A report from the field (ie back deck) as the snow fell and tens of thousands of customers lost power today in the granite state
https://fb.watch/ieLTHC743y/?mibextid=cr9u03
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Mental Health Beat: When I Realized I was a Misfit…
I feel like some days I live on the Island of Misfit Toys, a reference from the claymation Christmas time flick from Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. My twenties and thirties as your humble newsie was formed because I was a misfit in the real world.
Continue reading Mental Health Beat: When I Realized I was a Misfit…
CNBC’s 2005 Christmas Gift – Garbage Packaging
On the week of aprox. December 16th, 2005, CNBC had rolled out a new brand that replaced the fun, flirty, edgy, aggressive package that was used when they relocated from Fort Lee to Englewood Cliffs, N.J. CNBC had been a close tie to Pyburn Films, a motion graphics design firm. They had done promos for CNBC before, and their previous graphics package before they moved. Whoever at CNBC was running promotions, apparently loves blue. Dark blue. Sick blue. Sick Building Syndrome Blue.
Before we go to late 2005 (of which I had watched a lot that first week of it’s new look because I believe I caught the flu, one of two instances before I caught COVID a year ago to the day.)
Continue reading CNBC’s 2005 Christmas Gift – Garbage Packaging
Recommended Use of Referencing Time Zones (It’s Now Real “Standard” Time!)
Sun makes you dumber. Or so according to the @MinifigNewsguy. Why? people don’t think critically, they are more emotional and they can’t think in order. Right now Daylight Saving Time (sic) had ended overnight on 2:00 AM Eastern Standard Time on November 6th, following 2:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time, of which is how you “gain an hour of sleep”. Also as of this writing, the 2022 Midterm elections are a day away, and again it feels like a primary election weather wise.
Continue reading Recommended Use of Referencing Time Zones (It’s Now Real “Standard” Time!)
Vlog: On Journalism and Masculinity
It’s official: Masculinity is a crisis, but instead of trying to address, you’re attacking the most vulernable groups, the most sacred groups, men, young dudes, etc. Whether you’re fringe and cringe pickup artist, or a mens fashion youtuber that’s a woman, or a “feminist that loves men” and hosts a podcast – ALL of you are creating a ongoing toxic culture! Watch for a 38 minute video of where I came, how 2021 came to be, and how 2022 has been something that in 2017, would rattle my cage, given all the baggage I still carry. to. this. day!
News Music Monday: Chris Cuomo’s new theme NewsNation!
#NewsMusicMonday has such a catchy feel. Many of you may not be aware of promotional stuff and the branding of newscasts, or you maybe news music nut! Regardless I love to highlight it as that’s one of my focuses here on @MinifigNewsguy…
I’m not going to go political… but I had no intentions to capture the first night of another opinion show… but the theme is pretty cool. Stephen Arnold Music had composed this theme and recently shared it on their YouTube. Whether you like Chris Cuomo or the Cuomos, that’s outside the scope of this site; the sonic branding is just rock awesome!
SAM also was behind the original theme when NewsNation was the block on the ol WGN America; as I said on Facebook at the time, it was sounded down market and it does have a sedating melody, which could impact the ratings if viewers can’t engage. The Cuomo theme has a tune to the ol Wednesday Night Rivalries on the ol NBCSN
I am planning to a resync with a Stephen Arnold Music theme, it was supposed to be done for September but I slipped, I did resync with WGN-TV’s signature Chicago’s Very Own to highlight the importance of having strong auditory branding.
I like doing this feature on my socials, because if music branding does impact a ratings share by 15%, well then it does have importance, and does it help start your week? I sure need it and I hope you do too!
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Deathaversary: WNBC Radio – 34 Years Ago Today
At 5:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time, AM 660, WNBC radio went off the air at 30 Rock, and the signal was then transferred Emmis’ owned WFAN, that was on 1050 for nearly a year. The signal was up for sale, and the deal closed that same day, on October 7th, 1988. The late Alan Colmes, the man who would later keep Sean Hannity from loosing his sanity, was the lucky man to sign off the station, with the utmost class; the last caller “Caroline” apparently won prizes; Colmes kidded that she didn’t “win” the station!
(There is a bunch of footage of TV and radio clips of the station, this post is not going to be exhaustive collection.)
WNBC-TV got lucked out as a package that was done by Roger Grimsby had finished playing as Colmes had finished (yes NOT a typo, and could’ve been one of the few appearances he had done at that station.) Al Roker continued the coverage (way before his Today Show gig) to cover the sign on WFAN as 66. WFAN still exists today at the same position and the same tower on City Island with WCBS 880, dating for decades, so WNBC had shared the same stick and possibly the same day and night coverage as WCBS 880 (known for a number of years as Newsradio 88)
Continue reading Deathaversary: WNBC Radio – 34 Years Ago Today
Introducing my Patreon – MinifigNewsguy-plus
Introducing the new paywall called MinifigNewsguy+
For $5 a month on Patreon, you can learn more stuff, all original content. No airchecks or montages or Resyncs.
- Learn specific newsgathering technology
- How to build your own news hub in your home
- How to save money build your own surface and production bays and avoid the expensive name brand stuff like *eatstone and others
- How to build specific Lego newsgathering (vans, live trucks, studio equipment, etc.)
- And other tech, pre and post production how-tos.
I’ve done other full blown WordPress scribes and attempted to do a paywall, but it wasn’t successful with my followers. With subscribing you are paying for the time and resources required to make this site possible including but not limited to (but not keeping the lights on or food on the table)
- The annual costs for domain name registration
- The annual costs for offsite hosting
- Supplemental costs for business internet for producing my content
- Additional expenditures for the purposes of producing broadcast grade content for digital.
My first Patreon paywall post is the a spoof in Dirty Jobs and it focuses on crappy work in local news.
When Freedom of Speech has No Responsibility (WMUR-TV Manchester)
Adding to the files of Cringe stories… WMUR-TV Manchester* runs a propaganda piece on their noon broadcast by no other than Chief Propaganda Correspondent, Ray Brewer, who relies on data from the DEA that apparently there is fentynal that looks like candy and could be in your kid’s halloween treats at the end of the month. For those who know me personally, WMUR-TV is the Hearst-owned ABC Affiliate north of Boston, which leave vague messaging of where their primary audience, or worse who they are. They have used predatory measures in the past to take out competitors, and even freckin’ Jack Heath once was infamously known for telling his staff to ignore the competition in a 1993 promo once posted a YouTube user of “Houston TV News” (resurrected recently as “Houston TV History”, but didn’t put the Manchester/Boston footage like that promo)
Continue reading When Freedom of Speech has No Responsibility (WMUR-TV Manchester)
LIVE: Governors Debate
Tonight at 7:30 pm ET will be the Minibrick State Governor’s Debate.
I’ll be the technical director of this live stream, maybe I’ll win a participation trophy?