Darby Douglas Fired From KHOU

[editor]

Merriam-Webster lists humidities as a proper plural for humidity, so what do you mean by proper English?

For what it's worth, "internets" is also correct. The RFC documents upon which the internet was built frequently refer to "the internets."

But because the term sounded new and unusual to ignorant children, "the internets" became a "meme" representing ignorance when President Bush said it.

Speaking of "meme"...

My point is -- you can't fight linguistic ignorance. You can only do the right thing with your own spoken and written English.

[rsb320]

Are you calling me ignorants?

[hbcu]

ugh.....the blonde girl traffic type wins again.....laura reynolds does nothing for me on 610...glad I work against traffic

[SecondTour]

Cup size & hair color beat intelligence & ability - again. Sad.

[sifuwong]

Fired or laid off -- the result is the same. He's out on the street looking for a job.

True, but for unemployment benefits at TEC, you want to tell them you were laid off, not fired..

[FilioScotia]

deleted by poster - see next posting

[FilioScotia]

True, but for unemployment benefits at TEC, you want to tell them you were laid off, not fired..

As someone who also misunderstood this story from the beginning, I think some clarification is in order.

Darby was never an employee of KHOU.

He works for Metro Traffic, which KHOU contracts for traffic reporting.

KHOU decided it wanted a new face doing traffic, so Metro sent over someone new.

Darby is still very much employed by Metro. I'm not sure WHERE he is now, but he's not unemployed.

My apologies for contributing to the misunderstanding of Darby's relationship with KHOU.

[editor]

Update

Darby Douglas has been fired from Metro Networks. He worked there for 18 years and is now out of a job entirely.

We have lots of media people on HAIF. If anyone knows of an opening that might work for him, let me know and I'll pass it on.

[Janie]

Update

Darby Douglas has been fired from Metro Networks. He worked there for 18 years and is now out of a job entirely.

We have lots of media people on HAIF. If anyone knows of an opening that might work for him, let me know and I'll pass it on.

I think KHOU is beginning to stink! Darby did a fine job with the traffic and I don't think you had any grounds to fire him which you did regardless of how you buttered it up to look like your were not at fault.

I've watched C 11 for 35 years but a few more stunts and it will be removed from my good list.

Janie M Palmrtree

[JLWM8609]

Uh, Janie, it's not wise to post your mailing address on a public internet forum. There's plenty of weirdos out there. I'm pretty sure "editor" will clean it up.

[editor]

Uh, Janie, it's not wise to post your mailing address on a public internet forum. There's plenty of weirdos out there. I'm pretty sure "editor" will clean it up.

She knows how to use emoticons, but can't tell the difference between HAIF and KHOU. The internet is full of all sorts of people.

[EMME]

Yes, I can understand slang, but I don't think news professionals should be speaking it, Dawg. Call me old fashioned, but I think proper English has been slaughtered enough.

I agree with you on that. Lately, channel eleven anchors have been calling each other by cutesy names: Calling Courtney - Court, etc. I find it quite annoying. I found it annoying when they started calling George R. Brown the GRB. I do find it to be unprofessional.

[JLWM8609]

I agree with you on that. Lately, channel eleven anchors have been calling each other by cutesy names: Calling Courtney - Court, etc. I find it quite annoying. I found it annoying when they started calling George R. Brown the GRB. I do find it to be unprofessional.

I forget which channel I was watching, but they were doing a cover story on Dr. Edith Irby Jones a few weeks ago. In 1952, Dr. Jones became the first black to graduate from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and she's received many different accolades since then. She was also one of the first blacks to move into Riverside. Now, she's in her 80s and still practicing. However, the reporter kept on calling her "Edith" instead of "Dr. Jones." I thought calling her "Edith" was unprofessional as I was brought up to not call elders by their first name unless they ask you to, and to address a professional such as a M.D. by their title.

[FilioScotia]

I agree with you on that. Lately, channel eleven anchors have been calling each other by cutesy names: Calling Courtney - Court, etc. I find it quite annoying. I found it annoying when they started calling George R. Brown the GRB. I do find it to be unprofessional.

Ch 11 is hardly the only media outlet in town that refers to the George R. Brown as the GRB. Everybody in town does it and it's been going on ever since the place was built.

