Secrets of the City

Yo, you gotta check out Gruca today.

You gotta check out Terri everyday, IMO. Aloha!

That man seems to be really upset about the MPD. I wonder what his story is.

Apple Valley, stop trying to be a real city!

Okay, so I’m still new to this whole blogging thing. But stay tuned, next week I’ll write about iPods or maybe plastics and how they’re changing our world.

Thanks for your fun comments!
Terri Gruca
WCCO-TV

The Gruca link is hilarious.

We have to cut Terri a little slack… she’s new at blogging… and she’s writing for her typical VIEWER instead of the typical blog reader. The typical WCCO viewer has probably never heard of MySpace. The typical blog reader now thinks Terri is insane.

Well, she is a little insane. But I’m sure she appreciates getting linked. I did my blog for about 3 or 4 months before I rated a link on here!

The internet is too small, really.

Thanks for the levity, Terri. We tease.

Why not go for a specific demo audience?

Like w25-54, m18-34, etc.

The likely blog audience is a 25-34 or 18-34 core.

Then maybe it won’t come off as so much pablum….

The unnamed reporter was Terri Gruca. She is not to be trusted!

News Council rules against Channel 4
The Minnesota News Council on Friday voted 11-1 to uphold a complaint that accused WCCO-TV Channel 4 of reporting misleading information.

The complaint against WCCO stemmed from a story that suggested many visitors to the Minnesota State Fair could only afford to attend on Bargain Day.

David Downing said the channel portrayed his family as unable to afford to attend the fair except on Bargain Day. Downing said he and his wife told the unnamed reporter they couldn’t attend the fair more than once due to time constraints, not money.

Jesse– if someone could file a complaint against everything you did at work, probably one of those complaints would stick. It’s unfair to say Terri’s not to be trusted. Actually, it’s stupid to say that.

Check out her stories on lead in jewelry and radon in homes. Both stories resulted in national investigations. She’s good.

I thought the radon is homes story was broken in like the 1970’s and the EPA started rule implementation in 1999. I’m not so sure how a story in 2004 ripped the lid off this one.

When is the lead in paint story running?

I don’t have anything personal against Terri, I’m sure she is a fine reporter!

As I’m on the border of being annoyed.. I’m walking away. Terri was cool enough to laugh at herself, come on here, and make a post under her own name. I think that speaks for itself.

I didn’t mean to malign Terri. It is brave to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. If only we all were brave enough to actually risk criticism and put ourselves outthere.

I didn’t think her Blog was that bad…I overheard some 20 somethings talking about Myspace in the skyway yesterday and one of them had never heard of it. I’m guessing that most ‘CCO watchers haven’t either.

Keep Plugging Terri and soon you will be as beloved as JD.

I agree with DeRusha. And anytime someone can pop on here and give a few shout-outs, they are awesome. (See: Target Slaves and Zayas.)

Now, for her blogging skills — she’s going to give Karen Leigh a run for her blogging money. Harper’s Index this month points out that the average number of blogs created every second: one. Not all of them are going to be totally sweet.

I think it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a balance between respecting and promoting local “celebs” and news anchors, and scrutinizing their work in an attempt to keep them accurate. In this case, I have to agree with Jason that it’s pretty cool that Terri can make fun of herself and admit that she isn’t quite “hip.” I don’t know that WCCO should try to cater to the hipster demographic, they certainly aren’t the ones watching the evening news.

Attention marketers: JD and now the Lady Grucca posting on here and having blogs makes me more likely to watch CCO b/c I like hearing things from cool young people more than an I like hearing things from old people, cool or not. Keep it up.

Don’t forget Robyn. (If any TV personality in town should have a blog, it’s Robyn. I’d read that religiously.)

OK, saying that she’s not to be trusted might be a little bit strong.

But out of the two posted items regarding Terri, it’s very clear to me that what merits further discussion is not her empty blog on MySpace.

From what little I’ve read about this State Fair story, it sounds like the worst kind of journalism, and the responses that we’ve seen from WCCO has been weak at best.

Why is that?

