The Coalition, based in San Rafael, focuses on protecting free speech, free press, open government and public participation in civic affairs. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Ivan Ramirez, assignment editor at KSTS Telemundo 48 in San Jose, joins KVEA Telemundo 52 in Los Angeles, in the same capacity. Sal won an Emmy Award for his coverage of the 2014 Napa Earthquake. by Pam Valois | Jul 29, 2021 | Architecture, Faces of the East Bay, History. I knew about all the things I covered in the story, like women in prison using battery defenses.. Joe Kukura is an SFist staff asst. She left KTVU in 2006, and had a brief stint with the Chronicle, even establishing the Leslie R. Griffith Woman of Courage Scholarship to foster young women into journalism. All Rights Reserved. She is also hard at work on a booktentatively called Shut Up and Readthat is both a Chomsky-esque indictment of corporate media control and a from-the-trenches look at exactly how broadcast news has been compromised. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. To most, that was shorthand for being forced out. We need to hear those insights. A graduate of St. Francis High School, where she was a student body president, she went on to graduate from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a double major in journalism and history. Abrupt closure of S.F. Bill Drummond, a professor of journalism at U.C. She was married with one young child and planning to be an English teacher at a local college but the semester hadnt started yet and she needed work to help support her family. ", KTVUs Maureen Naylor leaving the station, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Former KTVU news director Fred Zehnder killed by alleged DUI driver, KTVUs Frank Somerville to take a break after bizarre newscast behavior. delivering her friend Faith Fanchers eulogy (Fancher died in October 2003), Kendall was doing a self-examination and discovered a tiny lump in her breast. It thought it was a big deal when I started working with her and Dennis. Why do we have a fourth estate? According to a 2005 report from the think tank Common Cause, 75 percent of all prime-time viewing is now controlled by five companies. Embarcadero Media Courtney Adelman, former Fox 44 Burlington. His son is currently working at the station as a cameraman. See the Media Matters section in this installment and more names in this one. From the fight in Congress, to your 401(k), to small businesses hammered by the credit crunchwere covering all the angles, says Chapuis. Griffith still regrets that she wasnt more critical of the plan, instead of falling in line like the other local reporters in town. Prosecutors dismissed Somervilles second misdemeanor count part of the plea deal, according to a court spokesperson. Everyone does everything. Former television news reporter Azenith Smith recently joined the Livermore Police Department communications team, following a seven-year run reporting in the South Bay for KTVU Fox 2 News. I dont even know how I got out of my parking lot, he said. Naylor, a native of Sunnyvale, mostly covered the South Bay for KTVU and occasionally served as a fill-in anchor. Feb 10, 2023 Introduction : Gasia Mikaelian is known as a proud Armenian-American news personality who currently works as the lead anchor for KTVU in the California Bay Read More Julie Haener Age, Husband, Wiki, Salary KTVU Biography, Height by Marathi.TV Editorial Team Feb 10, 2023 Ray Darten means for its color clothing to be worn. I had to get over the hump of the mountain so I could get down to the other side.. The station wouldnt pay to have Griffiths hair done daily, but still fretted that the style looked different each night. He eventually moved from radio to television landing his first on camera assignment at KTVU in 1995. A spokesperson for Fox Corp. was not available for comment Monday. It will now be seen in Thailand, Japan and a lot of other countries, Kendall says. Im grateful that I didnt hurt anybody, but regardless of that, I was completely in the wrong.. "You'll most likely see me out in the community and, if you do, come and say hi," Smith said. In her blogging and op-ed pieces, Griffith is not criticizing KTVU specifically but rather the state of the news media in general. Opinion: How could the As ungrateful owner do this to us? She spent the last decade at KTVU Fox 2 in Oakland. Berkeley with a degree in Political Science. Leslie Griffith is sitting on a pillow on the floor of her home office in the Oakland hills, bare feet propped against the desk, dictating sections of her book-in-progress to Karen, her intern. One of the things thats bought is silence. The difference is the pretty person standing in front of the chroma keywhich is often a picture of a place theyve never been. The former KTVU news anchor opened up about his struggles with mental health and addiction in a recent Facebook post and interview with The Chronicle. Copyright 2023 The MonthlyAll rights reserved. With Frank Somerville away, who will KTVU turn to? She began co-anchoring the Ten OClock News in 1998. She said, What the hell are you doing here? Who is going to stop it? she asks. The script was sent to Bolt (whos also the development executive for Danny Glovers Carrie Productions), who read it and fell in love with it. Lightning strikes even at the baseline, low-quality TV news operations. The fact that theyre so asleep now has a lot to do with the lack of explanation, the lack of explaining why.. Maureen Naylor, a veteran