More than 100 people were injured during an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas Wednesday night.

ABC affiliate WFAA was the first of the Dallas stations to report the news at 8:47 p.m. The station began continuing coverage at 9:35 p.m. that lasted throughout the night. John McCaa anchored the first several hours, with Ron Corning taking over at 2 a.m. Todd Unger reported from West.

Fox O&O KDFW reported the news at the top of the 9 p.m. hour. Heather Hays and Steve Eagar anchored five and a half hours of wall-to-wall coverage, signing off at 2:30 a.m. Brandon Todd reported from West for KDFW.

KTVT was next at 9:46 p.m. with Karen Borta anchoring. The CBS O&O had continuing coverage from 9:55 p.m. to 2 a.m. with Borta and Jason Allen reporting from West.

NBC O&O KXAS reported the news at 9:48 p.m. Amanda Guerra and Brian Curtis anchored until 12:30 a.m., with Scott Gordon reporting from West.

KMOV in St. Louis and WFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth have won 2012 Investigative Reporters & Editors Awards.

KMOV’s Craig Cheatham and Jim Thomas won the IRE Award in the small Broadcast/Video category for “War Zone: The Destruction of an All-American City,” an hourlong documentary about political corruption in East St. Louis, Ill. Cheatham’s “dogged reporting and hard-hitting questions appear to get inside the minds of hardened politicos who admit to him their wrongdoing,” the judges wrote. The CBS affiliate’s report resulted in the resignation of a police chief and pending criminal charges and investigations.

WFAA’s Brett Shipp, Billy Bryant and Jason Trahan won in the medium Broadcast/Video category for “Unfair Game,” an examination of Texas high school coaches and administrators helping students illegally transfer school districts to put together top athletic teams. Shipp “used an inventive combination of social media and dogged reporting to show how high school athletics had been transformed into a business in which the best players were lured away from their neighborhood schools and sometimes across state lines,” the judges wrote. One coach was fired as result of the ABC affiliate’s report.

We’ve tallied up the results from our poll about the WFAA promo featuring morning anchor Ron Corning after he’s given two elementary age school children the talk about the birds and the bees.

By an overwhelming margin, most of you thought the promo was creepy with “I think it’s creepy but effective” splitting the vote, but still putting the spot squarely in the “creepy” category.

Here’s the current tally:

45.37%  – I think it’s creepy

22.8% – I think it’s effective

20.9% – I think it’s creepy but effective

10.93% – Other

Some of the readers who voted “other” left comments showing their outrage “This is why viewers don’t watch local news” and “Everyone associated should be fired.” While one voter said, “eh, it’s alright… much ado about not much.”

Have more to say about the promo?  Visit us on facebook and leave us a comment:

Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA recently began airing a promo spot titled “The Talk” starring morning anchor Ron Corning as part of a campaign that may test the boundaries of taste.

The spot shows Corning sitting on the edge of a bed in a child’s room talking to two elementary school age kids.  He holds a male and a female doll while saying, “Um. Yeah.  That is where babies come from. Any questions?” While the kids stare open mouthed at Corning, the dad pokes his head in the door and asks, “Is it over?”

According to the station, there are five spots under the theme of “Count on Ron” taking “a farcical look at what you can count on your local anchor for.” Click here to view the campaign.

So we want to know what you think. Is this promo effective marketing or is it just plain creepy? Cast your vote below.

[unclebarky.com]

After 34 years at WFAA, Brad Watson has announced his departure from the Dallas-Fort Worth ABC affiliate.

Watson, who is a political reporter and anchor of the weekly “Inside Texas Politics,” announced on Twitter that he has accepted a job as the director of communications for Texas-based Luminant Power.

“There is no better job in local TV news than being a reporter at WFAA and informing the people of this great state. It has been an honor,” Watson tweeted Monday.

In 2011, Watson made national headlines during an interview with President Obama when the President chided the veteran reporter to “let me finish my answers next time we do an interview.”

Carla Wade is joining WFAA in Dallas as a reporter and Sunday night anchor, according to Dallas media blogger Ed Bark.

Wade comes from Oklahoma City, where she spent three years at KOCO. She has also worked at WTVQ in Lexington, Ky. and KSWO in Lawton, Texas.

Beginning next month, Wade will anchor on Sunday nights alongside Jason Wheeler. She will also report four days a week.

Eight months after resigning from KXAS in the wake of her DUI arrest, Jane McGarry is returning to Dallas television.

McGarry will contribute to the WFAA morning newscast, presenting a segment called “Starting Over with Jane McGarry.” The segments will air over a five-week period beginning January 24.

“I am excited to be working with the talented team at Good Morning Texas on this project,” McGarry said in a statement. “I hope the information will be helpful to the loyal viewers of North Texas, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing for more than two decades.”

McGarry spent 30 years as an anchor at KXAS, the NBC O&O in Dallas. She pleaded no contest to driving while intoxicated last year.

Deion Sanders, former NFL star and co-founder of Prime Prep, a Dallas charter school, took aim at an unnamed WFAA reporter while on Dallas radio station KRLD.  Sanders went on the program to address allegations that his charter school had engaged in illegal recruiting for both football and basketball.

“First of all, this all started mainly by a Caucasian reporter from a news station, Channel 8, you know who I’m talking about, and he seems like he’s the African American killer,” Sanders said. “It’s always something against a brother. And that bothers me. I’ve never been accused of cheating with anything, in any sports, in any arena, in my life. Now to be accused of something as stupid and as simplistic as this and all I have is 30 kids out there. And the sad thing about it, Channel 8 and Dallas Morning News, they’re partners.”

Sanders’ comments were most likely aimed at WFAA (ABC) reporter Brett Shipp who has done a series of reports about Prime Prep’s athletic program.  You can watch one of Shipp’s reports after the jump.  In it, he was antagonized by Prime Prep coaches and players while investigating the uncertainty surrounding the school’s athletic program. Read more

Jobin Panicker will join Dallas ABC affiliate, WFAA, as a reporter.  Panicker comes from Fresno, CA NBC affiliate KSEE.

Dave Muscari, WFAA’s vice president of product development told TVSpy, Panicker is, “a bright journalist and a strong writer who has earned several regional Emmy awards and 4 regional Murrow awards during his time in Fresno.”

Panicker, whose first day at WFAA will be December 4, started his reporting career at WBOC in Salisbury, MD.

Read more

A Dallas dentist accused of fraud has been granted a temporary restraining order against Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA, Courthouse News Service reports.

The dentist, Richard Malouf, was investigated for Medicare fraud earlier this year. In the lawsuit against WFAA, Malouf said the station, as well as a local real estate reporter in Dallas, ran 40 stories about him and his home, where he is constructing a massive water park, in the past year. The lawsuit alleges the reporters of trespass, invasion of privacy, defamation, libel, slander and conspiracy.

The order bans WFAA, including investigative reporter Byron Harris, and the real estate reporter from coming within 50 feet of his residence, as well as taking any images of the property.