Anytime you have a new anchor debut on a small-town television station you expect a few difficulties. A certain amount of nervousness will show, a bit of stammering can be anticipated, and somewhere along the line a word or two will be muffed.
The same thing happened on KODE's 5 p.m. newscast which just ended. The anchor stammered a little bit, muffed a line or two, and appeared nervous.
But give him credit, despite all of his difficulties today, Brian Hamman made it through the newscast with minimum damage.
As for his newly-minted partner, Lauren Hieger, formerly the weekend anchor and a top reporter at KSNF, she was letter perfect and immediately showed KODE's wisdom in giving her the anchor slot.
Despite my earlier cheap shot at Hamman, he worked well with Ms. Hieger on their maiden voyage and did not have any difficulties until the chatter segment at the end of the newscast.
During her reads, Miss Hieger belied her youth by doing just what she has done over the past year as KSNF weekend anchor: She spoke clearly and with authority.
Though I am not a big fan of the chatter segments, I did appreciate weatherman Ray Foreman's one-liner after Hamman noted that Miss Hieger will be "here at 5, 6, and 10," Foreman noted that she would "also be here at eight and nine," just not on the air. Not only was it a good line, but it served as a reminder that anchors do more than just read the news three times a day. If they didn't, the newscasts would be nowhere near as professional as they are.
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Miss Hieger's debut also included segments on two of the biggest stories to hit this area in recent months. One was the announcement that a wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Anderson Guest House owner Robert Dupont. The other one was loaded with irony, as a hearing was held today for Rev. Raymond Lambert and his wife, Patty, in connection with felony sex charges in the McDonald County cult case. Reportedly, an argument over KSNF's use of a KODE segment on that case led to a walkout by former KODE anchor Tara Brown and paved the path for Miss Hieger to receive this opportunity.
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KODE has also updated its website. Initially, it simply moved Miss Hieger's biography verbatim from the KSNF site, including the parts about how happy she was to be working at KSNF. Her e-mail address was still a KSN address at that point. Miss Hieger's page has been updated and her e-mail address is a KODE address.
Lauren did a good job tonight. Brian needs to shut up in the "chat" portion and let her get a word in edge wise so she doesn't look like she's watching a tennis match between Ray & Brian when they're talking...but other than that...she's already better than Brian.
ReplyDeleteha, does anyone like brian?
ReplyDeleteIf they do, I've never met them.
ReplyDeleteExactly how many branches of the ugly tree did that girl hit on her way down? She is not exactly anchor material. Only in Joplin...
ReplyDeleteonly in joplin would people be petty enough to post mean spirited comments that have nothing to do with a person's journalistic strengths.
ReplyDeleteNot one person has criticized Lauren's abilities as an anchor or reporter. You know why...because she is solid both in the field and on the desk.
None of the other anchors in this pathetic town are going to win any beauty pageants so everyone needs to shut up.
Especially the "passed over" talent at KODE. All Lauren did was take a job that was offered to her. There is probably a good reason why the other "more experienced" girls were not given the job. But don't take it out on Lauren because YOU did not get offered the job.
All of you petty, jealous, washed up talent need to grow up.
OUCH!
ReplyDeleteDO SOME PEOPLE WATCH THE NEWS ONLY TO LOOK AT A PERSONS FACE, CLOTHES OR HAIR? THEY ARE VERY SHALLOW. PEOPLE HAVE MORE DEPTH THAN THIER FACE, AT LEAST SOME PEOPLE DO. UNLESS YOU ARE THE PERSON TALKING ABOUT HITTING UGLY TREES. YOU HAVE NO DEPTH, NO HEART, NO SOUL. YOU ARE A SHALLOW PERSON AND MIGHT BE LONELY SINCE YOU ARE SO MEAN.
ReplyDelete