Greenway Plaza Campus (Buildings 1-21) Developments

[Kiss]

it's not Anthony's

(but WAS of Vallone family Restaurant

this is where i'm perplexed...i originally remember it being a hop, skip and jump from my Greenway office....seemingly on Richmond..

Grotto. Fertita owns it now.

Bravo! where were you last night???

[albertnurick]

Yep. Landry's bought the Grotto, and ruined it. It's gone from excellent to truly mediocre.

But there's good news on the horizon. Tony and his son Jeff are opening a new upscale casual Italian spot on West Grey and Shepherd next year.

[dakotafleming]

I was at the Koch Bldg on 4/16/09 when news came that a woman jumped to her death yet I havent seen any news about this.

[editor]

I was at the Koch Bldg on 4/16/09 when news came that a woman jumped to her death yet I havent seen any news about this.

And you won't. Unless it's a celebrity or caused a major inconvenience to others, suicides aren't usually reported in the media out of respect for a victim that obviously wasn't thinking at full capacity at the time, and out of respect for the family members left behind.

They happen all the time. In a city the size of Houston, several per day (though not all plummeting off a building).

It's been discussed elsewhere here on HAIF before.

[gto250us]

I was at the Koch Bldg on 4/16/09 when news came that a woman jumped to her death yet I havent seen any news about this.

Where is the Koch building?

[cottonmather0]

Where is the Koch building?

In Greenway. It's the red and black stair-stepped looking building that shares the parking garage with the Edwards theater.

[sevfiv]

20 Greenway Plaza

[John Rich]

And you won't. Unless it's a celebrity or caused a major inconvenience to others, suicides aren't usually reported in the media out of respect for a victim...

I disagree with the "respect" portion of your theory. The media has no respect for anyone. The simple truth of it is that run-of-the-mill suicides aren't "newsworthy". Like you said yourself, it's got be someone famous for them to "care". Or else it's got to be something unusual. They're interested in grabbing your attention, selling papers, and getting ratings. Respect for victims isn't part of that equation. (Call me cynical...)

[TheNiche]

I disagree with the "respect" portion of your theory. The media has no respect for anyone. The simple truth of it is that run-of-the-mill suicides aren't "newsworthy". Like you said yourself, it's got be someone famous for them to "care". Or else it's got to be something unusual. They're interested in grabbing your attention, selling papers, and getting ratings. Respect for victims isn't part of that equation. (Call me cynical...)

I disagree. There's definitely an interest in suicides. We've had several threads come up on them over the years, and that in and of itself is an indication. Jumpers are especially interesting because they did it in public...definitely more compelling than the person who shoots themselves in their bedroom...and even then, that garners interest if there's any kind of backstory. My best friend's dad shot himself in McAllen, and for over a year, he got a lot of press, and his name became one of the top five most frequently paired words along with the word "McAllen" among Google searches.

Maybe Editor can back me up on this, but I've observed that media coverage of suicides varies by media market. Generally speaking, the smaller the market the more coverage they get.

[JLWM8609]

And you won't. Unless it's a celebrity or caused a major inconvenience to others, suicides aren't usually reported in the media out of respect for a victim that obviously wasn't thinking at full capacity at the time, and out of respect for the family members left behind.

I know in the case of the guy who jumped from the Transco Tower on the morning of 12/16/02 (my 16th b-day), the media was reporting on what they thought was an instance of a building climber who would be arrested upon his arrival at the top. Instead, almost all of the major news outlets in town provided Houstonians with a live, on air suicide. I'm pretty sure that wasn't what they were expecting to broadcast that morning. Though from a cynical standpoint, they may have very well known that the possibility of the guy plunging to his death, planned or unplanned was great, and would be very sensational.

[dakotafleming]

In Greenway. It's the red and black stair-stepped looking building that shares the parking garage with the Edwards theater.

No it doesnt share a parking garage with Edwards.

[dakotafleming]

Where is the Koch building?

Its the old Innova bldg

[dakotafleming]

And you won't. Unless it's a celebrity or caused a major inconvenience to others, suicides aren't usually reported in the media out of respect for a victim that obviously wasn't thinking at full capacity at the time, and out of respect for the family members left behind.

They happen all the time. In a city the size of Houston, several per day (though not all plummeting off a building).

