We begin the week as we often do, with a compendium of odds and ends.
The Bob Steele of Connecticut political journalism, Mark Pazniokas, had a medium sized scoop last week reporting that efforts are underway to get a presidential pardon for former Connecticut Governor and one time WTIC-AM talk show host John Rowland. Rowland told the Connecticut Mirror that he is “aware that people are talking about it,” but he has not made an application to the Trump administration for a pardon.
During Rowland’s first year in office, Trump lobbied Rowland and the Connecticut legislature for the right to build a casino in Bridgeport. He lost, but so did everyone else. If the request for a Rowland pardon ever reaches his desk, it would be interesting to see whether hard feelings over the Bridgeport casino debate would be an issue for Trump.
The Pazniokas story on Rowland is an example of a lost art in journalism today; the combination of imagining what might happen next and then asking the right person the right question about it. The answer is usually news.
WFSB General Manager Dana Neves continues her unimpeded climb through the corporate structure of Gray Television. She has been promoted to the role of Senior Managing Vice President where she will be in charge of several Gray stations in the northeast and mid-Atlantic region. She began at “channel 3,” as it would have been called then, as an intern. Now interns wish they can be her some day.
It was not difficult to read between the lines last week when Bill Owens, the executive producer of 60 Minutes announced his resignation. He said he no longer felt he was in a position to manage the show with the independence he had always enjoyed, and that the job requires.
Sunday night, in a regular feature called The Last Minute, CBS News veteran correspondent and anchor Scott Pelley ended the show with a more complete explanation. He stated plainly that Owens left because Paramount, the parent company of CBS, is pursuing a merger that requires approval from the Trump administration, and Paramount had begun to “supervise” 60 Minutes “in new ways.” Pelley said Paramount hadn’t killed any stories, but the interference was enough for Owens to resign in protest to protect the integrity of the program.
And now, a programming Note: Fox 61’s Bridgette Bjorlo, who joined the team about a year ago, is moving to mornings. Make all previous copy conform!
We’ll be back on a future Monday with another edition of The Monday Memo…..
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