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29 March 2005
DMN: Rodeo gives Houston reporter a rough ride
As usual, Dallas Morning News Houston reporter Bruce Nichols is beating the Chronicle in their backyard, with a solid story on Wayne Dolcefino and his recent dustup with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (and apparently his own television station).
Here is news that we haven't seen elsewhere:
When Mr. Dolcefino pressed questions about how charitable the rodeo actually is – asking about cushy offices, high staff salaries and how much officials pay big-name musical acts – the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo filed suit to rein him in.
Mr. Dolcefino's employers, KTRK-TV, a longtime rodeo supporter and ABC affiliate, declined to air his story. Mr. Dolcefino threatened to quit and went on what amounts to a strike. He's had little to say publicly, and station officials have declined to comment.
This is amusing:
Journalists worry when it appears community pressure is blocking a news inquiry, but the dust-up has gone almost unnoticed outside media circles. The Houston Chronicle, which touted the rodeo's success on the front page, has run two inside stories on problems in Wayne's world.
Where is the Chronicle on this local story?
Trailing the Dallas Morning News, once more.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Rodeo gives Houston reporter a rough ride"> 03/29/05 10:24 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (1)
26 December 2006
Do we need to get him a present?
Harris County Judge Robert Eckels and Houston City Councilman Michael Berry have proclaimed December 26, 2006 as Wayne Dolcefino Day. It's also Wayne's 50th birthday.
The proclamation lists Wayne's achievements while working with 13 Undercover. In the last year, 13 Undercover got $2 million back for Houston taxpayers after exposing possible fraud in the city's garbage bills. Wayne also exposed handicapped parking cheaters and a scheme to fake marriages for immigration fraud.
We're still awaiting the (shelved) Rodeo exposé that caused such a stir almost two years ago.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 12/26/06 02:14 PM | Houston People | Technorati | Comments (9)
10 April 2005
Feldstein covers Dolcefino dustup
Today, the Chronicle's Dan Feldstein beefs up the Chronicle's previously miniscule coverage on Wayne Dolcefino's spat with KTRK-13 over a story Dolcefino was working on the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, a story that was ultimately spiked.
Laurence Simon hints that there's more of the story to be told yet (think May sweeps), and Banjo Jones is somewhat amused at Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen. Tom Kirkendall also offers some thoughts.
PREVIOUSLY: Is Wayne Dolcefino out at KTRK?, Wayne is out of the building... for now, DMN: Rodeo gives Houston reporter a rough ride.
UPDATE: Banjo Jones hears from Dan Feldstein.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Dolcefino dustup"> 04/10/05 10:43 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (6)
16 March 2005
Is Wayne Dolcefino out at KTRK?
Laurence Simon calls attention to a hot rumor on the message boards at TV Spy:
Do not ever question the journalistic integrity of KTRK's Undercover Reporter Wayne Dolcefino. For the past three months he and his team have been looking into the records of HLSR (Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo) Kind of a big to-do in Houston...YYYYEEEE-HHHAAAWWWW. A non-profit...yeah right! organization. That in itself is a joke. After alot of hemn' and hahn' in-place with some strategic lawyerin' by HLSR, KTRK, Houston's News Wimps, have killed the story. In protest, Wayne Dolcefino pack his bags and walked. Nice goin' Henry...to afraid to go after the BIG STORY? No wonder you guys tanked in the last book.
We've been hearing a few rumors about Dolcefino and the rodeo, and it looks like they're now out in the public sphere, or at least the blogosphere. It is worth stressing that it's all rumor at this point, however.
Laurence, who always seems to know what's what in Houston television news, has further thoughts about KTRK-13 in light of the rumor and recent ratings.
UPDATE: The Lone Star Times says Dolcefino told them he has not quit, nor has he been fired. No word on when his story might air, if ever.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Dolcefino out at KTRK?"> 03/16/05 08:37 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (8)
17 March 2005
Wayne is out of the building... for now
The Wayne Dolcefino rumor that we linked yesterday has now been confirmed by mainstream media, in the form of a Chronicle article by Bruce Westbrook:
KTRK Channel 13 undercover reporter Wayne Dolcefino has gone under cover in a new way: He's not showing up for work.
Dolcefino and station management at Channel 13 are fighting over a story he was preparing on the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Dolcefino said the story "was killed" by the station, and said of his absence, "I'm currently reviewing my options."
