Fort Wayne Observed

More Best of 2005

So far we've gotten through two categories of Fort Wayne Observed's Best of 2005 series: media personality of the year and media outlet of the year. Over the weekend, I'll be accepting nominations for the following categories:

• Journalist of the Year

• Newsmaker of the Year

• Story of the Year

To nominate someone or something in one of those categories, send me an email or leave a comment on this post. We'll vote on them next week, and then I'll present the winners, as well as my own choices if they differ with FWOb readers' selections.

Lots of Blogs

While I was away, both Fort Wayne dailies went a little blog-crazy...which isn't a bad thing, of course.

The News-Sentinel, which already had Blake Sebring blogging about the Komets, gave fellow sports writers Reggie Hayes (who you might also recognize as an ESPNEWS talking head) and Pete DiPrimio their own blogs. Hayes doesn't really have a beat -- though he's the N-S's resident Colts expert -- but DiPrimio covers the Indiana and Purdue football and basketball teams, and now that we're about to start the Big Ten basketball season, he should have plenty of Hoosier and Boilermaker fans stopping in regularly.

The News-Sentinel also put more than a hundred restaurant reviews from Carol Tannehill online. Readers are allowed to add their own reviews of the restaurants Carol has written up, creating an interactive database for local residents to peruse before or after going out to dinner.

Leo Morris, as you're well aware, also has a blog he operates through the News-Sentinel, which he started over the summer. It continues to be a hodge podge of information, much of it links to quirky national stories he finds amusing, but his best posts continue to be those where he weighs in on local or state issues.

The Journal Gazette just added a new blog by Michael Rothstein, Fiesta Forum, where he files reports from Arizona about the lead-up to the Fiesta Bowl and the game itself, which pits Notre Dame against Ohio State. Rothstein has already added photos and audio of players and coaches in the last few days.

That's in addition to the four blogs tracking the JG staffers attempting to lose weight, Justin Cohn's Ice Chips blog about the Komets, and Tracy Warner.net, the first newspaper-sanctioned blog in Fort Wayne.

Vote for Media Outlet of the Year

The nominees for media outlet of the year:

• NBC33 - for more or less ceasing to exist   
  

• 21Alive - for, um, failing to fully anticipate the reaction to subsuming NBC33, and then trying to reinvent itself as "Indiana's News Center"

• News-Sentinel - for planning or not planning, depending on whom you ask (and also for creating lots of blogs)

• Journal Gazette - for creating lots of blogs

• News Channel 15 - for taking advantage of the 21/33 merger fallout

• Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly - for launching in 2005 and changing the local news landscape, breaking some big stories (the News-Sentinel's online plans, for example) and bringing aboard experienced local journalists like Linda Lipp and recent hire Doug LeDuc

Up Next: Media Outlet of the Year

Our next category, Media Outlet of the Year, is again not necessarily for the best media outlet, but the one that made the most news. And goodness knows there was plenty of news made by local media outlets.

• NBC33 - for ceasing to exist

• 21Alive - for, um, failing to fully anticipate the reaction to subsuming NBC33

• News-Sentinel - for planning or not planning, depending on whom you ask (and also for creating lots of blogs)

• Journal Gazette - for creating lots of blogs

• News Channel 15 - for taking advantage of the 21/33 merger fallout

If there are any other media outlets you think are deserving of a nomination (or additional reasons why the outlets aboved deserved to be nominated), please send me an email or leave a comment on this post.

The Voting Begins

Here are the nominees for Media Personality of the Year:

   
• Linda Jackson - for surviving the 21/33 merger and continuing to represent NBC33 at the 21Alive studios

   
• Kevin Leininger - for using his column to defend Fort Wayne against charges that we're the dumbest and/or limpest city in America

   
• Tracy Warner - for using the "investigative editorial" to take on Republicans in Allen County government

   
• Keith Edwards - for making news in addition to delivering it

   
• Victor Locke - for prompting an outpouring of goodwill (and snagging a Sagamore of the Wabash) when he left 21Alive (CORRECTION: This actually occurred in 2004)

   
• Steve Shine - for bringing back the much-loved Christmas movie marathon

   
• Leo Morris - for vociferously defending the honor of his superiors

   
• Dan Stockman - for his investigative reporting on the Olin B. and Desta Schwab Foundation

Remember, this category is not to select the Journalist of the Year (we'll vote on that award later this week), but the person was the most fascinating media personality.

