More Coverage of the Courant

Not for nothing (to the folks at WTNH), but I’d be rich if I had a dollar for ever time the TV news media steals something from the morning paper without quoting. Sometimes they repeat verbatim what was reported by the print press, other times they’re clearly stealing the idea. I wish someone would thoroughly investigate this. Channel 8 is by far the worst when it comes to this, followed by 30, and then 3. It’s obvious that the local newspapers are the eyes and ears of the broadcast Tv press, so what happens when the newspapers disappear? Maybe television news will go back to doing their own digging and reporting?

With WTNH’s ratings so low I bet more people watched Davis’ story on your blog than they did on 8 when it orginally aired!
As for you Duby I bet since “The Kate” is an (paid?) advertiser and I’ll assume a p.r. client of yours it’s unlikely that you will want to share with your readers the scathing review of the Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center written by Roger Catlin.
http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2009/09/the-kate-starts-to-grate.html
I’ll be shocked if you let this appear on your comment page.

Dear Mr. Stabber,
Prepare to be shocked…!

First of all, Roger Catlin should learn how to spell. Check out his first sentence and the word, “brough.”
He’s never been to the non-profit venue, if he had, he would know about the community spirit that has gone into the place. All volunteers working nearly round the clock, some for 7 years.
At nearly 100 years old, the building is on the Register of Historic Places in the U.S so it is a real gem for the state of Connecticut.
How does somebody review a place and not an event, very strange.
As for the name “The Kate,” Hepburn’s family has backed the venture and they always called her Kate.
Roger Catlin’s bitterness toward a beautiful new venue for the arts is really unwarranted and bizarre, perhaps he needs a new line of work to help him out of his bitterness.
Katharine Hepburn still holds the record for the most Academy Awards ever won, I’d say she was an icon.
Prior to the opening of the theater, the blog has been up since May of 2008, and there have been more than 100,000 hits worldwide.
The fashion industry still gives a nod to Hepburn in some piece of clothing nearly every year.
If Mr. Catlin wants to review an event at the theater, that’s certainly fair game, but to put down such a wonderful historic building that was saved from the wrecking ball that will cater to children and families is way beyond the pale.
The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center will also help the town of Old Saybrook,, which like all towns is going thru tough times right now, the Chamber is thrilled to have such a draw.

Well I’m glad to know there are such fans of our station here.

To those who like to comment anonymously, you might want to learn to count before throwing out your inaccurate generalizations. Try looking at the number of stories that we directly reference in our newscasts to the newspapers that originated them. It is our policy to do so, and you’ll actually find some newspaper editors who have complimented us on our consistency in doing it. As to stealing “ideas”, I’ll assume that you also can count the number of times when we first report a story at 11pm that is also in the paper the next morning–is that stealing our “idea”? (The answer is of course not, because every news organization in the state often covers the same stories. But this old canard has been being tossed out as the truth since newspapers tried to keep radio stations from being able to take the AP wire in the 1930’s)

And finally, speaking of counting, if you can add–you’ll know that our ratings aren’t low (at least not significantly lower than anyone else’s, in what is a very competitive local market)–though I’m sure that there are folks who would like to believe that to be true.

That all said, we’re always happy to get a shoutout from “The Laurel”.

Kirk Varner
News Director
WTNH/WCTX Television/wtnh.com