Posts related to Television News and the crazy business is will always be.
18 years is a hell of a long time to wait without answers. I can’t imagine how the family of former television news anchor Jodi Huisentruit must truly feel. I’ve talked with a few of them over the years and we stay in touch, but to deal with the pain and agony of not knowing where a loved one is, must truly be the worst nightmare anyone can face. Jodi was abducted 18 years ago today...
The big story Friday was the Shuckers restaurant deck collapse in South Florida. The restaurant is located a very small town called North Bay Village – very close to Miami. The restaurant is known for it’s back patio on the pier of Biscayne Bay. Boats and Jet Skis cruise by as patrons enjoyed the sun and breeze coming off the water. But Friday, the scene wasn’t nearly as serene...
The Great 3D Revolution Recently the social interwebs came alive with with video of a 25-year-old, Ray Ban-clad, hat bill-flipped Texan popping off rounds from a handgun at a local gun range. It wasn’t exciting. What was, is the fact that the gun he was using was made of all plastic and it was made with a 3D printer. Cody Wilson shot once and killed twice that day. He killed the notion that...
Oh no, that reporter is looking at me… Don’t pick me, don’t pick me…run. I gotta get out of here, I gotta… Oh hi! Yes, I was standing here and the cars just crashed right in front of me…. STOP. We know you’re annoyed, scared, mad and stressed out. You just saw a horrible accident. You’re having an awful hair day. And, it’s a Monday. The last...
I had the great opportunity of meeting and interviewing Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh recently. When I learned Blair grew up in Boca Raton, Florida and played football and graduated from Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, I knew that South Floridians would have a big interest to learn about what Blair has done in the National Football League in such a short amount of time...
In a shocking announcement, the Vatican has reported that Pope Benedict will resign on February 28th, his spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told CNN Monday. Lombardi did not give a reason for the resignation. Benedict, the 265th pope, is the sixth German to serve as pope and the first since the 11th century. He has led church after the third-longest papacy in church history and during a time in...
I’ve spent the better part of twelve years anchoring the news. Whether it was in a frigid studio in Austin, Minnesota in the middle of winter, the dry, desert air of the studio in Tucson, Arizona, the humid, sticky studio in Orlando, Florida or the quiet, chilly and sometimes hot studio of Miami, Florida, one thing is for certain: I’ve watched a heck of a lot of TV commercials prior...
Phil Amato is a television news anchor in Jacksonville, Florida. I had the honor of putting together his new website for his anchoring, reporting, writing and editing career. The website profiles his 28 years of TV News experience and his interests in business, tech and real estate. He wakes up First Coast News viewers every weekday morning by combining a blend of breaking news, serious and...
It was fun to visit with students from the Robert Morgan School’s video production class last week. It’s fun to see the excitement and answer great questions about the TV News business. Thanks, everyone. Hope you had a great visit.
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted an interesting viewer email. We all remember the recent email sent to Wisconsin anchorwoman Jennifer Livingston by a local lawyer ripping her about her weight. After a national media tour, Livingston seems to have gotten her argument across about what she calls a case of bullying. While I have received emails from viewers demanding everything from...