It's been discussed elsewhere here on HAIF before.

I didnt know that about the media.It was a woman and she jumped from the parking garage on her lunch hour 12:30.R.I.P.

[cottonmather0]

No it doesnt share a parking garage with Edwards.

Unless you're talking about a different Koch Building it certainly does.

This is the picture from the KS&T website:

Which seems to be pretty clearly visible in the overhead (NW corner of Cummins and Norfolk):

Google Maps

Is the parking garage in between the two some kid of Google mirage?

[dakotafleming]

Unless you're talking about a different Koch Building it certainly does.

This is the picture from the KS&T website:

Which seems to be pretty clearly visible in the overhead (NW corner of Cummins and Norfolk):

Google Maps

Is the parking garage in between the two some kid of Google mirage?

no it doesnt share a garage with Edwards

[cottonmather0]

no it doesnt share a garage with Edwards

OK, I give up on whatever technicality you're arguing here, but Edwards ("Regal" now I think) uses the west side of the structure and people who work in the Koch building on the other end of the block park on the east side of the exact same garage that is directly connected to their building via walkways. I have visited there before and I know people who work there today. I'm not going to go anymore off topic than this. Cheers.

[editor]

I disagree with the "respect" portion of your theory. The media has no respect for anyone. The simple truth of it is that run-of-the-mill suicides aren't "newsworthy". Like you said yourself, it's got be someone famous for them to "care". Or else it's got to be something unusual. They're interested in grabbing your attention, selling papers, and getting ratings. Respect for victims isn't part of that equation. (Call me cynical...)

OK, you're cynical. And it's not a theory. I worked in broadcast news for almost 20 years and that was the policy at every station where I worked, and always for the same reason.

I never said that it has to be someone famous for "the media" to "care." Those are your words, not mine. Sometimes suicides are news when the news value of the person or event outweighs the family's right to privacy. For example, if a state senator were to kill himself, that's certainly more newsworthy and will be broadcast, compared to some random emo kid offing himself in his bedroom.

And it doesn't have to be a celebrity, as I noted before. An example of this is the nutjob who back in the late 90's climbed up the outside of the Williams Tower before doing himself in. In the process he screwed up the entire morning rush for half the city. That made it a newsworthy event.

I'd like to know what it is that you do for a living so I can make up cynical theories and pretend to know what imaginary conspiracies motivate you and the people you work with and then splatter them all over the internet pretending I know what I'm talking about. So, how 'bout it? Is turnabout fair play?

[editor]

Maybe Editor can back me up on this, but I've observed that media coverage of suicides varies by media market. Generally speaking, the smaller the market the more coverage they get.

Only very slightly, and only because in smaller markets more people know each other.

A car dealer in a small market may qualify as a celebrity because everyone knows him. Still, the emo kid with the razor blade in the bathtub is a non-event until there becomes a string of them.

[editor]

I know in the case of the guy who jumped from the Transco Tower on the morning of 12/16/02 (my 16th b-day), the media was reporting on what they thought was an instance of a building climber who would be arrested upon his arrival at the top. Instead, almost all of the major news outlets in town provided Houstonians with a live, on air suicide. I'm pretty sure that wasn't what they were expecting to broadcast that morning. Though from a cynical standpoint, they may have very well known that the possibility of the guy plunging to his death, planned or unplanned was great, and would be very sensational.

Thanks for getting the date on that, I didn't want to bother looking it up.

All of the people involved in covering that event that morning knew there was a possibility that he would jump or fall. Everyone was ready for it, and when he did all of the TV stations paned away or pulled out so the event would not be seen. The only exceptions, if I recall correctly, were Fox and Telemundo. In those cases, I believe the photographers in the helicopters assumed that someone back in the control room would cut away from the feed. Strictly speaking, the photographers did their jobs -- following the moving object, and it was up to the directors and producers back in the station to make the call about when to cut away. Of course, the guy's stunt went on long enough that by the time he ended it most of the stations' news directors and assistant news directors were in house and running things, but I wouldn't be surprised if the photographers didn't get some unwarranted heat for it.

It's like when the pick-up truck in the high speed chase over the ship channel bridge hit the wall and the guy bounced out of the cab and cheese-gratered through the chain-link fence. The photographers just followed the action, and it aired live because that's one of the hazards of live television.