The Nominations Are (Coming) In

For Media Personality of the Year, the following individuals have already been nominated:

   
• Linda Jackson - for surviving the 21/33 merger and continuing to represent NBC33 at the 21Alive studios

   
• Kevin Leininger - for using his column to defend Fort Wayne against charges that we're the dumbest and/or limpest city in America

   
• Tracy Warner - for using the "investigative editorial" to take on Republicans in Allen County government

   
• Keith Edwards - for making news in addition to delivering it

   
• Victor Locke - for prompting an outpouring of goodwill (and snagging a Sagamore of the Wabash) when he left 21Alive

   
• Steve Shine - for bringing back the much-loved Christmas movie marathon

   
• Leo Morris - for vociferously defending the honor of his superiors

I'll continue to accept nominations for this category until Tuesday evening.

UPDATE:

   
• Dan Stockman - for his investigative reporting on the Olin B. and Desta Schwab Foundation

A Personal Note

I'm back.

(It's good to see you all again.)

Big in 2005: Media Personality of the Year

There are going to be a lot of "Best of" lists popping up in the next few days, and in my experience, most of them are pretty worthless. But that doesn't mean that compiling a few lists isn't a good idea, if they're done right.

They can also be a lot of fun, and a good way to look back at the year.

That's why I'm excited to introduce the inagural Fort Wayne Observed "Best of 2005" Awards.

Each day this week, I'll be introducing a new category, and asking you to submit your nominations.

You can nominate someone by leaving a comment on that particular post, or by sending me an email. I'll choose the top five nominations (so you might want to lobby for your submission in your nomination) and then we'll have a blog poll (!) to let you vote for the best choice among the top five nominees.

I'll also pick my own winner in each category and provide an explanation for my choice.

Our first category is Media Personality of the Year. Anyone who appears on TV, radio or in print is eligible. I'm not looking for the person you like the best or think does the best job -- I'm looking for the one who was the most fascinating media personality of 2005 -- the person who mattered most, that stood out or did something out of the ordinary.

Send your nominations via email or leave them as a comment on this post.

Podcasts as Savior?

This week's Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly features an article on the November ratings for local TV stations. As you know, WPTA, er, Indiana's News Center did not fare so well. Not surprisingly, station management refused to talk to reporters about its performance.

Jerry Geisler, Granite Broadcasting vice president of Fort Wayne operations, and Chris Fedele, WPTA/WISE president and general manager, did not return calls seeking comment.

In a written statement, Geisler said he was happy with the new “Indiana’s NewsCenter” concept, which debuted Nov. 29. The new news set and new brand came near the end of the ratings period.

WPTA officials are hoping its new set and other new features like podcasts, will draw back viewers.

“We are looking for key signs, and we are pleased with the progress,” Geisler said in the statement. “We are not trying to hold onto outdated models of the past but embrace the transition into the future.”

Having produced some podcasts myself (see sidebar), I can assure Geisler that they aren't exactly in high demand around here...

So Long, Farewell

In today's JG, Nancy Vendrely writes about her retirement and provides the following memory:

It was February 1956, and my mother and I were driving to Florida on vacation. As we drove through Georgia, we heard on the radio that President Eisenhower was expected later that day at Secretary of the Treasury George Humphrey’s Milestone Plantation outside Thomasville, Ga., for some quail hunting. We decided to stop and see whether we could get a glimpse of him.

We drove out of Thomasville to a narrow asphalt road that passed the estate entrance, thinking we’d have the best chance to see him there.

A bus parked on the road was filled with the White House press corps, also awaiting Ike’s arrival. Urged on by my mother, I approached the bus, introduced myself as a fellow journalist from Indiana and was immediately invited aboard – a total greenhorn among the journalistic elite.

I never did see the president, but I spent the rest of the day with that august group, attended a news conference called by White House Press Secretary James Hagerty at a local hotel, filed a story (via Western Union in those days) and could not believe my good fortune.

The tag to the story:

Nancy Vendrely has been a journalist for 38 years. Her past 18 years have been with The Journal Gazette, where she is a staff writer in the Features department. Vendrely has covered many events, people and communities in her time at the newspaper. Her final day at the paper will be Friday. If you would like to send well wishes, you can reach her at [email protected].