As a user of TVNewsTalk.Net, it was quite a surprise to find one of my fellow users' old threads (from before I even joined the site) linked to explain who Rick Wagner is. I get the feeling they probably just picked some mid-market anchor and location at random. (That said, WHTM-27's owners, Sinclair, are definitely deserving of punk rock songs decrying what they do, though not the rank-and-file people at the stations, but rather the idiotic, nutjob-ish family of kooks who run the place. Trying to go into specifics would be a whole article in itself.)
Yeah, I think you're right that it was random. Still fascinates me how The Onion would fictionalize major officials but then name a real-life person like Wagner. And my sympathies on Sinclair ownership. I've heard some tales.
I love the amount of detail and analysis you have for each issue—loving it!
Thank you! I love a good deep dive, and my main challenge with this newsletter is not making it even longer
As a user of TVNewsTalk.Net, it was quite a surprise to find one of my fellow users' old threads (from before I even joined the site) linked to explain who Rick Wagner is. I get the feeling they probably just picked some mid-market anchor and location at random. (That said, WHTM-27's owners, Sinclair, are definitely deserving of punk rock songs decrying what they do, though not the rank-and-file people at the stations, but rather the idiotic, nutjob-ish family of kooks who run the place. Trying to go into specifics would be a whole article in itself.)
Yeah, I think you're right that it was random. Still fascinates me how The Onion would fictionalize major officials but then name a real-life person like Wagner. And my sympathies on Sinclair ownership. I've heard some tales.