Sunday, September 9, 2012

TMJ Reporter Arrested, TMJ Doesn't Report It

One of WTMJ-TV's "investigative reporters" - in other words, one of their sensationalist gotcha reporters that they're so fond of - got himself all wee wee'd up:
According to the Glendale police report:

A Bayshore security guard caught Rob Koebel, 41, urinating outside of the Apple store at 10:11 p.m. Aug. 21. Koebel, an investigative reporter with TMJ4's I-Team, lives in an apartment above the Apple store.

The security guard told police he saw Koebel and his friend, a 52-year-old man, leave Bar Louie on their way back to their apartments. The friend told police Koebel had been drinking. When Koebel started urinating outside of the Apple store, the security guard told him to stop, but Koebel ignored him.

[...]

Police arrested Koebel after he refused to follow commands. When an officer tried to lock the handcuffs, Koebel kept swaying, and officers attempted to steady him against the wall of the business. He lost his balance and fell to the ground, bringing an officer down with him.

When police brought him back to the station, Koebel was uncooperative with officers. When an officer stated he was going to remove his handcuffs, Koebel warned him to "be careful."

Koebel became increasingly uncooperative, saying "Don't play games with me" and "Do you want to take the gloves off or no?" As he was booked, Koebel called an officer names such as "(expletive) face", as well as a derogatory term for homosexual.

Glendale police cited Koebel for disorderly conduct.

Now, when a local celebrity gets himself in a jam like this, this would normally be fodder for the local paper. Oddly, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel hasn't printed a word about the misconduct and subsequent arrest of this knob.

Then again, as the gentle reader either already knew or could have surmised by the TV station's call letters, they are both owned by Journal Communications.

This perfectly illustrates the problem with the erosion of the regulations of the airwaves over the years allowing corporate media to buy up and monopolize whole media markets.

And it would be poetic justice since Koebel is the same guy that cost a school bus driver her job by playing his gotcha game.

It could also be that TMJ is just holding off on reporting anything until they have Koebel installed as their newest squawk radio host, like they did with the sensationalist political hack John Mercure, who should thank his stars that impersonating a reporter isn't against the law.

Cross posted at Whallah!

15 comments:

  1. WTMJ-TV reported the incident on Sept. 6.

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    1. You should be more precise. You write that the Journal Sentinel hasn't reported the incident -- a legitimate criticism. But the headline ("TMJ Reporter Arrested, TMJ Doesn't Report It") implies you're talking about the station's coverage: Koebel was a "TMJ" reporter and "TMJ" is in both clauses. (And who refers to the Journal Sentinel as TMJ?) Indeed, your Twitter conversation with Ted Perry suggests you weren't aware of the TV station's disclosure when writing this post.

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    2. The article specifies the paper. How much clearer can that be?

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    3. It's your blog, dude. I'm not going to argue with you. But your refusal to consider a correction or clarification degrades your credibility in my eyes. Good night.

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  2. Which of these words didn't you understand?

    Now, when a local celebrity gets himself in a jam like this, this would normally be fodder for the local paper. Oddly, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel hasn't printed a word about the misconduct and subsequent arrest of this knob.

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    1. we understand all the words, asshole. it's pricks like you who use this dismissive and condescending tone to try and bully the knowing.

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    2. Well, if you're the knowing, there should be no confusion. Then again, if you were so knowledgeable, you'd have know that the paper has been called TMJ for decades, which is where the TV and Radio stations got their call letters. And really, name calling? Is that all you media types got?

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  3. Fuck you Anon coward. Your reporting sucks, your TV station sucks, your paper sucks. Everything about Journal Communications is awful. You should be ashamed of working for Newscorp-lite. Keep pissing in public, ya schmuck.

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    1. i agree with everything you say about the awful journal communications, and it's possible that more than one person is posting anonymously. i'm not sure how you deduced that any on the above are ink-stained wretches, unless it's guilt by association, y'know, like palin' around with 'em and such. but i guess it's a sign of bravery to post under your tag line, huh?

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  4. TMJ is full of fascist pigs.

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  5. Thanks for the opportunity to comment. In this market we all know that TMJ stands for "The Milwaukee Journal", but when used in the context you chose, it leaves the impression that WTMJ TV did not report the incident, while they apparently did report it. There's not an editor on this earth who would think your headline/title is reasonable. Not changing the headline leaves you vulnerable to your own charges of bias. You've got a legitimate point but mucking it up erodes your own credibility.

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  6. what about this?!! Why haven't they reported about the book his ex-wife wrote and released this summer about their marraige?!! Christi Paul -- CNN News anchor, "Love Isn't Supposed to Hurt".

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  7. WTMJ is always a class act.

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  8. Ahhh.

    http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/tvradio/the-troubles-of-two-tv-personalities-op6qvgi-169369846.html

    In 2004, he was fired from a Phoenix station for donating to a political campaign and receiving and reporting a tip about its opponent. And he was arrested for driving under the influence while working there.

    Instead of

    Being Arpaio's pal certainly didn't hurt former Channel 15 television reporter Robert Koebel when he was faced last month with a 12-day jail sentence stemming from an extreme DUI conviction.

    Koebel was arrested in December 2003 in Phoenix on the DUI charge. Last February, [2004-not present in original, added for clarity] Koebel says he attended the Colangelo-hosted fund raiser for Arpaio and donated $100 to Arpaio's campaign.

    Koebel says he didn't consider the campaign contribution to be unethical or a conflict of interest, even though he frequently covered Arpaio. Instead, Koebel claims he made the contribution simply to attend a party with his law enforcement friends.

    "That night I went to go socialize with them and I paid that $100, I didn't even think about it really going to the sheriff's reelection," he tells me.

    In late April, [2004-again not present in original text] Koebel claims Dan Saban's former foster mother called him and made an astounding accusation. Ruby Norman accused Arpaio's opponent in the upcoming Republican primary of raping her 30 years ago when Saban was a teenager living in her home.

    Koebel contacted the sheriff's office, and within hours MCSO dispatched two detectives to take a full report from Norman. Any legitimate police force would have immediately referred the case to another law enforcement agency because of the obvious conflict of interest.

    But Arpaio's MCSO can be far less than legitimate when the sheriff smells the blood of a political foe.

    The MCSO quickly prepared a police report that included the transcribed interview with Norman, and delivered it to Koebel. Armed with the MCSO records, Koebel confronted Saban with television cameras rolling after a campaign event and asked the candidate to comment on the rape allegation and on the MCSO's investigation. http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/content/printVersion/175912/


    Now that is a lot more information, maybe more than the average reader wants. To be fair and balanced, perhaps the conspiracy buffs would like to judge for themselves which facts ought to be obscured by devices such as replacing the name Sheriff Joe Arpaio with "a political campaign". Any curious conspiracy buffs should read the entire posting at both links, and make their own assessments.

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