The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » What Happens When You Hire An Uninformed Newscaster

RadioActive · July 2, 2019 11:04 pm

Normally I wouldn't post someone's really embarrassing gaffe here, but this was simply unbelievable. On Tuesday night, I was out walking the dog, listening to Charles Adler out of Vancouver, when the local CKNW newscaster came on.

One of her lead stories was the news that a famous car industry exec had passed away. She explained repeatedly that a guy named Lee Jacochia had been a very important person in the automotive world and went on to recount his history. She kept talking about Mr. Jacochia, pronouncing it like it's spelled.

As I walked on, I kept trying to place this guy who was so famous I'd never heard of him. And then it hit me. She was talking about Lee Iacocca, the man who invented the Ford Mustang and helped save Chrysler. I could not believe how many times she botched the name and it was clear that not only did she not know who he was, she never asked anyone how to pronounce his famous moniker.

I'm not trying to make fun of this woman and I won't use her name. But it's the kind of thing that happens when people don't know their history - and worse, don't bother to fill in those gaps. The rule of thumb has always been 'if you don't know, ask.' In my experience, it's the stupid questions you don't ask that are sometimes the most important.

Just ask the Jacochia family.

Last edited by RadioActive (July 3, 2019 12:06 am)

splunge · July 2, 2019 11:49 pm

immediate reaction... less nessman.... ''chai chai rotraguaise''

but to be fair i still cannot pronounce the canadian mens tennis player correctly without a phonetic spelling

Last edited by splunge (July 2, 2019 11:52 pm)

RadioActive · July 3, 2019 12:22 am

I'd forgotten about that, but you're right. Nothing sounds worse than messing up a famous name.

In reading my post back, I realize I might have been a bit harsh. My point, though, remains. When you're doing a newscast and you come across a name you're unsure of - ask! I'm 100% sure someone in that station knows how to pronounce Iacocca's name.

This reminds me of a story that I've always heard but which I think is apocryphal. Supposedly a newscaster was handed a bulletin about the king of some obscure African country who'd just been killed in a plane crash. The dead man's name was a mouthful of syllables and jumbled vowels, Varanatuas Awogadoogo or something like that.

The newsperson, reading the copy cold, came upon this mouthful and said, "Names are being withheld until next of kin are notified!"

I doubt it ever happened, but it's a legendary ad lib, nonetheless.

Mav · July 3, 2019 12:52 am

Who's she going to ask? All the other people in the newsroom? I'm betting she's solo all night. So, does she ask the 21 year old board op? I think it's more about youth and inexperience rather than being uninformed. You can't expect every new grad to know EVERY single thing about history. But someone should teach her how to use wikipedia and youtube. She could have found a ton of easily-consumable context there. At least one of those Chrysler commercials from the 80s (that's how I learned how to say Eye-a-coke-ah)

Glen Warren · July 3, 2019 4:50 am

May 2nd, 2011

Obama and Osama...

Tq345 · July 3, 2019 5:33 am

Glen Warren wrote:
May 2nd, 2011

Obama and Osama...

July 3, 2019 7:15 am

RadioActive wrote:
. . . it was clear that not only did she not know who he was, she never asked anyone how to pronounce his famous moniker

On the wet coast, Lee Iacocca is pronounced "Soichiro Honda"

RadioActive · July 3, 2019 7:47 am

Mav wrote:
Who's she going to ask? All the other people in the newsroom? I'm betting she's solo all night. So, does she ask the 21 year old board op? I think it's more about youth and inexperience rather than being uninformed.

Well, for one thing, she could certainly have asked Charles Adler, who I'm certain would know. There is a 3 or 4 minute spot break before her news that would have provided her an opportunity to contact him either in person or via talkback to get it right.

As for her being young, I suspect you may be right. But I have no proof of that, so I deliberately avoided that word. I just hope someone let her know. And as stated, you don't just go on the air and bluff. That just never works out to your advantage.

RadioActive · July 3, 2019 7:50 am

grilled.cheese wrote:
I recall members of this board being unable to spell and pronounce the name of a local traffic reporter, Adwoah Nsiah-Yeboah

I was one of them. The difference being I didn't have to say it on air. You'll notice those who do get it right.

FanOfPromos · July 3, 2019 8:57 am

There's no need for this to happen...just google "How do you pronounce =12pxIacocca" If they didn't teach her that in whatever school she went to they failed miserably.

