As a public radio journalist who spent the first part of his career in commercial television news, I am often critical of what passes for news on today’s local TV newscasts.
I’m sure the old-timers who were around when I was a young news pup made similar comments. Often I will just have one of those WTH moments (actually the H is a stand-in for another letter, but this is pubic radio after all).
With the many sources of information available now, the old news media face a tough time trying to stay relevant. But every once in a while I will see an example of solid reporting that says old school journalism is alive.
On Monday night KPHO’s 10 p.m. newscast had an excellent story produced by reporter Morgan Loew and photographer Gilbert Zermeno.
The story focused on possible violations of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office code of conduct by the lead investigator of the so-called "birther posse," Mike Zullo. The report also revealed that while the lead investigator had been a police officer in a small department many years ago, he has been a car salesman for the last 20 years.
The KPHO team did a solid job of tracking down lots of information and laying it out in an easy-to-understand manner.
So while I will probably continue to raise an eyebrow and wonder about what happened to journalism, I can paraphrase Monty Python: “It’s not dead yet.”
