Yesterday afternoon, the Ogle Mole Network was abuzz with rumors that KFOR had forced out their longtime News Director Mary Ann Eckstein. For those who follow the local media, this was pretty big news. Mary Ann has been a staple of the Oklahoma City news scene for decades. She's been around so long that she remembers what Linda Cavanaugh looked like as a 43-year-old. She's seen Bob Barry Jr. go from skinny to fat to kind of skinny to kind of chubby to almost dead from a scooter accident.
Anyway, from what we've gathered Mary Ann Eckstein is apparently leaving Channel 4, and I don't think it was a mutual split. It appears to be one of those "Take this nice early retirement package and be quiet" type of deals. We also have no clue why it happened. We've heard everything from union troubles to disgruntled employees to the company's embarrassing social media fails that happened on her watch. And by social media fails, I mean everything from wishing people a happy Zombie Jesus Day to asking if it's okay to rape a child to baiting Derplahomans on their Facebook page.
Then again, it could also be that Channel 4 kind of sucks right now. They continue to lose staff to Channel 9 and their reporting has become a pandering to the lowest common denominator joke. I think every story they run has to do with sexual predators or animals. Just check out this sad "news" report from yesterday. It was the lead story on KFOR's website for nearly 12-hours:
Effort to save abandoned dog now possibly animal cruelty case
What began as a race to save an abandoned dog’s life may now be an animal cruelty case.
The Swaim Veterinary Clinic was trying to save a puppy they found outside their office Monday morning.
The pup was so badly injured it had to be euthanized just before 1 p.m.
The vet has turned over the information to law enforcement...
Wyant (the Vet) said, “This dog was most likely run over.”
The wounds were likely less than 24 hours old.
They said the dog, likely a pug-chihuahua mix, may also have also damaged her back and needed one, if not both, back paws amputated.
If you have an animal and cannot take care of it anymore, you’re encouraged to take it to the local animal shelter.
The shelter has cages available after hours where animals can be dropped off, no questions asked.
I'm a dog guy. I own a dog. I've been around them my entire life. I think the story's sad and depressing. My only question is "How is that F-cking News?!" Dogs get hit by cars all the time! What makes this story any different? Yeah, I guess it's kind of shitty that some person abandoned a seriously injured dog by a vets office — as opposed to an animal control center where the animal would be euthanized on the spot — but why does that even matter? Are they going to report on cats and squirrels, too? There has to be real news to report, right?
Anyway, if the people at Channel 4 were smart they'd replace Mary Ann Eckstein with me. Not only am I much nicer and more affable than Mary Ann, but I'd make several changes to improve the news broadcast immediately. The first thing I'd do is name Joleen Chaney and Emily Sutton the 6pm and 10pm news anchors. The second thing I'd do is ban any pandering story that has to do with dead dogs, sexual predators and/or old people scammed by a someone who was supposed to cut down a tree limb from their yard. The third thing I'd do is make Mike Morgan give the weather report while riding a unicycle. And all that's just on my first day in charge. Other things like having "Swimsuit Fridays," replacing Bob Moore Chopper Four with an F-22 Stealth Fighter and dumping Bob Barry Jr. for a little person would come later. I can't fix it all at once.
