June 30, 2018
Max Stalling played in Central Texas last night. A bit of geographical irony: the show was in Temple across the street from the Scottish Rite Temple.
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June 29, 2018
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June 28, 2018
SEYMOUR HERSH may be one of the best journalists today’s generation hasn’t heard about. Sure, we know Woodward and Bernstein thanks to Watergate. What about Seymour?
“God damn it, this story in the Times, the one by Hersh. He doesn’t usually go with something that’s wrong.” -Richard Nixon
When you have 7 minutes to spare today, take a look at David Martin’s story on Hersh here.
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June 27, 2018
OLD FRIENDS: “…they shine like diamonds. Old Friends you can always call. Old Friends Lord you can’t buy them. You know it’s Old Friends after all.” -Guy Clark
The mildly chaotic morning was interrupted by a message from a familiar voice.
“Mr. Haldeman, this is Marcus Moore from KBTX back in the day…”
That opening line made me literally laugh out loud. First off, he called me Mister. Second off, a NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT from ABC NEWS just introduced himself as being from KBTX back in the day. Something all of us old KBTX-ers would probably do in similar fashion. I adore this guy and I could have spent all day and into the night listening to his stories from the road and beyond.
Read about the rest of this fabulous reunion and see an image or two in the Dispatches.
June 26, 2018
What a chaotic Monday we had here at the job site and beyond.
My company for the past 8 years, Raycom Media, announced a merger(?) or sale(?) to my old company, Gray Television for $3.6 billion. But wait… there’s more! Read all about it over on the Dispatches page.
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June 25, 2018
In today’s headlines…
https://www.raycommedia.com/gray-and-raycom-to-combine-in-a-3-6-billion-transaction/
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June 24, 2018
While the fictional Magnolia Cafe has a place in my beloved television show, “In the heat of the night,” the real Magnolia Cafe in Austin has a place high above most of the other eateries there.
After 7 hours of helping family members move, a sit-down meal at the Magnolia was a lovely reward. I had salmon lox, scrambled cheese eggs, and fruit.
They’ve been open long before the craze of Chip & Joanna and the Magnolia Silos, Magnolia Real Estate, and Magnolia Table restaurant up the road in Waco; so no, they’re not related.
2 locations:
2304 Lake Austin Blvd
1920 S. Congress Ave.
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June 23, 2018
SOMEWHERE on the road to Austin on a warm (hot) Saturday morning and once again, I woke up too late to make it to Franklin’s. Maybe next time.
I bet there won’t be a line at the Texas Chili Parlor, which is at the top of my list of Austin spots.
June 22, 2018
Your friendly content provider has updated the Dispatches page with an installment on a watering hole (aka ice house, beer joint, bar, etc). Perhaps it could become a regular series.
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June 21, 2018
If the graphics were honest in the mornings 🙂
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June 20, 2018
What are you doing with yourself on this last day of spring 2018? Are you making the most of the second-longest day of the year? By the way, every day is 24 hours. What we mean by the longest or shortest day is that we see a little more or less sunlight as the year progresses. Here in Waco tomorrow, the sun will set at 8:36 p.m. and we’ll enjoy 14 hours 12 minutes and 23 seconds of daylight time. That’s 2 more seconds that we’ll see today according to timeanddate.com. You should go out and make the most of that extra daylight. Not me though. I’ll spend most of it in my windowless office. Plus, my back hurts a little and there’s a new season of Goliath on Amazon Video that I’ll probably watch.
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Juneteenth 2018
Growing up in Northeast Texas, Juneteenth was always a time for parade, picnics, and mega-family reunion events for many of the large families around West Bowie County. The Betts, the Garlands, and others had reunions where up to 200 would attend. Some came from as far away as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington.
Here’s a look at how it all started, courtesy of The Root.
I missed the big parade this past weekend in the hometown, but found a few pictures that friends posted on their Facebook pages.
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June 18, 2018
I’m not going to touch the debate among us right now, except to say this picture from Getty Images photographer John Moore is a candidate for a Pulitzer Prize.
If you want to read the story behind the picture and the migrant crisis, the Washington Post has this piece.
UPDATE: We’ve now learned the little girl in the powerful image is not among the children who were separated from their parents. The New York Times has the story here.
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June 17, 2018
Father’s Day: Celebrating paternal bonds and the influence of fathers in society.
Wikipedia tells us the occasion can be traced back to the Middle Ages in Europe, where it’s celebrated in March along with the feast day of St. Joseph.
I recently wrote about my Daddy here and I think of him often, as I do the other father figures in my life. Here’s to fathers and father figures everywhere and the many blessings they provide.
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June 16, 2018
Hello again from IRE 2018, the annual gathering of Investigative Reporters & Editors.
Hurricane Harvey, the Austin bombings, the Mueller investigation, Parkland, Sutherland Springs… each of those instantly brings to mind life-altering events, some of them continue to evolve. (Parts of Texas are still recovering from Harvey today.)
Chances are you’re aware of them because you read about them or watched a video. Maybe you even heard about them on the radio.
The stories were brought to you by journalists and their organizations collectively known to many as the media. Without them, the stories may have been told, but not to the depths where we fully understand what’s happening and the impact on us as people.
