Pete Gammel has been named to a newly-created position of News Director for the Bonneville Seattle Media Group.
(photo: Gammell will presumably be shaven in the performance of his new duties)
He'll oversee all
news gathering and news content on each of Bonneville’s Seattle radio
stations (KIROFM, 710 ESPN, KTTH) as well as digital media channel. He
has most recently served as the first online content manager for
MyNorthwest.com.
This might indicate (and then it might not) a re-focus on news as this
flailing radio cluster re-invents itself. What does this
might mean to longtime news director, Ursula Reutine?
Gammell started working at KIRO in 1999 as a morning news desk assistant before becoming an editor and a weekend reporter. In 2005, he left for KCBS-AM/San Francisco as Associate News Director. While in the Bay Area, Gammell oversaw KCBS.com and the day-to-day news operations including story development, assignments and on-air production.
"Pete's radio and digital experience make him the ideal person for this newly created position as we look to innovative and find efficient ways to integrate and deliver Bonneville Seattle content across multiple platforms," said Seattle Operations Manager Ryan Hatch. (06-03-10)
NOW I know that Luke will be coming back!
Posted by: Duffman | June 04, 2010 at 10:41 AM
Anyone else hear the wisecrack about "whatever happened to Ron & Don" on the morning news? This was quickly followed by Tony Miner promising they would be back on the air this afternoon. We shall see.
Okay, so this has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Since when does that make any difference?
If KIRO wants to get rid of Dori without firing him, all they have to do is move him to the 3-7 shift. It would interfere with his coaching schedule. He would quit.
Okay, y'all can go back to discussing either your own issues or predicting how this new guy will fail.
Posted by: Ryder | June 04, 2010 at 11:10 AM
ryder
you think that kiro could afford to lose a dori monson or dave ross and remain credible in the local talk market?
they've become institutions here in seattle.
PS: keep posting.
Posted by: Puget Sound | June 04, 2010 at 11:23 AM
Dave is an institytion because he is institution material. dORI IS AN INSTITUTION BECAUSE- WELL, HE'S INSTITUTION. bIG difference. It would be amazing how little Dori would be missed. i think Ryder's theory isn't bad. kind of like the offer NBC made to Conan. i htink they knew he wouldn't go for it .
Posted by: Tommy008 | June 04, 2010 at 11:32 AM
Oh! Oh! Latest news from KIRO (KING of Seattle radio stations, with KING & QUEEN talk hosts...and I won't say which is which) is that the 'OIL' is starting to hit the beautiful white beaches of Florida.
NOW YOU'VE DONE IT, Mr President - you'll be hearing about this! You may be relegated to the pristine beaches of Lk Michigan for your vacation(s) after this. [Oh, I forgot you have a Hawaiian connection]
PICS of these oil-soaked animals are horrible!
Posted by: Duffman | June 04, 2010 at 11:38 AM
Dori, if offered another time-slot (depending on the wording of his current contract) would likely consider his family first in deciding whether to take the position in that new time slot (and forego his coaching duties) or not. He would obviously (and probably already has) tested the market for his desireability and make the decision based on his and his family's needs. He put his family at risk because he is the consumate 'preparer' and it wouldn't surprise me that he's had offers to him of other jobs if anything should happen to his position at KIRO. He is NOT a victim...and NOT one who ascribes to the 4 P's (piss-poor-prior-planning). HE IS A WINNER...not a WHINER!
Posted by: Duffman | June 04, 2010 at 11:45 AM
Markets collapsing...
Tommy how's that correction working out for you bud.
No real jobs, no real growth, faux earnings, soveriegn debt...bad bad bad.
Posted by: Obama is a black man | June 04, 2010 at 11:48 AM
s/be: 'wouldn't put his family at risk' :)
Posted by: Duffman | June 04, 2010 at 11:50 AM
I have heard it all. CBS Mystery Theater. All night with Dave Dolacky. Wayne Cody. KIRO 710 broadcasting video on channel 13 in the morning. I have been with KIRO since I was young. I am 46 now.
I have seen (heard) many changes at KIRO. What I don't get now is what KIRO has become. Dave Ross was great. Back in the day. Now he just babbles in his monotone voice and I can not listen more than 2 minutes at a time. Dave Ross would be a PREFECT fit at NPR. KIRO from 9 until noon? Not so much anymore.