KTVU reporter and anchor, is leaving the station after 13 years with Channel 2. So we can spread democracy, says Azocar, who also teaches journalism at S.F. "After 20 years in broadcast. I was so depressed and sad that night, it turned me into a zombie, Somerville told The Chronicle on Monday, recalling how he left his home intending to stop at a nearby Taco Bell, and had no memory of the crash. The announcement came the day before Joe Biden was sworn in as president. Among her professional highlights at KTVU was winning an Associated Press Award for her coverage of challenges facing an East Bay football team. I took a beating because she thought I was too pretty. But media experts emphasize that even though more people are turning to the Internet, most people still get their news from television and so a discussion about the quality of national or local broadcast journalism is relevant. She. While Somerville acknowledged past mistakes, he emphasized that hes now on the path to recovery and hopes to find a job soon, perhaps as a teacher or working with a firm that trains people to work in the media. FORMER KTVU anchor Leslie Griffith has died after battling Lyme disease. KTVU aired the piece and the woman, ultimately, ended up in jail for life. They need to be asked over and over again. As soon as she left KTVU, Griffith says she was free to further investigate the issue and has done so with renewed energy. Prior to joining there, she was a reporter and anchor at KGO-TV ABC7 in San Francisco. Steve Goard made the announcement in a video posted to social media last week. She was 66. She seems sincere in her affection and respect for many of the stations reporters as well as longtime KTVU news director Fred Zehnder, who left in 2000, and was largely responsible for pushing the station to be better than the rest. Scores of former colleagues conducted a Zoom memorial for the late Marty Hernandez, a decades-long photographer for KOVR-TV in Sacramento who was called the Rodney Dangerfield of the stations newsroom. Previously, she was a news anchor at KFI-AM in Los Angeles and a reporter at KNSD, the NBC-owned station in San Diego. Former television news reporter Azenith Smith recently joined the Livermore Police Department communications team, following a seven-year run reporting in the South Bay for KTVU Fox 2 News. Harriette Cole: My friend's mom didn't recognize me at my job, and she was very rude. Congratulations, Deb! So they thought it was OK. (Cox Radio is one of the companies that stopped playing Dixie Chicks songs after lead singer Natalie Maines slighted President George Bush five years ago.). She didnt. That is when four men drove up in a white luxury sedan. The Saints selected Haener, former Fresno State quarterback and son of KTVU anchor Julie Haener, with the 127th pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Chapuis, who directed news at the time, says the station stands by Griffiths stories and, in fact, did more news pieces about the health of the elephants after her departure. Photo by Gordana Zura, www.geezeephoto.com. Its conspicuous when local TV news anywhere in the United States does much that journalists could be really proud of, says Norman Solomon, Bay Area media expert and author of War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death and Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with Americas Warfare State. Kendall has played a reporter or anchor in a number of high-profile films, including The Burglar (with Whoopi Goldberg) and Neil LaButes Nurse Betty., But her most famous credit comes from the Best Picture Oscar-winner American Beauty., I get to put an Oscar-winning film on my resume and get residual checks from the film, and its great, Kendall says. Johnny Depp was surprise difficult on set of comeback film, reports say, Coronation organizers wonder if Prince Harry will be a no-show, report says, Summer movies 2023: 21 reasons you should be eager to return to theaters, Tucker Carlson: How early rejection by hippie San Francisco mom made him shameless. Become a member today. Thanks to Steph Currys 50-point day, Warriors beat the Kings in Game 7 to advance, Mortgage fees to rise for buyers with high credit scores, fall for those with lower scores, Concord: Man killed in 4:30 a.m. solo crash on I-680, Tucker Carlson: How early rejection by hippie San Francisco mom made him shameless, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. The award will be presented virtually on Dec. 2. It still matters, says Bay Area-based media critic Norman Solomon. It is, without a doubt, one of the best scripts I have ever read and I am inundated with scripts every day, Bolt said in a press release. Griffith, who is from Tomball, Texas, is survived by two daughters, Trenton and Carly, and two grandchildren, according to KTVU. Steve Goard made the announcement in a video posted to social media last week. Journalism experts say the media began to change after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 when the industry was largely deregulated. Let her be herselfthat is what people love about her, says Gaspari. To save money theyve merged a lot of jobs out of existence, says Drummond. He loves spending time with his family and taking trips with them to explore our great local region. When the doctor called with confirmation, Kendall was overwhelmed. Lisa White is promoted to vice president of news at KPIX in San Francisco. We won the AMA Film Festival, Faith looked as if she was going to be fine and it was just time