Happens all the time here in the Phoenix metro (and throughout all of AZ to be honest).
The most mispronounced? Probably 'Mongollon' pronounced mon-GO-lee-own, not mon-go-lawn.
The most misspelled? Easy. T-U-C-S-O-N not T-U-S-C-O-N.
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The worst tv newscast ever
- Thread starter SomeRadioGuy
- Start date
The most mispronounced? Probably 'Mongollon' pronounced mon-GO-lee-own, not mon-go-lawn.
The most misspelled? Easy. T-U-C-S-O-N not T-U-S-C-O-N.
When my family moved to the Bay Area in 1960 EVERYBODY who lived there referred to SF as "The City". Even the KYA (AM) jingles used "The City" IIRC and so did a song by Starship called "We Built This City On Rock and Roll". Good explanation and history of that song at https://www.songfacts.com/facts/starship/we-built-this-city as it apparently had several versions as to which city it referred.
When I got to Phoenix to work for Channel 3 in March of '86, I was stunned to see Channel 10 was running promos with Bill Close and Claren Scott, which focused on Bill being the old-timer and Claren, a relative newcomer having pronounced Ajo [[ AH-ho ]] as
"A-ho" on her first broadcast.
I'm sure it was meant to be disarming, but man, to have your rookie first error wind up in a promo that runs every three hours for a month sounds like zero fun.
There was a joke I was told by a Texan co-worker in my Arkansas days. It involved a family driving through Texas and entering the town of Mexia. They argued about how to pronounce Mexia far too long for Dad's patience to hold out, so he pulled into a fast-food joint and asked the proprietor "Excuse me, but we've been arguing in the car about this. Could you tell me slowly and clearly how this place is pronounced?" Proprietor responds "Daaaaiiiirrrrryyyy Queeeeeeennn."
I live in Contra Costa County, in the East Bay. Everyone here calls S.F. "the city." "I have to drive into the city today." They all say that constantly. I didn't realize it was considered improper by some people.
"San Fran" or "Frisco" is never done and is said only by tourists.
When I lived in southern Caliornia, and everyone called Los Angeles "downtown". I think the traffic reporters on KNX still refer to "traffic on the 10 eastbound coming out of downtown", for example. L.A. traffic reporters put the article "the" before the freeway number.
As you know, Bill Close was a legend here (anyone wearing a bolo tie is an instant legend). I remember Claren but not well enough to say she was a pronunciation nightmare.
Back in '86 was 10 CBS and 3 independent?
It would behoove newbies to the AZ radio and TV businesses to run through a short study of Spanish names and pronunciations before their on air debut. We probably see many more errors on the chyron than voice. I can only guess the chyron is done by someone living in Poughkeepsie, Noo Yawk.
I don't know about the traffic reporters (since I no longer commute) but almost everyone else living in the Phoenix metro also does it. Longer term natives tend to refer to the freeways by their names (Black Canyon, Superstition, Loop whatever) but newbies usually use numbers.
Gringo's usually take a first stab with san-raf-e-ell.
And "Hoser" in most of North America refers to a male buddy (especially in Canada) but it can be easily mistaken and get you a punch in the nose in certain liquid dispensing establishments.
There used to be a railroad freight company with the name "Frisco" and each of their cars had the painted banner "Ship It On The Frisco". Taggers in the city took great pleasure in repainting "San" in front.
When I lived there South City was a common reference to SFO, the airport, since that was about all there was there. And 'real' San Franciscans did not want to be associated with the ruffians who lived in South City.
Never heard "Oaktown". We'd always say "East Bay". Nobody wanted to go there and would do most anything to avoid saying their name. Even KTVU used to describe itself as being located in "Jack London Square" and didn't mention Oakland.
Every night that I stayed in Montana earlier this year, I would turn the TV on at 10:00 (MT) and watch the local news. Over the course of a couple of days, I realized why most people out there watch the MTN stations. High-quality local news for such a small state, population-wise. Jill Valley is a great anchor and has tons of experience at both KPAX and KECI.
And yes, there are some city names in Montana that are quite hard to pronounce. I could see why a young anchor might have problems with the city name of Saint Ignatius. Also, Skalkaho Pass (east of Hamilton).
Not at all. Claren was a total pro. I just thought it was epically insensitive of 10's promotion department to take her first on-air flub and somehow make it into a promo.
