Thursday, June 30, 2005

Exactly why do some folks blame the media for causing this?

ESPN.com - MLB - Cameraman files police report after tussle with Rogers

So there are some out there that say the blame in this lies in the cameramen. Because obviously they instigated this, because they wouldn't get "the camera out of his face", to paraphrase callers I heard on ESPN Radio this morning.

See, these people don't understand the media's role. Yes, they are times when the media gets too close. But in this case, they would have to be sticking a camera in Rogers' face at his house at 3 in the morning to justify Rogers' reaction.

However, these camera guys are DOING THEIR JOB. A lot of folks outside media don't realize this. I work in the field. Not a cameraman, mind you, but I'm in the field. These people don't realize that the cameraman's job is to put the lens on Rogers' if that's what their boss told them to do. Now, granted, the camera guy shouldn't get 2 inches away from him while doing so, but if the camera guy is supposed to be covering the Rangers, he's going to cover the Rangers.

Rogers can't tell him to leave, only the cameraguy's boss can. Now, my boy lugging the lens can't go right up in his face, but if he's simply shooting pre-game warmups at a respectable distance, then he's doing no wrong. When Rogers approaches the guy and gets in the camera guy's face, the fault lies in Rogers.

I'm sorry, but sometimes, you can not blame the media, as much as you would like to. Kenny's went off the chain here, and I hope he receives some sort of punishment for it, whether it handed down in-house by the Rangers or by MLB themselves, or possibly by the local authorities.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Sadly, they're taking my Mega Hits away

Yes, the dastardly folks at MTVN (that's MTV Networks for regular non-media types) are pulling the plug on VH1 Mega Hits. A shame really, considering that was probably the best place to see modern rock videos that were off the beaten path, as well as those classics from the 90s.

A little bit of background, mainly because I'm too lazy to go dig up the article and link it here. VH1MH is part of a digital package of channels offered up by MTVN. MTV Hits/Jams, VH1 Classic/Country/Soul, Nick Toons/GAS, are all part of this package. Most run commerical free, mainly running station promos as breaks. (Which always cracks me up because VH1 Country will run VH1 main promos that just look so out of place there.)

What will replace VH1MH largely depends on your location. MTVN's new channed aimed at the gay community, Logo, will take it place on the satellite, but that doesn't exactly mean your cable provider will use Logo to fill the space soon to be created in the channel lineup.

Either way, I tip some sort of beverage to your memory, VH1 Mega Hits. There will be soon one less reason to not watch Cinemax after Dark on my digital cable.