to do it, Kendall says. A year after his arrest for a DUI crash, Somerville is looking for a new job. But after Carter promised an $88 billion federal effort, Ronald Reagan changed the policy, all the oil companies walked away and the boom became a bust. She previously covered startups and venture capital for the Bay Area News Group and prior to that court cases for The Recorder in San Francisco. Circulation & Delivery Solomon, who often gives talks about the state of the news, says sometimes people argue that corporations buying up media could mean more resources for those failing stations. Sara Sidner (born May 31, 1972) is an American journalist. There you have an example of TV that has a partisan agenda because G.E. Finding out and treating it early saves you.. She leaves KABC-TV ABC7 in Los Angeles, where she served as a weekend anchor and reporter. Harlem Globetrotters legend Larry Gator Rivers dies at 73, Unhoused man found dead at camp along Oakland freeway, The top 10 most expensive home sales in Oakland, reported the week of April 24, At least 6 dead in Illinois crash during dust storm, They said it: Nowhere for the water to go, Total dominance: Steph Curry breaks NBA Game 7 record, leads Warriors over Kings. Julie Haener. They thought it was too dark, that it didnt give you anyone to root for, says Kendall, describing the scene in which she played a tabloid reporter who revealed that the kids were the real murderers. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. Oaklands Leslie Griffith was a staple of KTVUs Channel 2 news for two decades, delivering the news of the day, first as a reporter and then from the anchor chair next to Dennis Richmond. Richmond Estate Planning Attorney, Sara Diamond answers questions about wills, trusts, powers of attorney and advance health care directives. Griffith doesnt talk specifically about the many factors that led to her exit from the station, but she says her work on one story, that of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey elephants, does illuminate why she had to leave and pinpoints the problems TV news reporters everywhere are facing. And then, in true Kendall fashion, she got on with it. Why am I a pariah? I have raised it with the CDC [Centers for Disease Control] and they understand the issue, says Francis. Dear Abby: I have a great life, so why have I fallen into this shameful behavior? Prior to joining KPIX in 2000, White spent 10 years as assistant news director at KRON in San Francisco. The Alameda County District Attorney's Office filed charges against former Bay Area news anchor Frank Somerville following a Dec. 30 car wreck in a busy downtown Oakland intersection. Its a Disneyland war, says Griffith, noting that ABC is owned by Disney. A lit cigarette smoldered in front of him during newscasts even though he didnt smoke, says Drummond. How fast can you get here?, But it didnt take long for KTVUs Zehnder to notice Griffith and steal her away to San Francisco to be the youngest reporter on his staff. For anyone who cared, there was an amicable press release announcing that the Bay Area station and the journalist had parted on good terms. Many television news experts agree with Griffith, citing a steady slide in TV news quality over the years coupled with less independent station ownership, less skillful reporting and the rise of the Internet. This is the underside of the facade of TV news and I think she [Griffith] has a lot of insights, says Solomon. Former KTVU anchor Frank Somerville gave his first on-camera interview since his arrest for a DUI crash in . Kendalls first love has always been theater and acting. Acting on what she learned in years covering Fanchers journey with breast cancer, she immediately called her doctor. KTVU, a Fox news affiliate that operates independently, was once considered the best station locally and perhaps even nationally. The Cliff House was once a colossal Victorian mansion that met a Warriors crush Kings 120-100 as Steph Curry scores Game 7-record 50 points, Steph Curry adds to his Warriors legend by lighting up Kings for 50. Theres no interest in contradicting the White House. If we keep adding fluff, if we keep lowering the blouses and poofing the hair, cutting word counts and using helicoptersif thats our priority, were going to fall. SF Chronicle | Legacy.com | KNBR. "I can't wait to meet everybody and I'm really very excited about this new opportunity. Griffith, who anchored the news on KTVU for two decades, died Wednesday in Lake Chapala, Mexico, according to the report. Cecilia Vega, an ABC News reporter and former reporter for the SF Examiner, SF Chronicle and KGO-TV, has been named the networks chief White House correspondent. Naylor announced the news Wednesday in a Facebook post. Im a pariah to these corporations, says Griffith. Follow PleasantonWeekly.com and the Pleasanton Weekly on Twitter @pleasantonnews, Facebook and on Instagram @pleasantonweekly for breaking news, local events, photos, videos and more. Sorry, but further commenting on this topic has been closed. Check the full bio for relationship details. Television journalists, she says, have gone from respected voicesthe town criers charged with informing the publicto corporate and government cheerleaders in a relatively short period of time. Related Articles Don Ford, a 20-year KPIX news veteran who previously worked at KRON for 20 years,was in San Franciscos Twin Peaks neighborhood at the time of his harrowing encounter with his assailants, preparing to interview residents for their reaction to a series of auto thefts there. Leslie Ray Griffith (January 1, 1956 - August 10, 2022) was an American writer and journalist. Home It turns out that Faith was looking after me again.. Sgt. He especially enjoyed his time at Cal, living on and near campus in Berkeley. Get uninterrupted access to important local law enforcement news. Griffith became a local legend in the seat, though in the early days of SFist, we developed an obsession with her in Wheres Leslie? Former KTVU anchor Leslie Griffith and other local media experts talk about why broadcast televisionboth local and nationalis on the downslide. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Terms of Use After that first story, she says, Ringling Brothers lawyers had paid KTVU a visit. Shes at Lafayette Parks Duck Hunter restaurant her favorite haunt to chat about life after KTVU. The East Bays Premier Magazine of Culture & Commerce, Posted by Andrea Lampros | Feature | 0 |. The friend had a friend, Karen Bolt, who worked with a production company. The San Francisco Chronicle has dropped former mayor and former Assembly speaker Willie Browns weekly column, according to Politicos California Playbook. Elephants in the room: Leslie Griffith continues to investigate the health and treatment of Asian elephants and is particularly worried about the m-tuberculosis that they carry and potentially spread. Kilduff Gets to the Bottom of the Kaspers or Caspers Question, Ask the Expert: Estate Planning with Sara Diamond, Berkeley-based bio honors SF architect Bernard Maybecks daughter-in-law, Ray Darten Brings Indie Designs to Bay Street, Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton Urges Parents to Discuss Race. Beneath Michelin-starred restaurants success, landlord dispute is boiling. Instead of showing the after shot, I showed the before shot, says Griffith of the application she sent to the Salinas news director Larry Mercer. Place a Legal Notice A&E Napa-based naturopathic doctor Juli A. Mazi, the loon who was nabbed by the feds last year for prescribing bogus COVID-19 immunization pills and handing out fraudulent vaccination cards, just tried to vacate her plea agreement after firing her lawyers. In the late 1940s through mid-1950s, John Cameron Swayze hosted a 15-minute news program sponsored by Camel cigarettes. She saw an ad for a TV-reporter position in Salinas, Calif. Somebody didnt follow the dots here. Former KTVU news director Fred Zehnder, who helped build the station's nightly newscasts into a ratings juggernaut, died on Sunday after being struck by an alleged drunk driver in Alameda.. Its not as bad as it is at KRON, but they are headed in that direction.. KTVU News Director Ed Chapuis says his station is as good as it ever was and the ratings bear that out. If the water is hot in the pot when the frog jumps in, hell jump out. Griffith says this kind of story might not air todayfirst because many TV news reporters nowadays dont know how to get a coroners report (or make a Freedom of Information Act request, for that matter), because news directors might not have the guts to air stories that could inspire litigation or offend advertisers and because those news directors dont have enough confidence in their reporters unless there is a criminal charge already filed. Theres also been some interest in Great Britain and France. is the city's financial engine and it is sputtering. Frank Somerville (born March 19, 1958) is an American television journalist. Photo courtesy KTVU Channel 2. The group pays half the salaries, with the balance coming from the news organizations and local supporters. An overturned semi-truck shut down Highway 101in San Jose on Friday morning. The world must be OK.. Antioch native and former Notre Dame Fighting Irish's defensive end Isaiah Foskey was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the second round of the NFL draft Friday.. Foskey was born and raised in . Viewers news may remember her as she spent more than two decades anchoring the 10 p.m. news alongside veteran anchor. A cap was lifted (from 12) on the number of local broadcast stations a company could own and the Act spurred huge media consolidation nationwide. Stay up to date! Former Jackson State coach Deion Sanders no longer leads an HBCU program. With more and more people seeking news and information from online sources, broadcast news is sometimes cast as a dinosaur. Basically, Griffith hopes her book will turn up the heat and make some peopleespecially the viewers who just accept whats served upjump out of the pot. He said, You want to learn? UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: Former Bay Area news anchor Leslie Griffith has died, according to a report by KTVU Channel 2 News. Former Bay Area news anchor Leslie Griffith has died, according to a report by KTVU Channel 2 News. It was the late 1980s and Griffith found herself covering stories for KTVU around the world. Amanda Su, a graduate of Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, has been named the next president of the Harvard Crimson, the universitys daily student newspaper. Nataly Gutierrez joins KSTS Telemundo 48 in San Jose as assignment editor. KTVU reporters are talented men and women who keep you informed on developing news. Hidden in the East Bay hills, the Carmelite nuns of Kensington live at the most secluded monastery in the United States. It does happen. Griffith, who anchored the news on KTVU for two decades, died Wednesday in Lake Chapala, Mexico, according to the report.