Fort Wayne Observed

Helmke to Run for Mayor Again?

WANE has a very interesting story that sounds like something you'd read on Fort Wayne Observed:

A reliable source has told NewsChannel 15's Mark Mellinger that Paul Helmke hired a firm to conduct a telephone poll to gauge his chances should he decide to run for mayor in 2007. The poll was completed in the past few days. The poll surveyed 400 homes in Fort Wayne. Poll takers asked people who they would vote for in a head-to-head match-up between Helmke, a republican, and the current mayor, democrat Graham Richard.

Then there's this juicy tidbit:

Steve Shine says he has talked to 5 people interested in running for mayor.

Who are the five?  Time to start hitting up sources!

UPDATE: I've already confirmed that Matt Kelty was one of the five, but that's no surprise to anyone following local politics.

Another source speculates on The Five: Paul Helmke, Matt Kelty, former police chief Neil Moore (who has been talking about running for sheriff), State Rep. Randy Borror and City Councilman John Crawford?

Update

Indiana's News Center's news ticker is up.

MORE: Indiana Parley reports on what might be Indiana's real news center

Feedback Loop?

At Indiana Parley: Mitch Harper on Leo Morris on Mitch Harper.

(Also a discussion about the Allen County Tax Adjustment Board.)

Reviewing Day One

Tuesday night WPTA debuted its new set [photos], and result was an unmitigated disaster. It looked like amateur hour over on Butler Road, and, frankly, it was painful to watch.

Make a list of all the bad things you've seen on a newscast over the last few years. Now imagine they all happened in the same newsroom on the same night.

Everyone knows that the WPTA employees -- those behind and in front of the cameras -- are competent professionals who usually produce newscasts free of embarrassing mishaps. So I'm not blaming them for what happened on Tuesday night. In fact, I felt sorry for the on-air talent, who were clearly aware of how they were coming off but could only sit (or stand) and smile.

It was no secret inside the station that they weren't going to be ready by Tuesday night, even after a Monday night's final rehearsal. The source who provided me advance details of the new set told me as much.

"I think they're rushing it on the air before they're ready. It's like they've taken their time up to a certain point, and now they've decided to get it on the air as soon as possible."

But why? Wasn't a smooth transition to the new set and camera angles and standing positions more important than trying to squeese in some buzz at the end of November sweeps -- especially if there was such a big risk of the station falling on its face?

After the community reaction to last spring's merger, you'd think those managing the station would realize that they weren't going to have a very forgiving audience for the big debut. Yet they still didn't take the time to make sure everything was right.

It doesn't help that WPTA's Jerry Giesler thinks I'm out to get him and his station -- in fact, the last time he was contacted by Fort Wayne Observed, he claimed I'd been "fairly brutal" to the station and that he had "no reason to believe the operation will get a fair hearing" from this blog.

But Giesler's confusing "fairly brutal" with "brutally fair." Though both can be painful, there is a difference.

And I'm not out to get WPTA. In fact, I went out of my way to play down the "we're not ready" angle in my report Monday, even though I had ample information indicating that Tuesday night would be the disaster it turned out to be.

The good news is that the employees will regroup and eventually get as comfortable with this  set as they were with the old one.

But even after all the glitches are fixed, the station will still have trouble attracting viewers, unless Giesler and other leaders at the station make a concerted effort to overhaul the news operation even more than they altered the set.

If that ever does happen -- and I hope it does -- Giesler will have the support of his employees, according to my source.

"Everyone wants to make the product better."

Now that's something worth rushing.

The Final Piece of the Puzzle

Leo Morris reports on Tuesday night's city council meeting, which I was unable to attend. (Foiled the Fort Wayne paparazzi again!) The topic was downtown development, specifically the proposed hotel and where it should be located. Leo has some good questions, and asks his readers to weigh in with their thoughts.

As I mentioned, I wasn't at the meeting, but I've been paying close attention to this issue ever since I started blogging six months ago. I even spent 30 minutes interviewing Kevin Leininger [listen] about downtown redevelopment and the history of Fort Wayne's downtown.

I think we've got much of what we need to revitalize downtown already in place, such as a plan, committed community leaders, and another plan.

In fact, it seems to me that we're really only lacking one thing.

Leadership.

We all agree on where we want to go -- and in case there was any doubt, we paid consultants to draw us a map.

But who will step up and get us there?

