Welcome back Joe!

Happy New Year everyone. I trust all of your holiday celebrations went well - and we all survived the winter storm over Christmas.

Well back to it. The greatest news I heard this entire week was that Joe Schmit, formerly the main sports anchor at KSTP Channel 5, is regaining his position as the main sports anchor, beginning next week.

The reason for Schmit's departure in 2006, is still a mystery to me. I heard some folks say it was because he was old - and they threw him out. And, other reports I heard was that he was merely taking a break from television.

Schmit was also shifted to news desk anchor before he left KSTP. According to an article from the Pioneer Press, Schmit held the news anchor position for "a little more than a year." After leaving KSTP, Schmit went on to a job with the John T. Petters Foundation - a subsidiary of the Petters Group, which, of course was led by Tom Petters. We all know how that turned out.

Prior to leaving 5 Eyewitness News, Schmit had been at KSTP for 20 years. When I heard Schmit was coming back, I was very happy to hear the news. KSTP had a brief little segment about his return on the 10 o'clock news last night. There were hugs all around for Schmit from old colleagues, as well as new friends at the station.

Schmit told the Pioneer Press, "I felt like Brett Favre for a while, I changed my mind a couple of times during the process. But the stars aligned and we were able to work it out that it made great sense to me and the station to come back."

On top of being main sports anchor, Schmit will also be sports director at KSTP. Phil Aldridge, who is currently the main sports anchor at KSTP, will move to the weekend shift - until July, when it is rumored Aldridge will be leaving the station. Schmit will assume the sports anchor position next week.

Welcome back, Joe. You've been missed.

You may read the Pioneer Press article here: http://www.twincities.com/ci_14141361?source=most_viewed

Good-bye "Uncle Walter"

I'm sure we've all heard by now, an icon in journalism passed away yesterday. Walter Cronkite, a man to whom the term "anchor" was coined, died on July 17. He was 92.

Watching the news yesterday, I heard a snippet about the term "news anchor" and it was a term given to Cronkite when he covered a political convention for CBS.

Cronkite's last broadcast on CBS was in 1981, to be succeeded by Dan Rather. So, for me, the only real knowledge I had about him was from what I heard from my parents and others. I was aware of the broadcast in 1963 when he announced the death of JFK. Matter of fact, I watched a five minute segment of that very broadcast on YouTube recently.

On the numerous newscasts last night, it was mentioned that the early bulletins of the JFK assassination were audio only, and the first broadcast interruption was during "As The World Turns" - which to me seemed ironic. The reason that the first bulletins were audio only is because they were waiting for a camera to warm up.

I was in high school when first I started hearing a great deal about Cronkite. I think he, and his legacy were just a couple of the many reasons I gained an interest in broadcasting and journalism.

Matter of fact, when I first started Brown College for broadcasting, I tried to think of my "hook." The phrase that I would use to close my mock broadcasts. I almost thought about using Uncle Walter's: "And that's the way it is." I didn't - that was his trademark. I needed to find something else. And on his last broadcast in 1981, he closed with, "And that's the way it will be."

The world of journalism has lost a true icon. Other anchors will come and go - but in my opinion, none will quite match the integrity that Mr. Cronkite brought to the TV medium.

Farewell, Rick Kupchella

You probably read it in the paper. As of June 7, Rick Kupchella of KARE 11 will move on to bigger and better things. Here's the sticky point: according to the 10PM newscast on 11 last night, they stated that Mr. Kupchella was going to pursue forming his own company. Apparently it will be called LE Network. That, according to this mornings Pioneer Press.

What they weren't so palpable about on last night's newscast, is, as Paul Harvey used to say, "the rest of the story." According to the Pioneer Press article, the big issue was contract negotiations. Of course, it would not have been to Mike Pomeranz' or Julie Nelson's (the 10pm anchors) best interest to lay out the truth on air - Mr. Kupchella was at a contract stalemate with management.

"The two sides could not come to terms on a new contract...including finances that would not make it 'worthwhile' for him to renew," said Amy Gustafson in the Pioneer Press article. And, Kupchella also noted that two full-time jobs would be impossible - and the "new independent thing" would be a full-time job.

Kupchella has been in this market for over 20 years, according to the Twin Cities newspapers. Unfortunately, he's another Twin Cities newsroom standard - right along with anchors such as KSTP's Joe Schmit or former KARE 11 anchor Paul Magers - who no longer will be bringing us the news on a nightly basis.

To read a "farewell letter" from Kupchella - click on http://www.startribune.com/remoteisland . Best of luck to you Rick, we'll miss you.

Thanks for reading.