I used to be a HUGE fan of Dori. Even when he was on with Pat Cashman at KING. Now, again, not so much. We know Dori, the state needs money. But do I want to hear about it from noon until 3 EVERYDAY? Hell no. I turn him off now, even Dori has lost my interest.
Ron and Don. Again, I used to listen daily. Now, not ever. We know Don, you climbed MT Rainer. We get it!
My question is, did I change or did KIRO?
Posted by: Shawn | June 04, 2010 at 11:59 AM
It can mean only one thing.
Bryan Styble's on his way back.
Posted by: Bill | June 04, 2010 at 12:05 PM
...as program director. :)
Posted by: Duffman | June 04, 2010 at 12:08 PM
The failure of this president to effectively respond to crises is shocking:
1. Iraq War = still there
2. Afghan War = still there
3. Guantanamo Bay = still there
4. Transparency = Nope; Jobs to politicians for not running
5. Bailout = Debt for generations & no growth
6. Unemployment = Stuck at 10% - 15% for a decade
7. Healthcare = Ultimately will strangle the country financially and provide overall far less quality care
8. Gulf oil spill - aspleep at the wheel and consciencely chose to hold back resources to contain the outrageous damage
Posted by: Obama is a black man | June 04, 2010 at 12:30 PM
Shawn--It's not you, it's them. I'm in the same boat. I was a huge fan of Dori when he was with Cashman at KING and then the 100.7 version of KIRO-FM (later The Buzz). I attended their breakfast shows at Duke's back in the day and it was all good-natured radio. Too bad it's changed.
For years I was glued to KIRO. Now it's just nasty, conniving fake-rage crap that I can't put up with for more than a few minutes. I try it every now and then -- I really do -- but KOMO deserves and gets my listenership much more than KIRO when I want to hear about current events. Hell, most any station does. (That said, I am still OK with Dave Ross since he doesn't engage in the rage talk the way they do from noon-11pm.)
Posted by: David in B-town | June 04, 2010 at 12:34 PM
Which goes to show you disguise your moniker but not your style.
Bwahahahahah
Posted by: Duffman | June 04, 2010 at 12:40 PM
That photo is not of Pete Gammell.
Posted by: Corporate Suite | June 04, 2010 at 12:52 PM
poor old Chester Duhh, internet clown, seeing boogeymen behind every Bush and seeing my hand in every anti- Dori post on Blatherwatch as if I'm the only guy who could possibly have a problem with him. Mr. Chester Porterhouse Duhh- internet clown
Posted by: Tommy008 | June 04, 2010 at 12:58 PM
Tommy where do we go from here Mr. Expert? Markets crashing. You claim this is a mere correction. For months I've guaranteed DOW 9500 or lower by election day wiping out the incumbents/Dems.
As usual you say nothing of relevance.
I think we now know who the expert is.
Posted by: Obama is a black man | June 04, 2010 at 01:05 PM
All this time T008 has been claiming to be an expert day-trader; now we find that he is simply an assistant day-trader...how disappointing.
Posted by: Duffman | June 04, 2010 at 01:09 PM
another grad of B.S.E. Glenn Beck School of Economics
Posted by: Tommy008 | June 04, 2010 at 01:11 PM
<< He put his family at risk because he is the consumate 'preparer' and it wouldn't surprise me that he's had offers to him of other jobs if anything should happen to his position at KIRO. He is NOT a victim...and NOT one who ascribes to the 4 P's (piss-poor-prior-planning). HE IS A WINNER...not a WHINER! >>
Duffie's drooling man-crush at its best. Man, it must be great to be so in luuuuuuvvvve. (But how is your other sweetie, Luke Burbank, taking this news?)
Posted by: BenSeattle | June 04, 2010 at 01:13 PM
'He has most recently served as the first online content manager for MyNorthwest.com.'
BEST radio site I've seen, by the way.
