The LuLac Edition #861, June 28th, 2009

PHOTO INDEX: MARIA SHARAPOVA ON THE COVER OF THIS WEEK'S "ESPN THE MAGAZINE", MY GIRL GETTING SOME P.T. FOR HER AILING SHOULDER AND FORMER WBRE AND WNEP TV NEWS DIRECTOR AND FELLOW ON LINE PUNDIT PAUL STUEBER.

MEDIA MATTERS

Every time I watch some rookie newscaster or even an anchor with a few years in the business not tell me the gist of the story they are reporting, not give me the point and leave a dangling piece of information in the ether, I think of Paul Stueber the former news director of WBRE TV and WNEP TV. As a veteran newsman, Stueber made sure people reported the entire story, start to finish. That doesn’t happen anymore. It occured last night on WBRE. They tell us a Wilkes Barre woman became Miss Pennsylvania but no one found a picture of her anywhere to complete the story! Paul has a media related blog called “Tying My Shoes” which has some great information in it. Here’s his link:
http://tyingmyshoes.blogspot.com/2009_06_27_archive.html
What was intriguing to me was part of what he said about WYOU TV. As you know I was a frequent guest on their Interactive News. In April, Nexstar Broadcasting said the production of the newscast cost too much money. Yet, according to Mr. Stueber, they were the only TV station that had an increase in revenue over the previous year.
Top-rated WNEP-TV, the local ABC affiliate, raked in an estimated $27 million last year, which accounted for 48.2 percent of the total local revenue, down from 50.1 percent in 2007. WBRE-TV, the local NBC affiliate, had an estimated $11.5 million, or 20.5 percent, of the advertising revenue, down slightly from 20.6 percent in '07. WYOU-TV (CBS) earned an estimated $9.4 million, or 16.8 percent, up from 15.5 percent in 2007. So even though they made more money the previous year, they dumped their commitment to news. Just pointing that out.

THE PREZ AND PUBLIC PLAN

On Tuesday at his news conference, President Obama said a public plan would be “an important tool to discipline insurance companies.” He said he supports a public plan “that's not profit-driven, that can keep down administrative costs, and that provides you good, quality care for a reasonable price.” He added that if a public plan “is able to reduce administrative costs significantly, then you know what, I'd like the insurance companies to take note and say, hey, ‘if the public plan can do that, why can't we?’” John Holohan, the director of the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute, a non-partisan Washington think tank, said “having a competitor to private plans, under a fair set of market rules, will provide more choice and place substantial cost containment pressure on the health care system.” But opponents of a public plan say it will undermine private sector insurance, eventually leaving nothing but taxpayer-provided and government-run insurance. Stuart Butler, a health care analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said at a forum sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform that it would require “a staggering leap of faith to assume that the Congress and the United States government will somehow operate like a sort of benign umpire in the system, when it actually is also a team owner.” Under the proposal introduced by House Democrats last week, the plan would get some unspecified amount of start-up money from the federal government. But the intention of public plan proponents is it would become self-sustaining that is, financed by the premiums paid by the people who enroll in it. But Holohan that “the public plan is probably going to get sicker than average people” signing up for it. “There are an awful lot of people who have had health problems and have had bad experiences with insurance companies. And they will probably gravitate toward the public plan”. And my question to the esteemed gentleman is this: can you blame them????????????

MY GUILTY PLEASURE

Every late June before the Fourth of July, I wonder how my girl Maria Sharapova will do at Wimbledon. Sometimes the answer comes late in the final rounds, this year, alas it came early. Maria’s Wimbledon campaign came to an early end in round two after losing a thriller to Gisela Dulko.The Russian former champion was far from her best and the Argentinian took advantage, winning the first set 6-2.Dulko took a 3-0 lead in the second but Sharapova fought valiantly and won six games in a row to take the set 6-3, but Dulko refused to wilt and claimed the third set 6-4 on her fifth match point.Maria Sharapova's passion for Wimbledon has not been diminished by making an early exit for a second straight year.The former champion suffered a 6-2 3-6 6-4 defeat in a thrilling clash against Argentinian Gisela Dulko. She said: "Being here is a wonderful accomplishment. I'm not lying about it. I had the pleasure of playing on Centre Court again. I didn't play on it last year. I enjoy every single minute." Now that's class and true love of sports and competition. Here are a few moments with Maria; the first is a wonderful ESPN commercial that every guy will get and the next is Maria losing her cool at a line judge:


She'll do better at the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows. Count on it!
The "Prez and Public Plan" story NBC/CBS News sources.