Media Buzz | News/views about local media

Oralia on Miss Universe slip up: It wasn't me

Several national blogs and media-biz websites have picked up the story about the KTSM-TV Channel 9 Miss Universe slip up. In case you missed it, a technical glitch left the KTSM studio mics open while the final results of the Miss Universe were being given. A female on-air talent is heard saying that Miss Univese co-host and Today show anchor Natalie Morales is "a sad excuse for a journalist."

 Media Buzz broke the story yesterday but never identified the KTSM staff member. Simply put, we can't confirm who it is because although we clearly can hear the rant, we can't see who said it.

The national blogs and websites, though, have figured out that since main anchor Oralia Ortega is the female anchor, that therefore, she is the one who dissed Morales.

Not so, Ortega said.

"It was not me who made that comment," she said today, without mentioning who is behind the slip up. "I have nothing but utmost respect for Natalie Morales and all that she has done as a journalist. It was not me on that tape."

Miss Universe slip up

As thousands of El Pasoans set their televisions to KTSM-TV Channel 9 to either watch the Miss Universe pageant or wait for the 10 p.m. newscast, they were treated to one of those live TV slip ups that come only once in a lifetime.

Right as the co-host of the Miss Universe Pageant — Today show host Natalie Morales and rocker Bret Michaels — were about to announce the winner of the pageant (it ended up being Miss Mexico), the people at the KTSM sound booth flipped on the microphones at the station. So for about 30 seconds you heard the mic checks at the station even though the image on your screen was that of the Miss Universe pageant. 

A female on-air talent is heard doing the mic check and reading the first line of the lead story, something to do with Sheriff Richard Wiles. After that, though, she ad libbed and her rant turned to the journalistic integrity of Natalie Morales.

The female voice says: "Mic check 1,2,3. Sheriff Wiles. We are now watching Natalie Morales who is a sad excuse for a journalist." 

Morales, in case you're wondering, has a long journalism resume doing work in local news and nationally for MSNBC and NBC News. She has covered presidential campaigns, the Columbine High School shootings, the Middle East conflicts, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and the Beltway sniper attacks. She's an active member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

If you want video of the incident, here it is:

KFOX in Afghanistan and other tid bits

KFOX-TV Channel 14 morning anchor Stephanie Guadian and photographer Rudy Reyes are currently in Kuwait awaiting a flight into Afghanistan where they will be embedded with the U.S. Army for about 10 days. They will be reporting from the Middle East using Skype and other Internet-based technology.

If you want to follow Guadian's journey on Twitter, you can check it out here.

In other news, reports out of the KTSM-TV Channel 9/KDBC-TV Channel 4 newsroom indicate that sports  reporter Javi Perez is no longer with the station.

Channel 4-9, as the combined newsroom is affectionately called by its employees, has loads of young, new reporters. Apparently a replacement for Perez has already been hired. 

Also, KVIA-TV Channel 7 announced today that its conversations with DIRECTV have not been successful and that as of now subscribers to that service will lose the ABC affiliate's programming by Monday. The disagreement is about money. 

"We are asking DIRECTV to pay our station but a small fraction of what DIRECTV pays less viewed cable networks such as The Disney Channel, ESPN and Fox Sports," said KVIA General Manager Kevin Lovell.

This issue will not affect over the air viewers or subscribers to Time Warner Cable or Dish Network.

New press club officers ... sorta

The El Paso Press Club has new board of directors officers.

Gustavo Reveles Acosta, the growth and transportation reporter for the El Paso Times, was re-elected for a second term as president. He has been a board member of the press club since its "re-inception" about seven years ago and has served as vice president before. Gustavo is also the vice president of print on the board of directors for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Adriana M. Chávez, the courts reporter for the Times, was elected vice president. She has been a board member of the press club for about three years and last year served as secretary, a post she will retain on an interim level. She is taking over the position for KVIA reporter/anchor Stephanie Valle, who is now in charge of public relations for the club. Valle, a four-year veteran of the press club board, has also served as secretary in the past.

Tatiana Avila, a producer for KVIA Channel 7, was re-elected as treasurer. Tatiana is a five-year member of the board of directors and has been a crucial part of fund raising efforts and the board's participation in the Journalism in July program at UTEP for high-school students. 

The board also re-elected KDBC/KTSM producer Rick Isaias as its historian. Rick has been a press club board member for about five years.

Rounding up the board are members Miguel Mendez, a photographer for KVIA, and Leonard Martinez, a web producer also at KVIA. Mendez h as been a board member for about two years, and Martinez returned to the board after a year's absence. Both will take on committee work.

The El Paso Press Club advocates for high journalistic standards in the Southwest through a network of media professionals. The organization engages its members and the public by discussing vital issues that impact our community.

The club ensures the protection of the First Amendment by working  with the next generation of journalists in our region.