The “media” or “mainstream media” have become fiery touchstone phrases that, for an alarming number of people, conjure up assumptions of cable news commentators, “dishonesty,” and Jerry Springer-esque characters who use their wild imagination to “stick it” to people they want to destroy.
That’s not who we are, though our collective mistakes have generated much-deserved accountability and admonishment.
The organizers of this gathering work to improved the craft and reduce mistakes. They get it.
One attendee I ran into this morning said it best on his industry trade website:
IRE is one of the few conferences where a Journalist actually learn how to be better at their jobs. And since most of the Journalists that attend the conference are Investigative Journalists and don’t just “want to be on TV” in is a refreshing group to hang out with. -Scott Jones, FTVlive
We’re keeping a rolling notepad from sessions (as long as we have battery power):
www.charliehaldeman.com/ire2018
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June 15, 2018
Happy Waylon Jennings Day
Waylon would have been 81 today.
While he may be best known for his Dukes of Hazard narration and theme song, I prefer the dozens of other tunes he turned out.
It also on this day in 1974 that the Dixie Chicken opened in College Station, Texas.
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June 14, 2018
Raycom Media CEO Pat LaPlatney announces the launch of InvestigateTV for OTT devices.
Your friendly content provider believes it’s most appropriate that this was conveyed to the world on Flag Day.
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June 13, 2018
“Coincidence is your Higher power acting with anonymity.” -James Lee Burke
I started reading Burke’s latest book Robicheaux and, as usual, I can’t put it down. Fantastic story, writing that jumps off the page and into your feelings, and characters who feel alive through words.
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June 12, 2018
Waiting at the airport all afternoon allowed me to collect a few thoughts on the weekend prior. An update from the famed Rose Hill neighborhood is now on the Dispatches page.
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June 12, 2018
WHEN YOU HEAR a song that’s so familiar, but you just. Can’t. Remember. Who sang it? What’s the title? Double brain melt for me this morning since the familiar song happens to be an instrumental.
NPR radio plays obscure instrumentals throughout the morning between segments. Probably one of my favorite things they do.
Thanks to my fabulous app Shazam, it took a millisecond to find the song was famous. Henry Mancini’s Baby Elephant Walk. Haven’t heard it in years.
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June 11, 2018
“One more thing”
“Do you have a minute?”
“Oh, by the way…”
All 3 are wonderful phrases in the sense that someone is attempting kindness when they are about to take up an average of 100x the time they asked for. Be careful of those words and have great responses!
Regarding statement #2, “Do you have a minute?” My standard answer has and will always be, “That’s a trick question.”
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June 10, 2018
MOUNT PLEASANT, Texas – someone asked me why more people weren’t at the Deryl Dodd concert here last night. Then I remembered that radio in Northeast Texas leaves a lot to be desired. Stations here don’t play him and countless other talented artists. It’s not a new problem, but that doesn’t make it any less of a shame. Dodd is a gifted musician and a gentleman showman. Seen here on the left. An unidentified fan in the middle. And one of Deryl’s newest fans, my Daddy, CR1.
Give Deryl a listen on his site at www.deryldodd.com
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June 9, 2018
He was born at the corner of 7th and Congress on the Texas side of Texarkana. It happened 100 years ago today. He left us back in 2010, but the ninth of June doesn’t pass without thinking of my Papa, Eugene Riley Haldeman.
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June 8, 2018
Anthony Bourdain is dead.
I’m in shock. The kind of shock you get when your favorite television personality dies suddenly at their own hand.
Just. No. Words.
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June 7, 2018
A Texas setting restored a little of our faith in humanity recently, as a little girl attempts to jump off the diving board at Barton Springs Pool. It turns out, she had a group on the banks to encourage her.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/best-thing-barton-springs-dive/
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June 6, 2018
Should we all strive to be so brave. Those noble souls. Those precious, precious boys. Thank God we’ll never know what the world would have been without their sacrifice.
On June 6, 1944, the Supreme Allied Commander Dwight David Eisenhower coordinated the massive invasion of U.S. troops in an operation that came to be known as D-Day. It would turn the war and it would change the world.
Men of the 16th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 1st Infantry Division wade ashore on Omaha Beach on the morning of 6 June 1944. Source: Wikipedia
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June 5, 2018
PRATTVILLE, Al – I’m inside the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, where someone has set the thermostat to 64 degrees. Each year, my company sends me to Alabama to exchange ideas, track industry changes, and see old friends who happen to have the same job I have. This year, there are more than a dozen new faces in the room. I’ll post more thoughts on this special group over on the Dispatches page later today. For now, enjoy a singer/songwriter from Montgomery. This is River Dan singing his signature song, “Ballad of River Dan” as pictures fly across the screen of some of my treasured colleagues.
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June 4, 2018
One of my favorite additions to KPLC Lake Charles during my time there was the Skycam Network. Six cameras across the region. It took a few years and a lot of planning, but the results continue to be fascinating.
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I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, but I do know what I don’t want to be.
Any person who made historically bad predictions in the past. Especially a person who is remembered for their bad guesses like these:
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June 3, 2018
Happy Billie Joe McAlester Day to Bobbie Gentry fans everywhere.
Thanks to a decade in radio station control rooms, the song got on my nerves. But that’s not what this day is about.
Let’s go back to when we were out chopping cotton and our brother was baling hay. A different time and place chronicled here in the Dispatches Page.
-ch
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Charlie Haldeman 