Skip to main content
Free TrialTry 7 days free
Sign in

Say goodnight, Dean; we for you are gone

•
Say goodnight, Dean; we for you are gone Tonight's top story: Dean Phillips says goodbye. Certainly, MTN's hot-shot anchorman leaves behind an erratic legacy. Phillips came to Montana in a blaze of publicity. He declared that he wanted to bring a human touch to the news in the style of one of his favorite newsmen, Tom Snyder. Phillips was billed as the "visible difference," but the ratings were visibly indifferent to his efforts to pep up the MTN News operation. In a business where personality really matters, Phillips quickly developed an image as a self-important, overbearing know-it-all. You could call it the "arrogance factor." As much as I wanted Phillips to be good, in hopes that he would bring some pizazz to the sleepy local TV scene, I kept bumping into the arrogance factor. In almost any conversation about Phillips, the arrogance factor came up. People who didn't even watch Q-2 knew about Dean's reputation. Phillips himself seemed mystified by the arrogance factor; he said he was just trying to do his job as a hard-driving newsman. Yet his blustering comments consistently undercut the superior qualities of his news program. Like a stuck record, he endlessly repeated verbal affectations and silly catch phrases like "We for You" (or maybe that's "We 4 U"). The repartee on local news programs usually falls flat, but Phillips managed to turn his Media Confidential Vic Bracht conversations with the weatherman and sportscaster into absolutely obnoxious exchanges. All this was doubly unfortunate, because MTN brought innovative techniques to Montana TV journalism. MTN used the live interview style of "Nightline" to add immediacy to the evening newscasts. "The MTN News" featured in-depth segments that went beyond the usual quickie reports of traffic accidents and governmental actions. The peak of MTN's efforts came with the network's coverage of the Dan and Don Nichols trial last year. Phillips went live from Virginia City with the latest developments in the case against the so-called mountain men. Even this bold effort bogged down in technical problems and petty snafus. The image lingers of Phillips swatting at bugs as he broadcast from the steps of the Madison County Courthouse. In the end, the audience stayed with the competition. Viewers seemed content with the folksy approach of Dave Rye and Straight 8. The ratings war looks grim for MTN. In any case, the battle's over for Dean. Even in parting, he managed to come up with a dippy remark. "I think I mellowed with the state," he told the Great Falls Tribune, "and the state mellowed with me." Phillips, whose contract was up in August, is leaving for North Carolina, where reportedly he will earn almost $20,000 a year more than the $42,000 a year MTN was paying him. He'll anchor the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts for the ABC affiliate in New Bern, N.C. I've never heard of the place, but the road atlas shows it as a small town (population: 13,100) on the Atlantic coast. Phillips thinks of it as an improvement. New Bern viewers may not think the same of Phillips.
•
CLIPPED BY
sammibrie

Loremipsumdolorsitametconsecteturadipiscingelitseddoeiusmodtemporincididuntutlabore

Utenimadminimveniamquisnostrudexercitationullamcolaborisnisiutaliquipexeacommodo

Duisauteiruredolorinreprehenderitinvoluptatevelitessecillumdoloreeufugiatnullapariatur

Get started searching Newspapers by searching a keyword, name, or phrase…

PeopleTopicsLocationsOther
View All Clippings