Milwaukee Roadfooders on TV

Great pictures JPRfeff.  That fish all looks real tasty, but I find myself strangely attracted to that home fries smothered with nacho cheese, onions, and corned beef thing.

Attention~

Footage from the Roadfood piece will be on WTMJ4 again tonite (and in teasers in this morning's broadcast)..HOWEVER..it will be used in a feature about unhealthy restaurant eating, and how stupid people are stupid for not knowing all the calories and fat that's on their plates.

Buddy - sorry - I will NOT be participating in your Chicago TV story. I won't get fooled and humiliated on TV again.

Oh, and I've let it be known I am not happy with this.
Unsurprisingly, they are silent on the matter.

Correction.
1 person is listening and responding, via email.
She is trying to get the piece edited, where they only show the food, not the people. I don't know if it'll happen, but I appreciate her efforts. 

That's too bad, as if we don't know what's on our plates-get real people...
and how do you know what we eat when we're not with our friends?
as if that was what we ate every day for 3 meals a day- REALLY? 
and who made you the food police anyway if we did?
The last time I checked most of us were over the age of 18...

That's awful, and I'm so sorry to hear about this.

Got a couple DMs in Twitter from Maureen.

She says it was a huge misunderstanding; they needed footage of platters of food, not people. They are editing the piece as we speak.

X1, were they actually using footage from the outing (including pictures of roadfooders) in their "teasers"? Outrageous, if they were.

Yes, they were.
I saw them myself. It was footage of us at McBob's....all the while blabbing on about how people don't know how much fat and calories they are consuming when they go out to eat in restaurants.

Yikes--And I guess it doesn't matter that many of us actually do maintain a low-cal/low-fat or otherwise balanced regimen most of the time, precisely so we can enjoy restaurant meals once in a while. I also suppose it doesn't matter that many of us shared meals throughout the day (and took stuff home), and punctuated the meals with other activities.  Perhaps some of the people in the newsroom need to get out from behind the desk.

Well, I'm glad they are editing it, but I'm still really mad at that station for showing those teasers this morning the way they did. I'll be watching the piece this evening and it BETTER not show people in it. Still, not nice for the restaurants either to have their food conveyed that way. Poor McBobs.

Although, I really don't want to watch that piece this evening. I HATE that big-brother sanctimonious crap.  I don't eat in restaurants often, I'm a cook and a good one and I eat very healthily, so when I do eat out I want to treat myself. Who are you TMJ4 to tell me what is on my plate is not good for me? No sh*t Sherlock.

Just saw the new & improved tease for tonite's piece.
No people are shown.

I take that back...they just showed an extended tease, and the footage is the same...we're all on it.

X1


Yes, they were.
I saw them myself. It was footage of us at McBob's....all the while blabbing on about how people don't know how much fat and calories they are consuming when they go out to eat in restaurants.

Wow.  Think about this irony.  We would not have been together eating all those unhealthy, fat and calorie filled entrees if Maureen had not asked us to get together for her TV report.  In fact, it was Maureen who first suggested McBob's ("...and my favorite, McBobs..."). 

I don't blame her, it was probably another producer who looked for some recent footage of 'bad' restaurant food and used it. 
 
I do believe that whoever put together the "teasers" violated an ethical standard by using footage of people (and a business) in an unflattering light without our consent.  As NC-Bob's friend from Mayberry would say, "Shame, shame, shame."

Maureen's response to me, after I told her that the tease was unchanged. I also said "You people are horrible. Word will get out, believe me."

She responded:

i am away from office and have no idea why it changed back; i was very clear about what needed t appear and what didnt. will follow up 

So, we'll see what happens. I'm not holding my breath.

I will help get the word out. I am VERY ANGRY about this. Even IF it is fixed for the 10pm broadcast, how many times has this bad teaser already been shown on the air?

Just because you can legally do something doesn't mean you should. Like JRP said, doesn't ethical standards mean anything to this station?

X1 and all members of The Contingent,

I too am very disturbed by the news that WTMJ has unfortunately used images from our tour in an inappropriate manner.  As someone who works for a television news operation I can tell you that that kind of misuse of someone's image is strictly forbidden, either as an official policy or just as a matter of good common sense.  This kind of error is strictly bush league behavior.