KFOX early evening news now earlier

The 6 p.m. newscast for KFOX-TV Channel 14 (cable Channel 8) will move an hour earlier to the 5 p.m. slot starting on Sept. 13. The move is aimed at improving the ratings of the show, which faces stiff competition from KVIA-TV Channel 7 (cable Channel 6) and KTSM Channel 9 (cable Channel 10) at 6 p.m.

News Director Elizabeth O'Hara told her staff in an a memo that moving the newscast to 5 p.m. will allow them to be part of the group of newscasts that present local news early on. "By the time someone caught us at 6 p.m., they'd already been exposed to seven other potential sources of news products," O'Hara said in the memo.

The move to 5 p.m. means the Dr. Phil Show will have to be moved to another time slot.

It also means that KFOX reporters will get an extra hour to work on their stories for the 9 p.m. newscast.

Renpenning returns and other tidbits

KINT-TV Channel 26 (cable Channel 2) welcomed back a familiar face to their reporting ranks. Heidi Renpenning returned to the station after being gone for about a year. Renpenning, who can already be seen on air reporting stories, left the station shortly before the birth of her daughter. She told me on Thursday that she is very happy to be back at KINT and is having a lot of fun reporting once again.

You will soon see some changes in the reporting beats at the El Paso Times.

Reporter Aaron Bracamontes is the Times' new education reporter. He will cover the nine public school  districts in the county. Bracamones, a graduate of the University of North Texas in Denton, had previously covered high-school sports for the Times. 

Bracamontes' move to the news side left an opening in sports. That spot is going to be filled by Felix Chavez, who has worked as a copy editor for the Times for more than a year. Chavez is not new to the sports beat. He previously worked as a copy editor and reporter in the sports section of the Las Cruces Sun-News.

Other recent hires at the Times include John Hall as the Fort Bliss neighborhoods reporter and Alex Hinojosa as the Northeast neighborhoods reporter. Both are UTEP graduates and worked for The Prospector, the student newspaper at the university. Hinojosa also recently completed a masters degree in journalism at the University of Southern California.

Also joining the Times recently is Crystal Robert, who is working in the sports section after stints atThe Prospector and some blogging gigs for the Times in the past.

Team Radio wins UTEP soccer media day shootout

The UTEP women's soccer team made its official debut to the media today, but in the event's main attraction, members of the media made their soccer debuts to the world in the form of a penalty kick shootout. In most cases, the display wasn't pretty.

Team Internet/Radio won the shootout in sudden death kicks after a tie with Team TV, while Team Print, which included the Times' own Bret Bloomquist and Bill Knight, finished last place with no goals scored. Here are some highlights (and in some cases, lowlights):

I almost forgot, KTSM's Beau Bagley wore a sports bra.

(Ruben Ramirez / El Paso Times)

More changes at KTSM

You may have noticed some changes in the way KTSM-TV Channel 9 (cable Channel 10) is  doing their newscasts.

Let's start with the morning show. For some months now, the show was a two-man operation with Kai Porter on the anchor desk and Chester Lampkin doing the weather. Starting this week they have some on-air company: Monique Griego has joined Kai as an anchor and Matt Rivers is now the morning reporter on the field. 

KTSM is also trying a multi-anchor format at 6 and 10 p.m. Ben Swann and Oralia Ortega now have some help from other reporters who will share anchoring duties throughout the week. The three-anchor concept has been going on for about a week, and so far Lindsey Reiser and Phillip Mena have taken the anchor chair. 

EP Times softball team beats KVIA's

After the El Paso Times softball team was deemed the best media squad in this year's softball charity, the people of KVIA-TV Channel 7 issued a challenge. The teams would play one game with the winning team getting bragging rights.

The teams agreed to play last Saturday at Riverside High School (Go Rangers!) and what ensued was a match that came down to the very last inning. In the end, the Times team came out on top 26-21.

So far this year the Times is 2-1 after losing a much heated softball tournament final to the city's parks and rec department. KVIA is 1-1 after winning at the tournament but failing to make the final because of run differential rules. 

If you want to see video of the game, KVIA posted a story about the game here.

Could the Times have another media opponent? Maybe. KTSM weekend sports anchor Beau Bagley issued a Facebook challenge to the newspaper team, saying his 4-9ers (Channel 9 and Channel 4) could beat the Times. No concrete plans yet.

By the way, the El Paso Times roster included reporters Aileen B. Flores, Aaron Bracamontes,Doug Pullen and Lenny Jurado as well as photographers Mark Lambie and Ruben Ramirez.

KVIA's roster had Ken Molestina, Paul Cicala, Chris Bobcock, Mike Davis, Andy Guerra and Ruben Salas.

Aileen B. Flores

Aaron Bracamontes

Mark Lambie

Lenny Jurado

Doug Pullen

Ruben Ramirez