And being a member of the broadcast media, I can tell you we use it because it's handy shorthand for the full name, and it's shorter and easier than saying the full name every time you refer to it.

[EMME]

Ch 11 is hardly the only media outlet in town that refers to the George R. Brown as the GRB. Everybody in town does it and it's been going on ever since the place was built.

And being a member of the broadcast media, I can tell you we use it because it's handy shorthand for the full name, and it's shorter and easier than saying the full name every time you refer to it.

Being a member of your audience, we find it annoying.

[kylejack]

Being a member of your audience, we find it annoying.

Why?

Can we call it I-10 instead of Interstate 10?

[FilioScotia]

Being a member of your audience, we find it annoying.

Get over it. Or find a news source that meets with your approval.

Good luck with that. No one is going to change the way they do things just to suit you, or stop doing something just because you "find it annoying."

You may also be interested in knowing that most media members regard emails and communications like yours as one of the most annoying things about being in the news media.

[CHSNIDER]

Get over it. Or find a news source that meets with your approval.

Good luck with that. No one is going to change the way they do things just to suit you, or stop doing something just because you "find it annoying."

You may also be interested in knowing that most media members regard emails and communications like yours as one of the most annoying things about being in the news media.

GRB instead of the full name of the place is one thing, but I think that these individuals expressing criticism are noticing a pattern in our news media - first names to people news-reporter shave just met, and are talking to for whatever reason, deserve the respect of Mr. and Mrs. I have even heard "where they're at," "this is where he's at" in the reports. On a different angle of critique or observation, this is not competitive for those same individuals possibly shooting for bigger markets, or national markets in their career. I don't see the debate. These have been valid observations.

[EMME]

Get over it. Or find a news source that meets with your approval.

Good luck with that. No one is going to change the way they do things just to suit you, or stop doing something just because you "find it annoying."

You may also be interested in knowing that most media members regard emails and communications like yours as one of the most annoying things about being in the news media.

I am just saying that I find it annoying. I am sorry if that hurts your feelings. Just some simple honest feedback. Take it or leave it, but I see no reason for you to attack me. And by the way, I am not posting to a media website. That there are members of the media here, that is just a coincidence. And further, I fully support the media. I am not generally a complainer of the media, I am occasionally a complainer of the management of the media, but not the reporters and journalists themselves.

[FilioScotia]

I am just saying that I find it annoying. I am sorry if that hurts your feelings. Just some simple honest feedback. Take it or leave it, but I see no reason for you to attack me. And by the way, I am not posting to a media website. That there are members of the media here, that is just a coincidence. And further, I fully support the media. I am not generally a complainer of the media, I am occasionally a complainer of the management of the media, but not the reporters and journalists themselves.

It doesn't hurt my feelings and I'm not attacking you. I'm reminding you that YOU are the one with the power in this equation. I'm saying there's a universe of news and information sources out there. A UNIVERSE...with today's Internet and cable access to hundreds of TV stations streaming their news, thousands of radio stations doing the same thing, and an uncountable number of online editions of newspapers around the world. Welcome to the brave new world of news and information.

If a local TV news anchor does something that annoys you, switch to another station. And let the manager of the annoying station know why you left. If enough people do that, he/she might actually do something about it, but don't hold your breath.

Now, having said that, I agree that local TV news is the pits. With only a few exceptions, watching local TV news is a terrible and painful way to waste thirty minutes. I've come to the conclusion that people who apply for jobs in TV news are given an IQ test, and the station hires from the bottom of the list.

I've covered countless local stories over four decades as a radio reporter, and I can't count the number of times I've been embarrassed at the outright brazen stupidity of the TV reporters. Long ago I reached the conclusion that as a species, TV reporters are the dumbest people on this planet. There are exceptions of course, but they stand out because they ARE the exceptions.

And I also agree that TV news has fallen into some extremely annoying habits in recent years, but calling that convention center the GRB isn't one of them.

For example, calling other anchors and reporters by nicknames instead of their real first names. KTRK's Cynthia Cisneros is a fine reporter, and one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. She's not one of the dummies. I love her dearly, but it annoys the hell out of me when an anchor calls her Cindy on the air. If that's what they want to call her, I think she should change her on-air name to Cindy. Same thing with that newby on KHOU, Allison Triarse. Attention anchors: PLEASE stop calling her "Allie".