RadioActive · July 3, 2019 9:11 am

I know some here think I'm overreacting. And you may be right. But this stuff matters and it kills your credibility - especially on such a legendary station like CKNW. (By the way, I looked this lady's name up on Linked-In and it does appear she's fairly new to the biz and still young.)

The problem is this can become chronic. There's a host on CHIN who does an English language show that discusses current events. She not only gets names wrong, she does it repeatedly, despite having her guests correct her or say them right. For example, she always pronounces the Prime Minister of Japan as "Abe" as in Lincoln. It's really said as "Ah-bay." She's heard it a thousand times, but she always reverts to "Abe."

Same with the head of Facebook, whom she continually calls Mark "Zuckerberger." When a guest called her on this once, her response was, "Oh well, whatever." She has no credibility and I sometimes feel like yelling at the radio whenever she comes on. And despite her repeated contentions on air about how smart she believes herself to be, her actions do everything to show exactly the opposite.

g121 · July 3, 2019 9:49 am

RadioActive wrote:
... And despite her repeated contentions on air about how smart she believes herself to be ...

It is indeed rare for radio personalities to have an inflated ego /sarc : )) ..

unclefester · July 3, 2019 10:43 am

I'm not sure if this young lady was uninformed or young & inexperienced. I'll suggest it's likely the latter.

I heard Tara Weber from BBN Bloomberg recently mispronounce a location in northern Michigan.

The place is spelled Mackinac but is pronounced Mack - in - naw.

Ms Weber refrred to the loction as Mackin - ACK

Don't know how many else caught it but it's easy done. I know I was guilty of similar back in the day...

Last edited by unclefester (July 3, 2019 10:46 am)

Chrisphen · July 3, 2019 10:59 am

Errors happen, but they must be corrected before they become mistakes.

potentiometer · July 3, 2019 12:12 pm

RadioActive, the "next of kin" story is one of my all time favourites and one I've been telling for years since I came across it in something called "The Canuck Book" published by 2 kids in the 70's. (I did a very cursory look in Google -- it's not listed) IIRC, they claimed it happened overnight at CKOC when there was no-one (and no Google) to check with. Thanks for reminding me of that great (Canadian) radio story. You made me smile.

RadioActive · July 3, 2019 12:23 pm

I'm still not sure. Is that story actually true?

potentiometer · July 3, 2019 1:08 pm

The authors of the book presented it as fact: at any rate, they didn't label it with the word "apocryphal."

I've always tended to believe it.

RadioActive · July 3, 2019 1:29 pm

There’s a number of stories like that I’ve heard over the years – and again, I have no idea if they’re true. Here’s another one.

The tale goes that there was a guy working at the old CKO All News Network out in Vancouver. But his real goal was to get to Toronto. So when a job opened at CKO Ottawa, he applied for it and got the gig, hoping to one day move to the bigger market.

According to this plotline, he packed up all his belongings in a rented truck, got out of his lease and drove thousands of miles/kilometres from B.C. to Ontario, a journey that took him several days. As he finally rode into the Nation’s Capital, he naturally tuned in the local CKO outlet there to catch up with what was going on.

And he heard them announce that this would be their last newscast because the place had gone broke and they were going off the air immediately!

I’ve never been able to confirm that this actually happened, but if it did, I’ve always wondered what happened to that poor guy.

Dale Patterson · July 3, 2019 2:58 pm

I knew someone who quit a pretty good job to work at CKO and was supposed to start on the Monday.

The network closed the previous Friday.

Broodcaster · July 3, 2019 3:36 pm

I heard a network newscast out of Toronto refer to a Canal-worth Avenue in Hamilton then realized they were trying to say Kenilworth.

RadioActive · July 3, 2019 4:03 pm

I once heard an obvious newcomer to Toronto go on air and pronounce Yonge St. as "Yunj" St. That's probably the one major artery (next to the aorta) you can never get wrong! And don't get me started on Balliol...

potentiometer · July 3, 2019 4:07 pm

Ouch! Those CKO stories are sad.

Getting back to funny ...

