Tuesday, July 27, 2004

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27 JUL 04: THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN KAOS



A big thank-you to a friend who called our attention to the Medialine web site and its "Open Line" section. Our Sunday thoughts about WRBL dismissing Dave Marshall were posted there, almost verbatim. Apparently whoever did this missed the copyright at the bottom of each posting....



But anyway: our blog item on Dave Marshall [25 Jul] sparked an interesting discussion at Medialine's message board. The most revealing one comes from one of Marshall's former co-workers - who uses the online name "Captain Kaos:"



I'll admit it up front. I work at WRBL. Some people on this board know who I am. It's not a big deal. I'm not taking sides. Here are some facts (as we know them in the newsroom) about the situation:



-The "blog" described in the original post is written by a freelance producer at our competition. He is notoriuos for blasting WRBL whenever he can. He's devoted entire columns to personal attacks on our staff, including me. On the rare occasion he blasts the station he works for, he refers to it as "one station in town", while referring to WRBL by name.



-The story in question never aired as scripted above. The story will be done, however. It has been reassigned to another reporter and we understand it will air this week.



-The call to "release Dave" as it was put to us was made by the GM, not the News Director. Dave's 90-day probation period (standard for all new employees) was not yet over. The station could have dropped him for any reason or no reason at all. We were told, and I fully believe, Dave was let go for
a number of reasons, only one of them being this "problem solver" report. We're hearing management was not happy with his anchor work. While Dave has reported for years, this was his first anchoring job. The thinking from management was, it seems, let's cut our losses with this guy now, while it's still early in the game.



-Manegement's problem with the story in question had little to do with the sponsor's threats. It had to do with the way Dave allegedly handled things with the sponsor. He admitted (during the screaming match with the ND referenced in the blog) he did get rude and "smart" with the realty company's owner. Apparently things got ugly during that confrontation. Dave had a very "in your face" and "confrontational" style of reporting and perhaps that did not mesh well with management. (That's just my opinion).



Dave is a great guy and will land on his feet. We wish him all the best. I hope this post clears up some questions about what's going on in our sleepy little market.



-CK



Uh-oh - I'm notorious?! During my years at CNN Center, that word was only used on the air to apply to criminals....



It will be interesting to see how the final "Problem Solvers" report looks, regarding those apartments on 20th Avenue. Considering how disgusting the situation was there and how much controversy has developed, this story may be "sanitized" in more ways than one.



I never saw Dave Marshall anchor the morning news on WRBL, so I can't tell you how well he did. Certainly his hairstyle provided a nice contrast with Amy Giuliano's.



Did Dave Marshall get "in your face" with Rowe Realty, over the way it handled apartments on 20th Avenue? We may never know for sure - but I certainly would have put on rubber gloves, to put the "waste-full" evidence in their faces....



With that added information, and with a Big Blog Question about Marshall's dismissal in progress, I can't help raising another question. Just who might "Captain Kaos" be? Is he or she known by that nickname inside WRBL - and if so, is that a GOOD thing?



Medialine's message board only tells you Captain Kaos is from "out there." Hmmmm - so maybe this person commutes to WRBL from Pittsview....



Please note how Captain Kaos spells his or her name. Kaos was the enemy spy agency, on an old TV comedy which became a couple of movies. You may recall what Kaos kept trying to do - "Get Smart."



(Secret Agent Maxwell Smart was decades ahead of his time, having a hidden telephone in his shoe. Sarah Jessica Parker never had that sort of thing on "Sex and the City.")



E-MAIL UPDATE: Nearly one week after the Georgia Primary, we received this question Monday about Superior Court Judge Roxann Daniel:



Has she yet to concede?????



If she has conceded, I haven't heard about it. But then again, I don't tend to read the one-line classified ads in the newspaper....



For the sake of discussion, let's assume Roxann Daniel still has not conceded the Judge race to Bobby Peters. I could offer several theories why:


+ Campaign treasurer Maxine Hardy is waiting for Mark Shelnutt to offer her thousands of dollars, in exchange for persuading a concession speech out of her.



+ She's quietly working out a deal to move to Atlanta and live in seclusion with Danae Roberts.



+ She's praying really hard for some court to invalidate the "recess appointment" of Federal Judge Bill Pryor, so she can take the job.



By the way, I'm told some local Democratic leaders are down in the dumps about how last week's primary went. Many sided with Roxann Daniel, yet she lost. They called for school board changes, yet only one incumbent lost. And they probably wish Herman Cain had run for U.S. Senate on the other side of the ballot.



Speaking of judgeships, Georgia state officials certified the primary results Monday. As a result, Howard Mead missed a runoff for State Court of Appeals by about 400 votes. That means Mead can go back to whatever he did before - like
coating boards or something.



All that being said, let's send a few Instant Messages here and there:


+ To the Lucky 7 Lounge on Victory Drive: Aren't you rubbing it in a bit -- with that "military welcome" sign?



+ To the managers of the Firehouse Bar: You're on SIDNEY Simons Boulevard, not "Sydney" as your billboards say. How many drinks did you have before approving that?



+ To Hardaway High School: How on earth did you wind up on the Georgia "Needs Improvement" list Monday? Just because you didn't make the state baseball finals, while Columbus did....



+ To the Country Club of Columbus: Why don't you leave the weekend storm damage on the golf course, and declare it a new hazard? If it's on a green, drill some holes in the tree limbs - that's what a "goofy golf" course would do.



+ To Wardogs Coach John Fourcade: That was a neat strategy for Monday night's home game - selling tickets at Cascade Hills Church, and doing interviews there during weekend services. Maybe if you had prayed as well, the team might have
won.



(Did you know Cascade Hills Church actually has a Saturday evening "Sports Center" Bible study group - which looks for religious lessons from sports events? I wonder if they talk about the stealing commandment during baseball season....)



COMING WEDNESDAY: A wake-up call on Broadway, whether you want it or not.....



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