KWTV and Mason Dunn part ways

[venture]

This is starting to be reported elsewhere, so will go ahead and make a post. Found out earlier today that KWTV News Director fired pilot Mason Dunn after they got into an argument.

Personally I don't like this. The chemistry between Gary and Mason on storm coverage was always great. This is likely going to be a major blow to KWTV's weather coverage as they will no longer have the experience in the sky. As soon as Gary decides to finally retire, that will probably be the end for me of watching the news on that station and move completely to 4 and 5.

[Dustin]

For weather I always go to 4. For actual news coverage I go to 5 and 9. Eyewitness News 5 is the absolute best in news coverage but 9 is more fun!

I really didn't like Mason anyway. Hopefully they can find a good replacement.

[SoonerQueen]

I'm sorry to hear they let him go. The chemistry between Gary and Mason during severe weather is amazing. I can't think this is a positive move for KWTV. They lost their edge on weather reporting.I hope he lands at another station soon. Maybe he can move over to KOCO.

[jn1780]

I wonder what the argument was about.

[drum4no1]

I found out about an hour after he was fired. It wasnt just this incident but the tipping point. It had been brewing for awhile

To be technical he was fired last Tuesday

[drumsncode]

You can't fire the guy that saved "Bambi" on a frozen lake! Maybe it's time for a new News Director.

[adaniel]

Wow that was a bad call by Channel 9.

He seemed like a nice guy and was much more enjoyable to watch than Bob Moore Chopper 4, but during the last severe weather outbreak KWTV seemed a little flat-footed compared to KFOR. And the ratings showed.

I wonder if Gary England's recent on air crabbiness has anything to do with this?

EDIT: Mason's bio is off KWTV's website.

[Thunder]

Eh, big mistake by KWTV's News Director for firing someone over a personal argument.

The pilot should take the chopper and join KOCO or KFOR. Give a station the luxury of two choppers. :-D

[bombermwc]

Maybe he told the director he was tired of over sensationalising everything wanted to get back to real news REPORTing....

[Barry Luxton]

I saw this on TLO just now

The story with Mason is that the new news director Todd Spessard ordered Mason back up to fly after the Piedmont tornadoes when he was exhausted and had, had no food or water for over 8 hours. Mason told him he was exhausted, and needed some rest…. but Spessard continued to put Mason under duress. A verbal exchange ensued and Mason was suspended and then let go. FAA states that pilots will determine when flying is unsafe, not arrogant, ignorant news directors.
Reply
Tracey Williamson says:
June 9, 2011 at 7:18 pm

By the way Isn’t the new, news director at News 9 Todd Spessard the same news director who cost the last station he worked at KSNW, over 1.1 million dollars in a lawsuit for pushing and running a story on the BTK killer – accusing the wrong man after he had been cleared ???…. the jury even talked about how uncaring and arrogant Mr. Spessard was…they got that right…..who hired that bozo anyway…. ??? News 9 your stock has gone way down……..
Reply
Tracey Williamson says:
June 9, 2011 at 7:36 pm

In my earlier comment I need to make clear that Mason had been flying for over 8 eight hours with no food or water …Mr. Spessard showed no respect for the great job he did and has no clue what that takes out of a person…..He even snidely asked Mason… ” You mean you can’t fly for more than eight hours ?”
Whatever rock they dug this guy out from under they need to put him back post haste….. the only thing Spessard has in common with flying is making people do that out of a room when he enters it…..

[Thunder]

Hmmmm.... Mason have grounds to sue the director and he need to do that immediately.

[venture]

I had a feeling it had something to do with the coverage on the 24th. Listening to Mason that day he was just flat out exhausted. He had to bail on the Canton Lake Tornado simply because the storm coverage was boxing him in. I have a feeling Mr. Spessard was fuming at losing the live video of it.

If what was posted is true...it definitely appears that this is some "hot shot" who is trying to take local news to an edgy maximum. Look at all the various camera angles they are using now, usually executed very poorly and looks quite amateur. The Griffin Family made a terrible hire with this guy. If I were Mason, I would definitely file a complaint with the FAA to have them come in and revoke the station's operating certificate. Not only would it impact KWTV, probably KOTV as well if they are on the same operators certificate.

Why do I also get the feeling this new hotshot News Director is probably also wanting to clean house a bit more...perhaps even Gary? I wonder just how much power has been taken away from him. The break-ins last night were horrible. The shots of them sitting behind a couple monitors now with a very low light lighting setup just makes Gary seem very old or very lazy (they had Michael in one of the shots as well).

[positano]

Venture - do you know what the FAA licensing requirements are? Obviously the pilot has to be licensed, but does the FAA have authority over the station as well by virtue of "operating" the helicopter?

[Tydude]

well they have to look for a new pilot for sky news 9 HD

[old okie]

Appalling. I'm all for boycotting Channel 9 news at all time slots! Mason certainly would have known if he were at his peak to be flying or not; for the station manager to have insisted differently is beyond ridiculous.

We can certainly "vote" with our remote and just go to Channel 4 or 5. If it is the new station mgr. at 9 that is going with the "panic" weather reporting, like Friday night, then he needs to move on. They can run the trailers across the top of the screen, bottom of the screen, or do a split screen; to interrupt for a thunderstorm, not tornadic, but just "severe," plays to trying to "scare" people unnecessarily. I fear the result is going to be that no one pays any attention to them at all.

Bring Mason back and fire the station manager!!!

[drum4no1]

If I were Mason, I would definitely file a complaint with the FAA to have them come in and revoke the station's operating certificate.