Station management was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
That story moved from internet rumor mill to vetted mainstream media story in about 12 hours (since it's carrying a 6:35 pm time stamp on the Chron site).
Thanks to Laurence Simon for catching it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/17/05 08:28 AM | Houston Media | Technorati | Comments (2)
21 February 2006
Rodeo asks for long-term gifts, spends less on charity
The Rodeo is almost here, and that means it's time for the local media to start promoting the event. Here's an example from today's Chronicle:
With a limb saw in hand, Ty Whitcomb was ready for his new role.
As chairman of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's new Gifting and Lifetime Legacy Opportunities (Gallop) committee, Whitcomb said he wanted to dispel a misconception about planned giving: It's more than wills and bequests.
"This is my imitation of the Grim Reaper," said Whitcomb, holding the limb saw up next to him like a scythe.
"I don't want people to think when they see this, they're going to associate planned giving or our committee with the Grim Reaper."
"Or a limb saw," joked his vice chairman, Houston Astros star Lance Berkman, peering from underneath a brown cowboy hat. "We're not going to ask you to chop down any oak trees."
They are, however, asking Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo fans to consider giving something back — in life or after their death — through charitable trusts, bequests and other long-term gifts that would support the show's educational programs.
[snip]
Rodeo officials say the show has committed more than $100 million in education support since 1957 and has awarded scholarships to nearly 9,000 Texas high school seniors.
The show's scholarships, teacher training programs and competition funds reach nearly 350,000 students per year, they said.
Sixteen percent of the show's revenue last year went directly toward scholarships and junior auction awards, down from 17 percent in 2004.
It doesn't look as if we are ever going to see Wayne Dolcefino follow up on that story about the Rodeo's finances that KTRK-13 spiked last year. Some cows (pardon the pun) are sacred.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ Rodeo asks for long-term gifts, spends less on charity"> 02/21/06 08:25 PM | Houston Life | Technorati | Comments (1)
18 May 2008
The Chron's Ethics Policy
Chron Reader Rep. Steve Jetton notes that the newspaper's set-in-concrete-and-rebar Ethics Policy has claimed a victim:
The Chronicle's Ethics Policy has cost one of its sports columnist his extra job as a radio talk show host. Jerome Solomon was hired by KNFC to host a talk show after the radio station adopted an all-sports format last year. All went well until the station decided it needed Solomon to contribute to the bottom line by doing commercials. The Chronicle's Ethics Policy prohibits editorial employees from endorsing products. Solomon had to decline and the station replaced him.
At the Chronicle, there is a wall between editorial employees and advertising employees. Editorial employees don't sell ads and advertising employees don't write stories or edit copy. The paper doesn't want readers to get the impression that the business side of the paper seeps into the editorial product. To allow otherwise would call into question the paper's editorial integrity. For example, if Solomon accepted pay from the Texans or Rockets to tout the team, readers would be justified in wondering if the opinions he expressed in his column had been softened because of the financial relationship. Furthermore, if Solomon and other employees can't sell ads for the Chronicle, they sure can't sell them for a radio station or other media.
Back in 2005, Banjo Jones blogged about Jeff Cohen's Ethics Declaration:
It turns out the rodeo spends a preposterous amount of money to furnish its offices and provide free booze to its friends and volunteers. And, oh, by the way, they give free tickets and free drink coupons to media organizations that provide the interminable, over-the-top coverage of the world's largest rodeo.
(The Chron was quick to point out that only two of its employees made use of the free drink coupons while a shocking seventeen Channel 13 employees used them, which the newspaper evidently felt gave it the moral high ground.)
In addition, the media freebies gave Chronicle Editor Jeff Cohen an opening to flex his ethical muscles and declare the city's only newspaper won't be accepting any more free tickets ("outside our sponsorship agreements"), which should further endear him to rank and file employees who will feel better about themselves now that they've been ethically cleansed from on high.
Jetton doesn't elaborate on the what the Chron's Ethics Policy says about the "firewall" between opinion and news. Maybe he can scan the entire Chron Ethics Policy and provide a link to it, in the interest of transparency. Maybe we'll see that the Policy addresses plagiarism.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 05/18/08 08:26 AM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Comments (5)
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