I'd also met Bill Close (I was interviewed for and offered a job at 10 before I wound up at 3) and knew the soft, fuzzy kindly uncle thing was a crock. He was emotionally and psychologically brutal to the women he worked with and that promo was probably his idea.
No, 10 was CBS but 3 was still ABC. The big affiliate shuffle---10 to FOX, 5 to CBS, 15 to ABC and 3 to Independent, happened in stages between the late summer of 1994 and January of 1995.
That does not always work out so well in Phoenix. Take Vanessa Ruiz at KPNX seven years ago:
Channel 12 anchor Vanessa Ruiz talks pronunciation
Vanessa put up with a lot of crap for pronouncing "Casa Grande" properly for about two years and then quit to join the faculty at ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism.
Are you talking about Chyron or closed captioning?
Well, no.
When they say "heading into downtown" or "coming out of downtown", they're referring to actual Downtown Los Angeles (or DTLA, as it's become known).
Everything in orange on this map is Los Angeles---the actual city of Los Angeles.
It's just over 500 square miles.
So, to say "heading into Los Angeles" would be meaningless.
That's why L.A. references tend to be either neighborhoods (Downtown, Hollywood, West L.A.) or incorporated suburbs (Santa Monica, Pasadena, Beverly Hills).
San Francisco is just under 47 square miles. It and its neighborhoods are compact enough to simply be referred to as "The City", unless you need to be more specific (North Beach, Marina, Inner and Outer Sunset, Inner and Outer Richmond, etc.)
Yes I remember when San Francisco Proper was the largest city in NorCal. Ever since the 1990's census San Jose took the title of largest city in Northern California.
Gentrification has come for South San Francisco. While "The Industrial City" is still painted on the backside of Mt. San Bruno, it's diversified and spruced up what turns out to be a very charming, if small, historic downtown.
https://www.ssf.net/
Well, they do and did because the FCC requires the legal ID of KTVU, Oakland (and they throw in San Francisco and San Jose).
KTVU is still in Jack London Square, and Jack London Square is considered a crown jewel of Oakland:
https://jacklondonsquare.com/
On one of our big camping trips a few years back we checked into a motel for a night or two (nine nights in a tent seems to be my limit) in Thermopolis, Wyoming. A long way from anywhere. Denver's 400 miles, Salt Lake City is is 357. It's been seven years, and I may be wrong, but I think the TV came from Billings, MT (190 miles). That's market #234, and they did pretty solid newscasts.
Well, not those of us raised (or raised by, in my case) Catholics.
I'll confess here to a mild case of dyslexia. I'd be liable to read that one wrong on the first pass. Guessing it's [[ SKALL-ka-hoe ]], but the emphasis could be on either of the other syllables. Which is it?
Nope---it probably was Casper. 132 miles away---makes sense. Again, seven years ago and I wasn't obsessively watching. Now that I think about it, I believe we only spent one night. Turned on the TV to see what they got and thought it was pretty decent. Casper's market 198, so good for them.
That is exactly what I just said.
If the traffic is backed up in Burbank, reporters call it Burbank. It it's backed up in Northridge, they call it Northridge. If there's a problem in Palos Verdes, they say Palos Verdes.
That's right. That's what they do. They don't call all of it Los Angeles, because the boundaries of the city are so large. That's right. It's over 500 square miles. They call it Burbank, Northridge, Reseda, Woodland Hills, Encino, Palo Verdes, etc. etc. etc.
So instead of saying downtown Los Angeles, meaning the area around City Hall, they simply say "Downtown". In general, they don't say "downtown Los Angeles." They just say "downtown".
"Los Angeles" means "downtown". Because the outlying areas (while still technically within the city limits), each have their own name and designation.
So, yes, I agree with you. Which is exactly what I wrote above. "Downtown" means DTLA. That's right. You're right. I agree.
Yes. Thank you for sending me a map of greater Los Angeles, where I lived since 1951, went to school, went to college, went to grad school, married, raised a family, and worked all over, and have been able to navigate the entire area without any map whatsoever since I was 16 years old. LOL.
Here's a map of Downtown Los Angeles. DTLA. Just for your information. FYI.
😂😂😂
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No, this is exactly what you said:
And because these are not private messages, and anyone can read them, I explain for those unfamiliar with the area.
Chyron.