There are numerous other examples of this trend on view any day or night up and down the TV dial, but it's a small thing compared to another TV news habit that's developed in recent years. The practice of referring to murder victims by their first name. That's not just annoying. It's a bad way to report news, because it implies there's some kind of personal relationship between the victim and the TV station. I think local TV reporters picked up this habit from the national TV networks' incessant non-stop NATIONAL coverage of every LOCAL kidnaping and murder case that comes along.

Well, almost every case. Have you noticed that the networks go into wall-to-wall coverage mode ONLY in cases in which the victim is a beautiful young WHITE woman? I'm waiting to see non-stop coverage of the kidnaping or murder of a beautiful young black woman, but I'm not holding my breath.

I could write a large book about what's wrong with TV news, but nobody inside and outside of TV news would pay any attention, so it would just be a waste of time and energy.

[EMME]

It doesn't hurt my feelings and I'm not attacking you. I'm reminding you that YOU are the one with the power in this equation. I'm saying there's a universe of news and information sources out there. A UNIVERSE...with today's Internet and cable access to hundreds of TV stations streaming their news, thousands of radio stations doing the same thing, and an uncountable number of online editions of newspapers around the world. Welcome to the brave new world of news and information.

If a local TV news anchor does something that annoys you, switch to another station. And let the manager of the annoying station know why you left. If enough people do that, he/she might actually do something about it, but don't hold your breath.

Now, having said that, I agree that local TV news is the pits. With only a few exceptions, watching local TV news is a terrible and painful way to waste thirty minutes. I've come to the conclusion that people who apply for jobs in TV news are given an IQ test, and the station hires from the bottom of the list.

I've covered countless local stories over four decades as a radio reporter, and I can't count the number of times I've been embarrassed at the outright brazen stupidity of the TV reporters. Long ago I reached the conclusion that as a species, TV reporters are the dumbest people on this planet. There are exceptions of course, but they stand out because they ARE the exceptions.

And I also agree that TV news has fallen into some extremely annoying habits in recent years, but calling that convention center the GRB isn't one of them.

For example, calling other anchors and reporters by nicknames instead of their real first names. KTRK's Cynthia Cisneros is a fine reporter, and one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. She's not one of the dummies. I love her dearly, but it annoys the hell out of me when an anchor calls her Cindy on the air. If that's what they want to call her, I think she should change her on-air name to Cindy. Same thing with that newby on KHOU, Allison Triarse. Attention anchors: PLEASE stop calling her "Allie".

There are numerous other examples of this trend on view any day or night up and down the TV dial, but it's a small thing compared to another TV news habit that's developed in recent years. The practice of referring to murder victims by their first name. That's not just annoying. It's a bad way to report news, because it implies there's some kind of personal relationship between the victim and the TV station. I think local TV reporters picked up this habit from the national TV networks' incessant non-stop NATIONAL coverage of every LOCAL kidnaping and murder case that comes along.

Well, almost every case. Have you noticed that the networks go into wall-to-wall coverage mode ONLY in cases in which the victim is a beautiful young WHITE woman? I'm waiting to see non-stop coverage of the kidnaping or murder of a beautiful young black woman, but I'm not holding my breath.

I could write a large book about what's wrong with TV news, but nobody inside and outside of TV news would pay any attention, so it would just be a waste of time and energy.

We have reached agreement. I actually was not picking on Channel 11, it's just that I only have examples from channel 11 since that is the only local news I watch. Channel 2 lost me years ago when they were the first to go tabloid news, channel 13 lost me with Wayne Dolcefino and if it weren't the last one, Channel 11 would lose me with "You saw it here first." It seems so predatory when reporting on traumatic or horrific stories. WooHoo, we got this one!

OK, I will give on GRB, but it still bothers me, but that's just me. I can actually see the brains sitting around the table saying, what can we do to increase market share? Let's make it more homey, let's call each other by cute little nicknames. The reality is that Cynthia Cisneros probably hates being called Cindy, etc. My sister named Susan, hates hates hates being called Suzy or Sue. So it is disingenuous and we know it. Stop it. Report the news please, but that is what happens when you make news a profit center rather than a community service.