Not sure how much authority the FAA has over the station, 4 and 9's chopper are owned by http://www.airfliteok.com/index.html out of shawnee.

[drum4no1]

Okay I double checked and N9TV is registered to Griffin as the owner. In that case yes I could see the stations getting some flack form the FAA.

[venture]

Here is what Drum is referring to...

N9TV (SkyNews9) Registration Info: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinqu...xt=9TV&x=0&y=0

N196TV (SkyNews6) Registration Info: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinqu...96TV&x=32&y=12

For those that may have closer references and better first hand information, please contact the FAA... http://www.faa.gov/contact/ or public tip line is: 1-866-835-5322

If the allegations are true, then the hammer should come down.

[SoonerQueen]

http://openline.medialine.com/showthread.php?t=24447

Here is something I found about Todd Spessard from another message board.

[SoonerQueen]

http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case...9&s=KS&d=43904

Here is the case against Todd Spessard.

[SoonerQueen]

I saw this on TLO just now

The story with Mason is that the new news director Todd Spessard ordered Mason back up to fly after the Piedmont tornadoes when he was exhausted and had, had no food or water for over 8 hours. Mason told him he was exhausted, and needed some rest…. but Spessard continued to put Mason under duress. A verbal exchange ensued and Mason was suspended and then let go. FAA states that pilots will determine when flying is unsafe, not arrogant, ignorant news directors.
Reply
Tracey Williamson says:
June 9, 2011 at 7:18 pm

By the way Isn’t the new, news director at News 9 Todd Spessard the same news director who cost the last station he worked at KSNW, over 1.1 million dollars in a lawsuit for pushing and running a story on the BTK killer – accusing the wrong man after he had been cleared ???…. the jury even talked about how uncaring and arrogant Mr. Spessard was…they got that right…..who hired that bozo anyway…. ??? News 9 your stock has gone way down……..
Reply
Tracey Williamson says:
June 9, 2011 at 7:36 pm

In my earlier comment I need to make clear that Mason had been flying for over 8 eight hours with no food or water …Mr. Spessard showed no respect for the great job he did and has no clue what that takes out of a person…..He even snidely asked Mason… ” You mean you can’t fly for more than eight hours ?”
Whatever rock they dug this guy out from under they need to put him back post haste….. the only thing Spessard has in common with flying is making people do that out of a room when he enters it…..

What is TLO?

[kevinpate]

What is TLO?

The Lost Ogle http://www.thelostogle.com/

[SoonerQueen]

I got it. TY

[lake hefner breeze]

I saw this on TLO just now

The story with Mason is that the new news director Todd Spessard ordered Mason back up to fly after the Piedmont tornadoes when he was exhausted and had, had no food or water for over 8 hours. Mason told him he was exhausted, and needed some rest…. but Spessard continued to put Mason under duress. A verbal exchange ensued and Mason was suspended and then let go. FAA states that pilots will determine when flying is unsafe, not arrogant, ignorant news directors.
Reply
Tracey Williamson says:
June 9, 2011 at 7:18 pm

By the way Isn’t the new, news director at News 9 Todd Spessard the same news director who cost the last station he worked at KSNW, over 1.1 million dollars in a lawsuit for pushing and running a story on the BTK killer – accusing the wrong man after he had been cleared ???…. the jury even talked about how uncaring and arrogant Mr. Spessard was…they got that right…..who hired that bozo anyway…. ??? News 9 your stock has gone way down……..
Reply
Tracey Williamson says:
June 9, 2011 at 7:36 pm

In my earlier comment I need to make clear that Mason had been flying for over 8 eight hours with no food or water …Mr. Spessard showed no respect for the great job he did and has no clue what that takes out of a person…..He even snidely asked Mason… ” You mean you can’t fly for more than eight hours ?”
Whatever rock they dug this guy out from under they need to put him back post haste….. the only thing Spessard has in common with flying is making people do that out of a room when he enters it…..

Must be the same idiot responsible for hiring that buffoon Stan Miller.

[CuatrodeMayo]

I saw this on TLO just now

The story with Mason is that the new news director Todd Spessard ordered Mason back up to fly after the Piedmont tornadoes when he was exhausted and had, had no food or water for over 8 hours. Mason told him he was exhausted, and needed some rest…. but Spessard continued to put Mason under duress. A verbal exchange ensued and Mason was suspended and then let go. FAA states that pilots will determine when flying is unsafe, not arrogant, ignorant news directors.
Reply
Tracey Williamson says:
June 9, 2011 at 7:18 pm

By the way Isn’t the new, news director at News 9 Todd Spessard the same news director who cost the last station he worked at KSNW, over 1.1 million dollars in a lawsuit for pushing and running a story on the BTK killer – accusing the wrong man after he had been cleared ???…. the jury even talked about how uncaring and arrogant Mr. Spessard was…they got that right…..who hired that bozo anyway…. ??? News 9 your stock has gone way down……..
Reply
Tracey Williamson says:
June 9, 2011 at 7:36 pm

In my earlier comment I need to make clear that Mason had been flying for over 8 eight hours with no food or water …Mr. Spessard showed no respect for the great job he did and has no clue what that takes out of a person…..He even snidely asked Mason… ” You mean you can’t fly for more than eight hours ?”
Whatever rock they dug this guy out from under they need to put him back post haste….. the only thing Spessard has in common with flying is making people do that out of a room when he enters it…..

I have a friend of a friend in the weather dept at KWTV and that is exactly the story I heard.