We've all seen similar stories; health related items where they show video of overweight people, but normally those individuals are shown from the waist down, no faces shown.  I suppose if you recognize yourself, it can be just as disturbing, but at least there is not the kind of public humiliation that might result from friends and family seeing your face.

This incident is exactly why television news shows do not show faces.  There have been lawsuits in the past because of these very types of misuse of personal images.  Let me state for the record I AM NOT suggesting that any of us institute a law suit in this case.  Something like that can be very time consuming and extremely expensive with no guarantee of any kind of pay out at the end.

As far as our tour goes, let me give you some assurances:

1. My friends from Roadfood and their feelings are far more important to me than any of us being on TV whether in a positive or negative light.  I would not allow us to be portrayed as anything other than what we are, a close group of friends with a common appreciation for Roadfood.

2. I have spoken with Marcus Leshock, the reporter who would be handling this story, and informed him of WTMJ's faux pas.  His reaction was the same as mine; that kind of mishandling of images from another story is unethical and just bad journalism.  We have agreed that Marcus will take special care to make sure that all footage from our story will be used only in relation to our specific story and cannot be used for any other purpose.  Obviously I cannot force anyone to participate, but I wouldn't even ask unless I was confident that our privacy and images would be respected.

3. If anyone has any doubts about point number 2, please refer back to point number 1.  The tour and my friends are the most important thing here.  If enough of our people agree that they do not want to do the WGN story we will scrap it.

It'll be interesting to see how the final WTMJ story gets re-cut, and if any of us are shown in a less than flattering light.  I hope our Milwaukee members will monitor the show tonight and report back to the group after the story airs.

Buddy

Buddy, 

Since this is one of their special, featured stories, I'm quite sure it will eventually be posted on their website for all to see.

You can bet I'll be watching at 10 PM, and I'll report what went down.

Hmmm. A couple of days ago, while I was commuting home past WTMJ's building, the phrase "Trust TMJ4" scrolled by on the station's outside electronic marquee. Trust them to take a nice feature on area businesses and food lovers, and turn it into a public finger-wagging. I wonder if the station's restaurant and food product advertisers only push healthful and wholesome foods?

Do report on the feature tonight, X1; I don't have a tv, so won't be able to see if we were lured into a bait-and-switch.

I'll be online and report here as it is being shown, Q.

But still, this teaser has been on TV ALL DAY. Since this morning. Goodie for you if you fix it for the 10 pm broadcast.

Tonight at 10:00 Menu Shock. Just what's in your lunch? Calorie shockers at local restaurants... better loosen your belt for this story. Four On Your Side's Courtny Gerrish has the scoop tonight live at 10:00 on TODAY'S TMJ4.

http://www.todaystmj4.com...mn/atten/45695177.html

Yeah X1, let me know if our mugs are shown.
I'm thinking of joining SAG so I can be paid. http://www.sag.org/content/eligibility-check
 Now where's my check so I can be made whole!

Hmm..all cued up and ready to persecute us, eh? Thanks Davydd for that heads up. Now we have the exact link to go to when the story airs. 
I don't think it'll be posted right away, though. Remember it took a day or so for the original Roadfood piece.

I wonder if they know I work for attorneys?

Call our Newsroom at: 414-963-4444.

They just played a teaser for the story, during The Biggest Loser.

There were no faces, in fact, the food didn't look like anything we'd ordered at the 2 places they tagged along with.

I was boycotting NBC anyway because of what they did to Conan (shame on you, Jeff Zucker you big ****er, and you too, Chin Boy!), but really, how are you going to boycott a network you only watch for Timberlake on SNL? (dont judge me paul blart)

A network who originally lost me during the writer's strike a few years back?