Back on topic -- it's very easy for people who have no idea how the media works to come up with conspiracy theories about everything. Why bother actually thinking when you can "blame the media?"

[Native Son]

Thanks for getting the date on that, I didn't want to bother looking it up.

All of the people involved in covering that event that morning knew there was a possibility that he would jump or fall. Everyone was ready for it, and when he did all of the TV stations paned away or pulled out so the event would not be seen. The only exceptions, if I recall correctly, were Fox and Telemundo. In those cases, I believe the photographers in the helicopters assumed that someone back in the control room would cut away from the feed. Strictly speaking, the photographers did their jobs -- following the moving object, and it was up to the directors and producers back in the station to make the call about when to cut away. Of course, the guy's stunt went on long enough that by the time he ended it most of the stations' news directors and assistant news directors were in house and running things, but I wouldn't be surprised if the photographers didn't get some unwarranted heat for it.

It's like when the pick-up truck in the high speed chase over the ship channel bridge hit the wall and the guy bounced out of the cab and cheese-gratered through the chain-link fence. The photographers just followed the action, and it aired live because that's one of the hazards of live television.

Back on topic -- it's very easy for people who have no idea how the media works to come up with conspiracy theories about everything. Why bother actually thinking when you can "blame the media?"

what exactly is "the media" code for? I think I know what "Hollywood liberals" is code for, but I am fuzzy about who exactly "the media" is

[editor]

what exactly is "the media" code for? I think I know what "Hollywood liberals" is code for, but I am fuzzy about who exactly "the media" is

Exactly. As I've explained before elsewhere on HAIF, there is no great media conspiracy. Contrary to what lazy Hollywood writers would have you believe, journalists from all the different television stations, newspapers, and radio stations don't get together in some big conspiracy to run people's lives.

The last time I tried to explain it in a rational manner a bunch of HAIFers got upset that it didn't fit their conspiracy theories of how the world works and they actually quit HAIF.

"The media" is a catch-all that enables people to avoid taking responsibility for their lives, or to place blame on some invisible boogieman so they can feel better about being unable to change things.

• Your presidential candidate didn't win? Blame "the media."
  
• Tivo stopped recording before the end of your favorite TV show? Blame "the media."
  
• Too much violence and pain on the TV news? Blame "the media" for sensationalizing the news.
  
• Too many kittens and puppies on the TV news? Blame "the media" for trivializing the news.
  
• News stories too long for you to sit through an entire newscast? Blame "the media" for being old and out of touch.
  
• News stories too short for you to get a full idea of what's going on? Blame "the media" for glossing over important stories.
  
• Your garage band sucks too hard to get a record contract? Blame "the media" for only promoting mindless pop music.
  
• Too many crappy garage bands on the radio? Blame "the media" for not putting anything good on the radio.
  
• Newspaper publishes too many stories from countries you can't pronounce? Blame "the media" for being cheap and running lots of wire stories.
  
• Newspaper doesn't care that your neighbor parks on your lawn? Blame "the media" for not taking an interest in local news.
  
• TV station doesn't believe that Jesus got your cat pregnant?* Blame "the media" for conspiring against humanity.
  

Perhaps it comes from the culture of self-entitlement that so many people who grew up after 1960 are wallowing in. They expect so much to be handed to them on a silver platter, and when it isn't the reason isn't that life is hard or that they didn't try hard enough. The excuse is that there's some conspiracy working against them. It used to be "the Russians!" Then it was "the gub'ment!" Now "the media!" is the catch-all excuse for one's failures in life.

I've been out of television news for 16 months now. I would never go back. Not because of how "the media" is, but because of how "the viewers" are. If every person who complained about the quality of television programming would donate $10 to PBS, things would be vastly different. But for the most part TV viewers are lazy and cheap. You've been given exactly what you asked for, and you get what you deserve.

(* When I worked in Cincinnati there was a woman who would call at least once a week claiming that we HAD to rush a TV crew over to her house because Jesus got her cat pregnant. Poor kitty was pregnant for all of the 18 months I worked in that market, but I never sent anyone over to look at the fuzzball. Every once in a while she would complain about the "media conspiracy" to keep her quiet about what Jesus had done to her cat. I once told her that we were too busy painting all the helicopters black, and she seemed to accept that for a while.)

