TV News
Adventures in Peaking Early (and Trying To Survive It)
"I Wanna Be Adored" When I was in my early 20s, I expended a lot of mental and physical energy on being lauded for succeeding at a young age. I wanted to write like Bret Easton Ellis, run a national TV show like (believe it or not) Jeff Zucker, and bring all the fire and ...read more
Somebody Should've Knocked Bill O'Reilly on His Ass Years Ago
Quite a while back I was the producer on a show, the anchor of which was a powerhouse in the business and certainly a legend in his own mind. From my very first day on the newscast I was told that I didn't need to change a thing or really exert any creative influence whatsoever ...read more
Shoot To Kill: "Nightcrawler" Hits Local TV News Right Between the Eyes
I started my career in news where just about everyone does: working the graveyard shift at a local station. I was barely 22-years-old and like most kids just beginning to feel their way around the business I had no idea what the hell I was doing. Maybe this is why one of the ...read more
KTVU Needs To Do a Lot More Than Just Apologize
As much as I want to let this story go, I can't. I just can't. I still find myself shaking my head on occasion at the sheer impossible absurdity of it, suddenly stopping whatever it is I'm doing to say out loud to nobody, "How in the hell could they have let that happen?" I ...read more