And should we really feel compelled to say nice things about her just because she posts something here? I mean, if KK posted here, we’d have nothing left to write about…

never knew that quasi-celebs needed so much stroking

Maybe because I’m over 35 and definitely not cool, I don’t understand what is supposedly funny about Terri’s blog. Or Karen Leigh’s. Leigh talks about what she did last weekend, things she’d like to do, movies she saw, being new to Minnesota, etc. I’ve followed the links to quite a few MNspeakers’ blogs, and that’s what a lot of people do. This is the concert I went to, this is what other music I like, etc. Why so harsh towards people who aren’t quite as hip about it?

good point mel.

very good point.

Yes and no. While I confess we can be a bit snide around here, I do think my original implication — that it’s surprising a consumer reporter just heard of MySpace, which has been written about in pretty much every mainstream magazine by now, and has more pageviews than any site on the internet, and was bought out by FOX in a huge business story — was a valid criticism. That’s not hipness — that’s awareness. Also, I’m not sure if media blogs (i.e., blogs by media professionals under the brand of a parent company) should aspire to the standards of a personal blogger.

All of that said, I get the audience argument, and I think it’s cool whenever anyone blogs.

aspire to the standards of a personal blogger

That’s pretty damn funny.

blogs?? i’m still a bit uncertain whether I find them interesting and worth the time to read. this site is interesting, but when I go out to the blogs, I find them disappointing for some reason. perhaps if I knew more about the person writing the blog, perhaps a little bio or their location. perhaps that info is there and I just don’t know it yet. i’m new to surfing blogs. i think the potential power of a blogger is tremendous. the regular news outlets have become so politicized (e.g., CBS news) that I can’t rely on them to give me facts and genuine observation. a blogger that might just be regular guy/woman providing informaiton that can’t be found elsewhere and aren’t beholden to a corporate culture, I would like to think that would be the straight story. who know? it’s interesting.

A “blog” is web log.

Apple Valley is just about the ugliest, most non-descript suburb in the cities. Those tacky red light poles and the whole cedar avenue area makes me want to puke. Ha ha ha, an emerging downtown. Sorry, but that burb is beyond help.

I’m going to have to go ahead and agree with Tom. I had the misfortune of attending high school in ol’ AV, and when we first moved there it was nothing but cornfields. Putting a bunch of big box stores and strip malls in cornfields will never make you cool.

Apple Valley has the MN Zoo. That immediately puts it ahead of most of the other suburbs.

Speaking of MySpace, I did some research and found that several local reporters have accounts, including our beloved Jason DeRusha and KSTP’s Mekahlo Medina. KARE 11’s Jana Shortal also has a profile, but I couldn’t find her link.

Reading their profiles is like watching dogs walk on their hind legs. Fascinating.

i wonder if 4’s mary tan has a profile and if she does i wonder what voice she used to write it. because it certainly changes from newscast to newscast. har har har

Heidi– I totally forgot I created that. I wonder why I did…

I’m friending you! I’m friending you! We will Myspace together forever!

Wow… you guys are pretty much assholes. Pardon my French, but way to virtually lynch Gruca. Hope you losers rot in virtual hell… in other words, leave her alone you Kip-wannabes. Her work is very inspirational to me and just because she doesn’t know about all of your dorky websites doesn’t mean she isn’t up-to-date, or that she lacks as journalistic integrity.

Besides, isn’t it time you move out of your parent’s house and get a job, like Terri, instead of complaining about crap like this all day?

Can’t talk now, mom says I gotta shut down the computer.

Wow, Jude is worked up. Seems to me that Terri pretty much did it to herself (the MN News Council decision).

Why isn’t there a “Dump Phyllis Kahn” website? Didn’t she steal another candidates campaign materials and isn’t she now selfishly against DeLasalle’s effort to play football near their school? Perhaps it’s because the Dump Bachman group is better funded?

Yo Duante, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way outta here.

Jason DeRusha noted in his Myspace blog that Andrea pointed out he had MySpace, but actually I DID!!! Hello????????

Heidi. I’m ashamed. You didn’t friend me, so I didn’t know. I’ll fix it immediately.

Fixed.

I need to change my profile blurb to “My Myspace friends are only people I actually know, bands I actually like… and MNSpeak readers.”

Yes, I just added you and I don’t think we’ve ever talked. So hi! I just wanted to be part of the MNSpeak enclave. And the mud wrestling.

You are totally invited to participate in the mud wrestling contest.

Mekahlo’s my space says he is in LA now.
When did he leave? I liked him.