Shannon Sims is joining Milwaukee NBC affiliate WTMJ as a weekend anchor.

Sims comes from Cincinnati, where she has been freelancing as a morning reporter and fill-in anchor at WXIX. She was released from her contract at WKEF-WRGT in Dayton after a year as the station’s main anchor in January.

Sims told TVSpy she is looking forward to working with the “winning team” of journalists, photographers and producers at WTMJ.

“At this point of my career moving to Milwaukee and working at TMJ4 to hone my skills as a reporter and command anchor seems like the perfect move,” Sims wrote in an email.

Ben Swann, anchor for Cincinnati FOX affiliate WXIX, is no stranger to controversy. With both a local news platform and an internet reporting franchise, Swann has stirred the media pot with stories challenging the way police handled investigations at Sandy Hook Elementary, Aurora, Colorado and the Sikh Temple shootings in Wisconsin.

In his latest report, Swann questions whether the FBI knew about the bombings at the Boston Marathon beforehand and goes as far as to speculate they may have planned them — a “false flag” attack, as some conspiracy theorists have called it. He cites a 10-year-old story of alleged FBI involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center Bombings and the observations of a cross country coach from Alabama who ran in this year’s marathon (watch the report after the jump).

Swann starts off his story by referencing a 1993 New York Times report in which the Times reported the FBI used an informant, Emad A. Salem, to help terrorists build explosives that were later used in the first World Trade Center bombing. The informant alleges the FBI knew about the bombin beforehand but did nothing to stop them. The Times later walked back the report, issuing a correction that said the article “referred imprecisely in some copies to what Federal officials knew about the plan before the blast.” Swann did not mention the correction in his “Reality Check” segment.

Swann then talked about Alistair Stevenson, a cross country coach from Mobile, AL, who ran the marathon this year. Stevenson told his local NBC affiliate WPMI he was suspicious about what he saw at the race. ”He (Stevenson) said that he thought it was odd that there were bomb sniffing dogs at the start and at the finish lines,” said Swann. “He also said that law enforcement spotters were on the roofs at the start and the end of the race.”

But that’s where Swann stops, never saying in his report that he called the FBI or the Boston Police or even race organizers to ask about routine security measures for the race. He also never says he asked the FBI the million dollar question: did they know about the bombing and if so, why didn’t they stop it?

Read more

Ben Swann, anchor for Raycom’s Cincinnati FOX Affiliate WXIX, has announced he is leaving the station when his contract expires in May.

“After 2 ½ years at WXIX Fox 19, the time has come for me to explore other opportunities,” Swann said in a station announcement posted to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Swann also hosts a popular series on facebook titled “Full Disclosure” where he asks questions about controversial subjects he says are ignored by the national media.

“Ben has informed us he would like to take his career in a different direction,” FOX19 general manager Bill Lanesey told the Enquirer. “We will miss Ben’s work ethic and intellect and appreciate him giving us enough notice so we can begin the search for his replacement as soon as possible.” Read more

The Cincinnati Enquirer is hosting its own ‘March Madness’ tourney. The paper is asking readers to vote for their “TV Anchor Dream Team.”

Who’s the Cincinnati Anchor Dream Team?  You can help select it by voting below in my bracket-style tournament with 8 male anchors, 8 female anchors, 8 meteorologists and 8 sports anchors.

The winners will be re-seeded in each round, leading to Cincinnati’s favorite anchor team. You can check out the rankings after the jump.

Read more

WXIX, the Cincinnati FOX affiliate, has named Kevin Roach news director, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

“The depth of knowledge and experience Kevin has in both broadcast and digital news will be a huge asset to our station,”  WXIX general manager Bill Lanesey said in a statement. “Kevin is familiar with the Tri-State and has proven himself to be a great leader in the industry. His leadership and experience will help us continue demographic ratings victories in both the morning and late news races.”

Roach, who fills the empty slot left by Matt Miller‘s departure in December, was vice president and United States broadcast news director for the Asociated Press.  He has also served as the assistant news director for WCPO in Cincinnati, news director for WDTN in Dayton, OH, and executive producer for WFSB in Hartford, CT. Read more

WXIX news director Matt Miller has resigned from the Cincinnati Fox affiliate, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Miller has been news director at WXIX since 2010. In an email to staff obtained by the Enquirer, general manager Bill Lanesey said Miller’s resignation was handed in yesterday and is effective immediately.

Assistant news director Marita Matray will be the interim news director until a permanent replacement is named, Lanesey said.

WXIX, Raycom Media’s Cincinnati station, has renewed its Fox affiliation through 2017.

“Our corporate officers at Raycom have been working diligently over the past few months negotiating a renewal with the network,” WXIX general manager Bill Lanesey said in a statement. ““Fox is a big part of our brand and this renewal allows us to continue to provide viewers in the Tri-State with quality programming like American Idol, Bones and Glee, not to mention coverage of the Reds and Bengals. We are very pleased our partnership will continue for several years to come.”

The winning tickets in Wednesday night’s Powerball drawing were in Arizona and Missouri, leaving some Facebook fans of Cincinnati Fox affiliate WXIX very unhappy.

The station posted a picture of its lottery tickets for Wednesday’s $587 million Powerball drawing. “If Fox19 WINS … YOU WIN!!! LIKE & SHARE this pic, if one of these numbers wins the Jackpot tonight, we’ll split it with you!” WXIX posted. “Everyone who LIKES and SHARES this pic will get a SHARE if we win the Jackpot!”

The post currently has more than 192,000 likes and 327,000 shares, some of which happened after the winning numbers were announced. Read more

Tricia Macke has been absent from the WXIX anchor desk for the past two nights. The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting Macke was suspended from the Cincinnati Fox affiliate after comments she made on Facebook about MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow:

Fox 19 managers aren’t talking about why news co-anchor Tricia Macke wasn’t anchoring Sunday’s newscasts, as she usually does. I’m hearing she was suspended for her Facebook remarks calling MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow an “angry young man.”

“We don’t comment on personnel matters,” says WXIX-TV General Manager Bill Lanesey. And then he volunteered: “We expect Tricia to be back on the anchor desk Tuesday (tomorrow).”

Macke apologized for her comments on Friday. WXIX has not responded to TVSpy’s request for comment.

WXIX anchor Tricia Macke has issued an apology for calling MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow “an angry young man.” In a statement on the station’s Facebook page, Macke said her comments were “insensitive and inappropriate.”

“I apologize to Ms. Maddow and any others who may have been offended by my comments, as they do not reflect my firm beliefs in individual and equal rights, and they certainly did not represent the opinions or position of my employer WXIX-TV,” Macke wrote.

GLAAD called on Macke Friday to apologize for her remarks about Maddow, which were made on her personal Facebook page October 12.

WXIX, the Fox affiliate in Cincinnati, said they had “received several expressions of concern” about Macke’s remarks, adding, “We also apologize to anyone who may have been offended by her comments.”