Posted by: Duffman | June 04, 2010 at 01:30 PM
300 or 400 point DOW down days and 300 or 400 point up days at the extremes... the rest of the days are fairly normal........ THE EXTREME DAYS HAVE OBVIOUSLy BEEN ABOUT EVEN PER GREEN AND RED for several weeks, otherwise we wouldnt have started the day out at DOW 10250 which is about what we were at the day after it did the 1000 point temporary drop and seven-hundred point upwards correction by day's end, some weeks ago. this is somethign they apparently dont teach at B.S.E. -counting the extreme red days and extreme green days and seeing if they are about even. the B.S.E. teaches the students to pounce on any extreme red day and scream gloom and doom and simply ignore the extreme green days. Obviously in a correction/holding pattern right now with some volatility up and down.....
Posted by: Tommy008 | June 04, 2010 at 01:31 PM
Try staying on topic, Holmes.
Posted by: Duffman | June 04, 2010 at 01:36 PM
Mr. Duhh , i presume....Chester P. Duhh, internet clown
Posted by: Tommy008 | June 04, 2010 at 01:37 PM
ya notice, Mr Duhh never makes OBIABM stay on topic.
Posted by: Coiler | June 04, 2010 at 02:33 PM
we know who THAT is, don't we. lmao
[btw: it's OIABM, try to get it right, will ya - and make yourself useful]
Posted by: Duffman | June 04, 2010 at 02:36 PM
So, did Ron and Don show up today?
Posted by: Jo | June 04, 2010 at 04:15 PM
yes Don is guffawing as we speak... i don't believe r and d are accomodating their future replacements by popping in and out for a few days so the tryout teams can show their wares on their shift....i've never seen such a thing happen..they may have been told already that they are safe.....who are the tryout teams vying to replace.... my bet is on the mean little man from Lake Forest Park....oh yes Dori...that means you!.....
Posted by: Tommy008 | June 04, 2010 at 04:30 PM
Ron was on a trip to DC with his 'school-teacher' brother chaperoning kids on a tour of the monuments and DC. I assume Do was spending 'quality time' with Gunner (his new son).
So, don't listen to 'you-know-who', nothing to see here...move along. Probably just a news format thing.
Posted by: Duffman | June 04, 2010 at 04:42 PM
and Dori was on today - part of the time spent on calling out Prez BO- in the spotlight for NOT walking his talk in having the Federal Government being more proactive in preventing more disaster.
The Department of Homeland Security really needs to be overhauled and made a smaller bureaucracy (I also said this after Katrina).
Once again, the vitreol (T008, Andrew, Coiler, et al) directed at Dori Monson is falling on deaf ears outside of this blog as it always has. Kind of like the three pigs trying to huff and puff and blow his brick house down - an exercise in futility !
Rumors of him getting the ax from KIRO appear to be exaggerated, - if it happens, it will be a mass hatchet job by the management and he won't be the only one to go. Until then, nothing more to see here, move along...
Posted by: KS | June 04, 2010 at 06:33 PM
"he won't be the only one to go..."
Where do you work KS, the Post Office?
Posted by: Coiler | June 04, 2010 at 07:01 PM
your'e off the rails again, Coils. If Dori goes, R & D, Frank Shiers and likely Dave Ross will be ahead of him.
KIRO screwed the pooch by taking it to FM instead of leaving well enough alone on the AM side.
Posted by: KS | June 04, 2010 at 07:42 PM
If I remember correctly, the estimable Ursula Reutin became news director when Steve Knight departed for CBS. Although she's not a "street reporter" like Heather, Haeck and Sullivan, Ursula's a very capable anchor, good voice, smooth delivery. Seems to me KIRO has poorly utilized her on-air skills in the largely off-the-air job of running the newsroom.
In all events, I hope the Gammel move portends more -- not less -- emphasis on news in dayparts other than mornings, particularly in afternoon drive. KIRO's "news presence" after 9 a.m. is reasonably well done, as far as it goes, but as David suggested in an earlier post, KOMO is the station to turn to for an ongoing newscast at any time of the day or night. Makes no sense for KIRO -- with its sizable staff of anchors, reporters and editors -- to focus the majority of its resources on the KIRO Morning News, and concede the rest of the day to KOMO.
Like many of the folks who've weighed in here (and I too lament the indefensible Ron and Don dreck in p.m.), here's hoping KIRO can restructure and rejuvinate its brand in the market.
Posted by: WJE | June 05, 2010 at 10:23 AM
Could SOMEone please tell me what Dan Restione does at KIRO and why he seems to be non-expendable.
For the life of me I can't understand whey they keep him aboard...unless 'he has something' on them (i.e. management).