If anyone has any specific questions about how "the media"works, feel free to PM me. I'll respond if you're not a raving lunatic. Until then --

[Fringe]

You would be amazed at how many suicides, murders, and fatalities that are not covered by the media. Most are just so common place they are not worth reporting on I guess.

[editor]

You would be amazed at how many suicides, murders, and fatalities that are not covered by the media. Most are just so common place they are not worth reporting on I guess.

That, and reporting crews are stretched so thin these days. If a station only has two or three or four reporters available for a particular shift, there's only so much they can cover. Maybe they'll go out an do a full story on something, and if possible stop by one or two other things to pick up video to have someone back at the station write a story for. That only gives you ten or twelve stories for most of a day's work, so you supplement it with wire copy, network video, and whatever else you have.

And in some markets their unions restrict the number of stories a reporter can cover. So where in Houston a reporter could conceivably do a full story and swing by a couple of other places to get video and information, in tight union markets the reporter has to go straight back to the station and cannot otherwise contribute to the newscast.

Worse, though, is the fact that news is cyclical. There will be a whole bunch of good stories all at once and then nothing will happen for a long while. So when there's a bunch of things going on you prioritize and cover the most important items. Then when it's quiet, you scrape by on the puppies and kittens stories. Then you get flack from Joe Lunchbucket for, "Well, you ignored THIS important story, but then you covered THIS puppy and kitten! What's wrong with you?!" When in reality, the important story you weren't able to cover happened at the same time as a plane crash or the death of a public figure or a refinery explosion. But Mr. Lunchbucket has already made up his mind that your channel sucks because it doesn't have 400 reporters sitting around to cover every last thing going on in his neighborhood.

Again, as far as I'm concerned one of the big problems is uneducated viewers, and for the most part they've already driven most of the good people out of broadcast news. There's no joy and little reward in a newscast well done anymore.

[RedScare]

It used to be "the Russians!" Then it was "the gub'ment!" Now "the media!" is the catch-all excuse for one's failures in life.

The gub'ment is still front and center as the primary reason one's life sucks. Russia has faded a bit though, replaced by illegal immigrants.

(Since I included part of your post, my thread hijack should be allowed. )

[VicMan]

OK, I give up on whatever technicality you're arguing here, but Edwards ("Regal" now I think) uses the west side of the structure and people who work in the Koch building on the other end of the block park on the east side of the exact same garage that is directly connected to their building via walkways. I have visited there before and I know people who work there today. I'm not going to go anymore off topic than this. Cheers.

Edwards and Koch DO share the garage, but AFAIK there isn't a separate side thing. The elavators for the Edwards and for the Koch are on opposite sides, though. AFAIK the workers park in that garage during the day, while the theater patrons use it during the night.

[Native Son]

The gub'ment is still front and center as the primary reason one's life sucks. Russia has faded a bit though, replaced by illegal immigrants.

(Since I included part of your post, my thread hijack should be allowed. )

nope, it's Hollywood liberals

[JLWM8609]

It's like when the pick-up truck in the high speed chase over the ship channel bridge hit the wall and the guy bounced out of the cab and cheese-gratered through the chain-link fence. The photographers just followed the action, and it aired live because that's one of the hazards of live television.

I can't believe I missed that. When did that happen?

I remember a similar high speed chase that ended on I-10 in Sealy, where the guy's truck careened off of the embankment of the overpass near the old outlet center and threw him out. I think ABC 13 blurred him being thrown out of the truck even though he survived.

[editor]

I can't believe I missed that. When did that happen?

Around 2002

I remember a similar high speed chase that ended on I-10 in Sealy, where the guy's truck careened off of the embankment of the overpass near the old outlet center and threw him out. I think ABC 13 blurred him being thrown out of the truck even though he survived.

If they were able to blur it, then it wasn't live.

[editor]

(Since I included part of your post, my thread hijack should be allowed. )

[Fringe]

One thing I never understood about TV news, when they go to a scene they always seem to interview the dorkiest and most ignorant person around. Half the time I can't understand what the hell they are even saying and rarely do they actually offer some insight to the event. Do they actively seek these people out or are they the only ones that will agree to an interview?