Overtime: Rest in Peace

Some sad news from an online-only News-Sentinel report by Ryan Lengerich:

The Fort Wayne sports weekly Overtime will end publication when its final edition hits stores Thursday.

Owners Aaron Suozzi and Dave Benson confirmed Monday a lack of advertising revenue plagued the publication focused on the area’s prep, college and semi-pro sports scene. This will be Overtime’s 16th issue, with the first edition published Aug. 18.

“It is too bad because it really filled a niche in Fort Wayne. I thought we put out a quality publication and our readers loved it,” Suozzi said. “A lot of people made promises to advertise with us and financially back us and didn’t follow through when it came time to follow through.”

Suozzi, 34, is a photographer with nearly 15 years’ experience in journalism. Benson, 29, has been a sportswriter for about nine years. He and Suozzi are former News-Sentinel staffers.

“I still think it can be viable because Fort Wayne is such a good sports market,” Benson said.

Suozzi said a deal was nearly struck to sell the free publication in locations throughout the area including Borders, Barnes & Noble and Mitchell Books. Suozzi and Benson had an office at 725 Fulton St. The two said they are unsure of their next career move.

I interviewed Aaron and Dave back in the summer about Overtime (listen) and I really was hoping that the venture would be a success. (That's why I offered to preview the cover of each issue for them here on Fort Wayne Observed.)

I think what ultimately may have done Overtime in was their decision to debut as a print publication and worry about a website later. Putting out a print publication costs money; after the initial cost of creating a website, publishing on the Internet is more or less free.

Had Overtime gone online first, Aaron and Dave could have built up their readership without having to pour so much money into publishing costs. And instead of having limited access via distribution points throughout the city, Overtime would have been available to anyone with an Internet connection -- anywhere in the world.

Then they would have had a product to show prospective advertisers; once they sold enough ads to pay for printing costs, they could fund distribution of a dead-tree version of Overtime.

But by that point, I bet the thought of changing to a slower, more expensive and more restrictive method of content delivery would seem silly.

Something another newspaper in town seems to have already realized.

WPTA's New Set

Blogger Citings...er, Sightings

Tonight I'll be at the City Council's Fifth Tuesday meeting, but before that, I'll be attending Fort Wayne's first-ever blogger convention. (That is, I'm having lunch with Mitch Harper.)

UPDATE: I was unable to get to the meeting because of another obligation related to something I'll be announcing on the blog soon.

Today is the Day...

...that WPTA reveals its new set and new approach to news. Will it also be the last day any of us use "21Alive"? All signs point to that term being replaced by "Indiana's News Center."

UPDATE: Indiana's News Center it is. But what will news outlets in other part of the state (like, um, Indianapolis) think of that designation? And what about those in the WPTA/WISE viewing area who happen to live in northwestern Ohio?

Behind the Scenes: WPTA's New Set

Last minute preparations continue for the debut of WPTA's new set, planned for Tuesday's 5 pm newscast. "People [at the station] are excited," said one longtime employee. "We've been in need of a new set for a long time."

"It's not 33's old set," said the source. "The only thing from 33 is the news desk and the lights, and they hired a lighting expert to set them up. The lighting is so much better -- it makes the anchors look younger."

The new set, which was supposed to be ready in September, was constructed in the studio formerly used to tape programs like IMPACT. "It's a bigger space with a higher ceiling."

The source said the set has two tiers and a series of plasma screens. And like WPTA's current set, it feature an open newsroom. "There will be people behind the on-air talent, but they'll be off to the side and further back than they are now."

One feature that won't be ready for tomorrow is an electronic news ticker, similar to what ABC News has in Times Square. "It will be above the anchors' heads."

The source also says space will be at a premium. "The sports and weather guys have to stand. The desk is too small for more than two people, and it isn't too far from the hallway, which makes it difficult for the camera crew to get all the shots they need.

"There was a run-through last week and what the camera crew had to go through to get the shots of Dean Pantazi and Curtis Smith was just ridiculous."

Promos teasing the makeover promise a new generation of local news, but even the insider says most people at the station don't know what that means.

"Management met with producers about the changes in the content of the newscasts, but everyone else is pretty much in the dark. The rest of the employees have only heard, 'More content in a quicker fashion. More, done better.'"

And what about the "21Alive" moniker?  Will that be dropped?

"None of us know," said the source.  "We've seen graphics that say 'Indiana's News Center,' but that's as much as we know."

So will everything ready for tomorrow's big debut?

"I think they're rushing it on the air before they're ready. They're still having another rehearsal tonight."