CHANNEL SURFING
Not necessarily Action News' best year

Here are kudos, awards, pans and cautions for local TV news performances during the past year.

By LAURA NACHMAN
Courier Times
E-mail

Here are kudos, awards, pans and cautions for local TV news performances during the past year:

The Big Stories About Action News:

  • 6ABC reporter David Henry threatens a Los Angeles cheesesteak shop owner while covering the Sixers in the NBA Finals.
  • A 6ABC behind-the-scenes person admits to Judge Linda Baxter that news director Carla Carpenter pressured him into trying to get a Rabbi Neulander juror to talk.
  • Channel 6 loses two of the three sweeps periods at 11 p.m.
  • 6ABC cancels the top rated show in its timeslot, "Philly After Midnight."

Deborah Norville/Jane Pauley Award: Fox-Philadelphia replaces 45-year-old anchor Jill Chernekoff with 37-year-old Dawn Stensland as weekday news anchor.

Undercover Angel: Philadelphia city councilman Angel Ortiz gets caught driving without a license by Fox-Philadelphia investigative reporter Jeff Cole.

Tom Green/Drew Barrymore Award: 6ABC news anchor Monica Malpass and real estate developer David Cutler file for divorce.

You are the Weakest Link: CN8's Robin Stevens, CSN's Pete Christy, the entire Channel 3 sports staff.

All in the Line of Duty: KYW-3's "Mighty" Marge Pala fought off a punk on South Street during the Mardi Gras South Street melee and threw up on camera while reporting from a plane.

Most Improved: Fox-Philadelphia's Joyce Evans.

Called up to the "show": Weekend anchor Denise Saunders gets promoted to the 11 p.m. weekday news on KYW-3.

Goodbye: News directors Melissa Klinzing of KYW-3, John Mussoni of Fox-Philadelphia and Steve Schwaid of NBC 10. Anchors Dave Frankel, Jill Chernekoff, John Stehlin, and Derek Castillo.

Saddest Goodbye: KYW-3's Siani Lee dies in a car accident in October.

Best Hair: Scott Hanson- CSN, Dorothy Krysiuk - Fox-Philadelphia, Tracy Davidson - NBC 10

Worst Hair: Gerald Kolpan, Fox-Philadelpha; Beth McDonough, NBC 10; Karen Thomas, Fox-Philadelphia

Didn't Your Mother Tell You To Sit up Straight?: WB17's Toni Yates and her propensity to lean into the camera.

Best Comeback: Connie Colla

Worst Comeback: Anytime Craig Weber pops up on a station

Welcome to Philly Award: Fox-Philadelphia reporter Claudia Gomez calls the Spectrum the "Spectrum Center."

Marcia and Jan Award: Leslie Gudel and Dei Lynam of CSN.

 

Visit Laura's web site / listen to Laura on WBCB 1490-AM Monday and Friday at 8:45 a.m.

 

Thursday, December 27, 2001