: |
KOIN - Salamone is gone! |
| Message Name: |
ever considered |
| Date Posted: |
05/22/2005 |
| In Reply To: |
chorizo, you seem to be under the impression that Dan brought "out of the box" thinking to KOIN. All I saw in the last year and a half was change-for-the-sake-of change. Nothing "out of the box" has come from KOIN since Kerry Oslund was ND there in the late 1990s.
Yes, KOIN needed a new look. But the new look Dan picked isn't an improvement -- it's just different. And now KOIN still has the worst look in the market. Yes, KOIN needed some new faces. But the new faces Dan hired aren't better -- only different. And now KOIN has the least experienced & knowledgable people in the market.
From my perspective, Dan clearly wasn't making many good decisions. I don't think he has a good eye for top-25-market talent, and I don't think he is creative enough to come up with a meaningful & distinguished brand for a top-25-market news product. In effect, his changes only succeeded in turning KOIN into a mid-sized market station that is now struggling in a top-25 market.
News Directors often aren't liked. But good News Directors are respected by their newsroom staff. That respect is earned when the ND makes tough (and not always popular) decisions that result in measurable success. KOIN staffers didn't see any success under Dan. He never earned their respect. |
| Message: |
that Portland is a tough place to turn around a station.
Its tough because its sleepy.
There is rarely breaking news of note. The weather is mostly mild and undramatic. No tornadoes. No hurricanes. Rarely even snow.
There's almost no major scandals or crime (compared to most cities.)
And to turn things around, you need big moments to draw viewers away. In Miami or Detroit you get two of those a week.
Not to mention the best young talent is never going to Portland. (agents don't even bother with tapes to portland) And if they do, they'll leave quickly.
Portland is a nice place to live (girlfriend did for three damp years) Its quiet. Which is why its a poor news town and why its hard to grab the audiences attention away from a top station.
Cities like Portland are also near the bottom of the corporate food chain.
Bigger cities in the chain get the toys first. And toys can really help in a turnaround job.
Local tv news is cutting everywhere. The days of massive turnaround jobs are less likely. Especially in a sleepy town where a downtown parade is still one of the biggest stories of the year.
(now that floored me)
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