Posted by: Duffman | June 05, 2010 at 01:25 PM
Maybe what he does is none of your damn business. Ever think of that?
Posted by: joanie | June 05, 2010 at 03:00 PM
We are free to discuss radio, are we not. Is it 'your damn business' what Dave Ross's producer does or the way she does it? Obviously, since you poked your nose into that one. the 'pot-meet-kettle' scenario seems to be your M.O. You are one funny animal.
Posted by: Duffman | June 05, 2010 at 03:04 PM
I give opinions. I don't ask stupid rhetorical questions.
Comprehension, duffman, comprehension.
My answer stands: maybe it's none of your damn business.
Posted by: joanie | June 05, 2010 at 03:30 PM
That's all you got??? Bwahahaha
You're getting weaker...
Posted by: Duffman | June 05, 2010 at 03:33 PM
You asked. I answered. You didn't get it.
You're not worth any more. Bwahahaha.
Posted by: joanie | June 05, 2010 at 03:38 PM
And folks, THAT's when we know joanie has nothing more...she has accepted da feet...and tries her best to save face...but Alas, it's so obvious that she's out of bullets. She may now relegate to a form of sustenance and be back with more of her bile.
Posted by: Duffman | June 05, 2010 at 03:44 PM
Grow up!
Posted by: .My Turn | June 05, 2010 at 04:12 PM
I agree!!!
Posted by: Duffman | June 05, 2010 at 04:14 PM
I hear the yapping of Chihuahuas again.
Posted by: joanie | June 05, 2010 at 05:15 PM
She got a 'hell ya' from sparky/coiler on this line so she uses it again...after a brief respite of sustenance. Sorry joanie but you are apparently one sad lonely puppy. I shan't dwell on that. You may continue your bull**** at will.
Posted by: Duffman | June 05, 2010 at 05:26 PM
My, I must have hit my target. All that emotion. Calm down, duffman. Heart attacks at your age can be lethal.
Posted by: joanie | June 05, 2010 at 05:41 PM
Watch the usual suspects run off to get talking points on this one.
bwaaaahaaaaaahaaaaa
"President Obama's choice to be the next director of national intelligence supported the view that Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq sent weapons and documents to Syria in the weeks before the 2003 U.S. invasion.
A senior U.S. intelligence official said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper, a former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and current undersecretary of defense for intelligence, will be the next DNI. A formal announcemente is expected as early as Saturday.
Gen. Clapper headed the National Geo-spatial Intelligence Agency between September 2001 to June 2006. The NGA is responsible for creating maps and terrestrial imagery and also assesses what is called "measurement and signature intelligence," or MASINT, the intelligence function of analyzing such things as radar signals and the composition of air particles, soil samples and other physical characteristics of the earth.
On Iraq, Gen. Clapper said in an interview with The Washington Times in 2004 that "I think probably in the few months running up prior to the onset of combat that … there was probably an intensive effort to disperse into private homes, move documentation and materials out of the country. I think there are any number of things that they would have done."
The comments came amid the debate over Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programs, which some U.S. officials had said were moved out of Iraq prior to the invasion of Iraq with the assistance of Russian military intelligence forces.
Posted by: Puget Sound | June 05, 2010 at 07:02 PM
I hope this country continues to come down around this lazy, unqualified, radical president's ears. We should have a Jim DeMint-Sarah Palin ticket up and running by then to pick up the pieces.
Posted by: Packie | June 05, 2010 at 08:48 PM
Back on the subject. If Bonnevile felt "dismayed" at the negative reaction of firing Gregg Hersholt they ain't seen nothin' yet if they fire Dave Ross! He is truly an icon in Seattle Radio. There is something to be said for 33 years at the same station.
Posted by: Bill Wippel | June 05, 2010 at 09:25 PM
I don't understand what KIRO has gained by getting rid of Gregg Hersholt? Maybe people are happier in the newsroom without him, over the years it seems like he's been a real jerk off. Tony Minor might be more well liked, but he's dull and robotic on air.
Duffman, regarding Restione, I don't know what he contributes in the newsroom but his voice and subjects of news stories in the morning are always a tune out for me.
Posted by: NoBS | June 05, 2010 at 09:29 PM
Posted by: Andrew | June 05, 2010 at 10:58 PM