If you worked in a smaller market years ago, one of your duties might have been to read the funeral announcements. Up-and-coming PD's hated them but they got huge, albeit older, numbers and they were very lucrative. Funeral homes were charged the absolute top dollar which they gladly paid and equally gladly got back from the "loved ones." Before those PDs were successful in having them drastically pared back to almost, "Jack Smith died," they used to be quite comprehensive, listing most of the "next of kin" (which is how all this got started) with appropriate music "bg." There was a bin in the Control Room with the appropriate LP's from which the announcer could choose. One day long ago, in a station far, far away a certain announcer picked an album by Lenny Dee, a most prolific organist with LP's such as Dee-Licious, Dee-Lightful and Dee-Lerious -- at least 50 in all over the years, from the 50's to the 70's. On this particular day, the LP had on its cover these words in very large letters: DO NOT PLAY CUT 3 SIDE 2!!! Of course, our announcer-on-duty cued up Cut 3, Side 2 (it could have been the album, By Popular Dee-mand, but I'm not sure) and began to read:

"The family of Jack Smith wishes to announce his passing on Tuesday January 2nd in his 73rd year. He was surrounded by family ..."

In the back ground good ol' Lenny Dee was at his orgiastic best just walin' on that organ of his, and some may argue it was the tune he played best, "Ghost Riders in the Sky."

Meanwhile --

"... his third cousin Clem Smith and his fourth cousin once-removed, Letitia Smith. Interment in the vault for burial in the Spring."

And in the background, the announcer having hit the post, Lenny Dee's chorus got to "Yippee Ki Yay, Yippee Ki Yo! Ghost Riders in the Sky!!!"

He always maintained his innocence, but I knew that announcer. And I knew he was probably guilty.

Last edited by potentiometer (July 3, 2019 4:22 pm)

the original hank · July 3, 2019 4:19 pm

i agree with the "google" suggestion. you can find the correct pronounciation for names of places and people....including "mackinac"

Last edited by the original hank (July 3, 2019 4:39 pm)

July 3, 2019 5:35 pm

RadioActive wrote:
this stuff matters and it kills your credibility

City TV is reporting that Roxodus, scheduled for next wknd (July 11 - 14) "at Edenvale, north of Barrie" has been cancelled. Edenvale is in fact west of Barrie where fields are now dry as a bone

As R.A. stated, this stuff matters & (when incorrect) kills credibility

Last edited by geo (July 3, 2019 5:37 pm)

Hansa · July 3, 2019 5:57 pm

I recall watching the CBS Evening News the day after the Mississauga train derailment in 1979 and hearing Walter Cronkite mangle the city's name.

Last edited by Hansa (July 3, 2019 5:57 pm)

RadioActive · July 3, 2019 6:37 pm

Hansa wrote:
I recall watching the CBS Evening News the day after the Mississauga train derailment in 1979 and hearing Walter Cronkite mangle the city's name.

He called it "Missaga."

splunge · July 3, 2019 9:21 pm

geo wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
this stuff matters and it kills your credibility
City TV is reporting that Roxodus, scheduled for next wknd (July 11 - 14) "at Edenvale, north of Barrie" has been cancelled. Edenvale is in fact west of Barrie where fields are now dry as a bone

As R.A. stated, this stuff matters & (when incorrect) kills credibility

it's technically north west of barrie.... north on hwy 26/27 then west on 26. directly west of barrie is angus. directly north is elmvale.

don't worry, i'll self-flagellate later for being so pedantic.

splunge · July 3, 2019 9:26 pm

the original hank wrote:
i agree with the "google" suggestion. you can find the correct pronounciation for names of places and people....including "mackinac"

even the late great bob mcintyre of CKVR fame was guilty of mis-pronouncing mackinac. unfortunately, he did it during a segment entitled "Bob's Favourite Places". he apologized the next evening after receiving a number of phone calls!

i grew up in the soo, and even there some were inclined to use the literal spelling in speech.

Glen Warren · July 3, 2019 10:28 pm

With the Obama Osama gaffes from 2011, the majority of the anchors either corrected them self or were corrected by a co-anchor.

Not so with Carolyn Jarvis of Global fame.... she just kept going and going... And when you think of it, she would have had a producer and director in her ear, and script on the teleprompter.

She must of just tuned everything out...

the original hank · July 3, 2019 11:25 pm

perhaps, some of these "newscasters" simply couldn't be bothered... unless it's a "news" item within today's pop culture. meanwhile, back in my day... zzzz. on another note... and somewhat related to this thread... i wonder why some people, especially in ontario, pronounce chrysler "cryzz ler"? i've heard some announcers (albeit in smaller markets) pronounce it that way in local ads. what's up with that? so many questions.

Last edited by the original hank (July 3, 2019 11:31 pm)