March 2009 Archives

Once upon a time as I sat in a tiny jail cell with convicted serial killer Richard Ramirez, the man known as the "Night Stalker" looked me dead in the eye and said: "We're all evil."
It was a rather surreal moment. This face off with Ramirez took place in the early '90's. Since then Richard Ramirez has been a resident on California's death row.
But now it seem, Richard is back.

Rece...

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--Return of the Night Stalker

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Categories: Mike Watkiss |

I once read that Diane Sawyer's career philosophy is as follows, "I don't read my good press and I don't read my bad press."

See the thing is when you work on TV, there's a lot of good. And when people tell you how much they love you, it's easy to fall deeply in love with yourself. But then, there's the bad. And when it's bad, it is usually really bad.

I've worked in this business now for a little over ten years and in t...

>> Continue reading: The good, the bad and the lip gloss

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Categories: Carey Pena |

One of the first blogs I ever wrote was entitled "....so you want to make good t.v?"
It was about a man who I greatly admire. His name is John Schultz.
As all of us middle-age journos struggle to survive and redefine ourselves in the crazy world of the "New Media," I look for inspiration in the stories of guys like John Schultz, a guy who helped create television news in the first place.
John Schultz w...

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--Thanks John

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Categories: Mike Watkiss |

I was in Denver covering the trial of Oklahoma City bomber and mass killer Timothy McVeigh when I got the phone call from my mom.
Rarely an alarmist, she told me very matter-of-factly that I probably ought to get on a plane home to Salt Lake City as quickly as I could.
My dad was dying.

I'd never just abandoned a story in my life. But I did that night. I remember jumping in a cab in sort of an emotion...

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--Timothy McVeigh and a snowy night in Denver

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Categories: Mike Watkiss |

Oprah Winfrey is in bed with polygamous men--cowardly politicians in Mohave County Arizona have voted to close the Colorado City Justice Center--and Warren Jeffs' scum-bag lawyers are scratching and clawing to roll back every advancement made during the last decade to protect the women and children of polygamy.

And why should I be surprised? It's a twisted world!

They say life goes in cycles and we are su...

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--the pendulum has swung

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Categories: Mike Watkiss |

It was stunning to watch the great Oprah Winfrey and her celebrity correspondent Lisa Ling groveling at the feet of FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop on television the other night.
It is amazing what t.v. types will do and say just so they can make some hyperbolic claims about "exclusive access" and "exclusive interviews."
Judging by Winfrey and Ling's fawning and sycophantic demeanors, you would have thought that Will...

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--Oprah--groveling for "access"-- sucking up for "exclusive"

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Categories: Mike Watkiss |

Paul Patrick wanted "to put a face on the victims." That's what his mom told me on Saturday afternoon.
Mary Patrick was sitting near a window of a room in St Joseph's hospital. Her 48-year-old son Paul lay in a nearby ICU bed, tubes and bandages covering his body.
Paul had a very serious stroke on Friday morning.
"It probably didn't do him much good to go to the trial every day," Mary told me, "but ...

>> Continue reading: confessions of an ambulance chaser--"he wanted to put a face on the victims"

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Categories: Mike Watkiss |