How are you going to support a network that had auditions here in town for The Biggest Loser & a producer for NBC comes outside of Rock Bottom Brewery to say, "Don't worry, ladies, none of the chairs inside have arms!"   and the local affiliate sends out the tiniest, skinniest reporter possible? I mean, I know they couldn't send Lynise Weeks (RIP) but what the holy heck? Not to mention they cut the footage to get the most drama out of the show, and the product placement is beyond ridiculous. Fat Free Cool Whip & Sugar Free Jello? Chemicals + chemicals = no thank you.

And now this? Sorry NBC. You lost me for good this time.

Almost 10!

I know it won't be the top story, but it should be aired w/in the first 15 minutes, I'm guessing.

Stay tuned.

OK - they didn't show us at all.

AND..interestingly enough....all the restaurants featured were CHAINS!

Totally what we're against! Why would they even use our footage in the first place? Madness!

Well, no faces, but still a lack of integrity on NBC's part. No surprises there.

• I saw one of our chicken dinners. Whoever ordered a baked potato, your hand was on the news.
• Also, someone cutting their eggs @ McBob's.
• Pie Diva's meal @ Champion Chicken. 2 shots. I love that shirt on her.

These are all chain restaurants they are talking about. I'd eat a bag of maggots before I'd eat Olive Garden.

X1


OK - they didn't show us at all.

AND..interestingly enough....all the restaurants featured were CHAINS!

Totally what we're against! Why would they even use our footage in the first place? Madness!

Whew. I dunno, but I'm guessing the original plan was to include shots from the Roadfood outing (maybe just dishes, maybe with people in view), but apparently changes were made in response to the concerns you expressed. However things happened, I'm glad the feature didn't take our fun outing and ruin it. Or so it appears--I'll watch the segment online sometime anyway.

stricken_detective


Well, no faces, but still a lack of integrity on NBC's part. No surprises there.

• I saw one of our chicken dinners. Whoever ordered a baked potato, your hand was on the news.
• Also, someone cutting their eggs @ McBob's.
• Pie Diva's meal @ Champion Chicken. 2 shots. I love that shirt on her.

These are all chain restaurants they are talking about. I'd eat a bag of maggots before I'd eat Olive Garden.

Hmm, so it seems that our outing made the feature, after all. Disappointing.

You say you would "eat a bag of maggots" before eating at OG, but what if those maggots have cavities induced by baklava? (See MH's comment on Baklava thread)

OTOH, baklava-fed maggots.... the next food trend!

Stop, Q! Yer grossing me out.

Q - I was never against them using shots of our food...it was that they used our images as well. I mean...I guess if you knew it was your hand or your shirt you would know it was you...but nobody else would, really. 

True--It could've been much worse, though. And the footage of our outing is still in the archives, so who knows when someone will decide to drag it out and use it for something other than the original purpose. Unsettling.

It is unsettling.

Bottom line - they didn't want to pay for new footage, and they needed footage of ppl eating a buncha food, and figured they'd use ours. Not right, not even a little, but it's par for the course for media.

Guess I will be burning that top now.

How do you think Champion Chicken & McBob's owners feel, knowing now that shots of their food was used in such a way?

Just saw the segment via the Journal-Sentinel online. No faces of roadfooders, but as stricken pointed out, there were some shots from the outing, including a couple of shots that got dangerously close to Pie Diva's face.

Images from the roadfood outing were not the only ones used--for example, there was a shot of a cook serving burgers. So, I wonder what other features were recycled to cobble this together?

The general tone of the feature reminded me of David Zinczenko's articles from "Men's Health" and MSN.com, and his recently published book Eat This, Not That!

Here's a link to his "The 20 Worst Foods in America," a slideshow on the "Men's Health" website:

http://eatthis.menshealth...staurant-foods-america

The WTMJ feature overlaps a little with it. It's interesting (to me, at least) that the feature didn't refer to Zinczenko's work, or suggest low-cal alternatives for the restaurants covered.

Not sure if it's irony or coincidence, but right above the window for viewing the infamous video is the link to the bacon baklava story featuring our own Bobbi Pfefferle!

It's a funny, funny world ain't it?

Buddy

Here is the video clip...

http://www.todaystmj4.com...p;bctid=CLIP_ID_179189

and here is the text report...

http://www.todaystmj4.com...signment/83369187.html