Just because they may be thin, doesn’t mean the hats aren’t mighty

Nikki Newbrough, KWWL - TV Waterloo.

Thank goodness winter is here. We needed the snow to help bring out the hats.

We had one crop already this season. This would be the second round of lids.

We begin with Wartburg grad and now KWWL reporter Nikki Newbrough. She is the morning reporter for the NBC affiliate. Translation: She can be silly when needed.

Nikki's live shot on earth.

Earlier in the day, Nikki was at the University of Northern Iowa campus asking students about the cold and snow. Her interview almost stole the show. He was in a NASA-type space suit.

Earth to UNI dude, nice hat.

You can see in this picture, Nikki put the space helmet on her head for this still frame.

Brian Boesen, KWQC - HD, live on Brady Street Hill in Davenport.

Brian Boesen is reporting on Brady Street Hill in Davenport. I’ve done that shot a few times in my career.

The KWQC reporter and I met backstage at the Girl Scouts Night on Broadway a couple of months back.

I also met the clubhouse leader for hats in 2012, Megan Ottier that night in Bettendorf. More on her in a moment.

Back to Brian… I did ask him if he was related to the Des Moines Boesen’s. Specifically, former Dowling Catholic TE Ben Boesen who is now playing football at Iowa State. No relation between the two. Yes, I was that guy who asked.

Angie Hunt, KCCI - TV Des Moines.

Back to Central Iowa and an ‘ole favorite for hats here at PP&M and that would be Angie Hunt.

The Ames bureau reporter has been captured with many great lids on her head the last few years. She gets the plum assignments in all corners of the viewing area, many northern points, so wearing a good head topper is vital to her good health.

Thank you to Angie.

Krystle Kacner , WHO - HD Des Moines

Newly hired reporter Krystle Kacner of WHO-HD is now getting into the hat game. She’s new to the area and to the station.

But her hat is one of veteran caliber.

As she settles in, we’ll get her to tweet a couple of pictures of herself wearing a hat.

Chris Earl, KCRG Cedar Rapids

And back to eastern Iowa and KCRG reporter/anchor Chris Earl.

Mr. Earl deserves special attention for this furry wonder on his head.

Would you call that Cousin Eddy’s hat from Christmas Vacation? Or is that more Daniel Boone?

Now back to the hat that I received the most in my inbox.

Morgan Ottier of KWQC opens the competition with a home run.

Megan’s hat is spectacular. But some question if the hat is for show or if she’s serious about wearing the hat. Better yet, is she serious while wearing that hat?

I know many reporters were looking forward to getting out in the elements this weekend to talk about the ice and snow, but it looks like those pictures will have to wait, as the next winter death storm is staying to the west.

So Lauren Squires, bring us your hats from the Omaha market.

If you know of a hat to share, send the pic to IPTVPaul@gmail.com .

Hats, they’re not just for breakfast anymore

Lee Rouse in front of the WHO-TV 13 live truck.

I’ve asked. You’ve responded. Here’s another installment of Paul Yeager’s Hat Parade.

I like to see pictures of TV reporters wearing hats while doing live shots. I used to not wear a hat and just freeze off my ears. That’s why I’ve got small ears. They’re like that cat we had growing up, she wouldn’t come in from the cold and had her ears freeze off.

We begin with the photographers. They are behind the scenes. Occasionally, you may see their hand in a live shot. This is my old friend Lee Rouse of WHO-TV in Des Moines. Lee was behind the camera the day back in 2007 when he and Jon Cahill were out in a snow storm and the power line just erupted behind the subject of the interview. Anyone remember this video?

Katie Wiedeman, KCRG -TV 9, Cedar Rapids

This screen shot captures Katie Wiedeman of KCRG-TV 9 news of Cedar Rapids. She is usually based out of the Dubuque newsroom, so it is always a fun time be out and about in those hills of eastern Iowa.

This shot is more of a head band and a side, profile shot of Katie.

But it is a lid and it is on her head in a live shot on television.

It is a nice purple headband. Hey, whatever it takes to stay warm and toasty when out in the snow.

Ted McInerney, WHBF - TV 4, Rock Island.

Now we head back to my old stomping grounds and the Quad Cities.

WHBF-TV (Channel 4) gave us a couple of good shots before and they haven’t disappointed me this year either.

This is Ted McInerney of the CBS affiliate based in Rock Island.

The big snow of early February, hit the QC particularly hard, with more than a foot of snow falling in the region, some spots even seeing 17 inches of snow.

WHBF SUV stuck in the snow.

This was the type of snow where the reporters say, ‘don’t come out here unless you have to…” and they meant it. Maybe one of Ted’s co-workers should have listened the advice being given.

It snowed enough to make driving difficult for everyone.

Including reporters for WHBF. Channel 4 did a story on how the reporter got stuck, received help in getting shoveled out and moved on to the next snow desk story.

Courtney Baker, WHBF - TV 4

Again, with the WHBF reporters.

This is Courtney Baker.

She is also live outside the station’s front door, in the snow. Her hat is a nice checkered one and adds a little variety to the mix of our normal lids we see.

Concetta Callahan, WHBF - TV4

Here is another WHBF reporter, Conchetta Callahan. She too, is out the front door.

You can see how much snow is behind here (I feel like writing copy for reporters again).

The road behind her is the street that leads to the District of Rock Island, a popular weekend and night hang out for some of the younger adults.

I’m just saying, I may have been there a time or two. Blue Cat was a fun place to go…. but I digress. I think even saw my first Nada’s concert at RIBCO on a Halloween way back when.

Back to the hats.

Angie Mitchum, WQAD - TV8

We stay in the Quad Cities market and the Illinois side of the river. This is Angie Mitchum of WQAD-TV.

Channel 8 is becoming a place for former KWQC folks with Terry Swails now doing weather there. When Erik Maitland returns to the QC, he’ll be in direct competition with this former weather office mate, Mr. Swails.

Erik has been in Minneapolis since leaving Davenport a couple of years back. Mr. Maitland will be replacing Ryan Burchett in front of the chief meteorologist’s green screen.

Back to Angie, she’s in the simple black hat and wearing a scarf. I could do a post on scarves, but come on, would you really read that?

Christina Palladino, WOI - TV5.

Back to Des Moines and WOI-TV.

This is Channel 5′s weekend anchor Christina Palladino out on assignment. I believe she is at the Brenton Skating Plaza in Des Moines. It always a good spot for a night live shot. You wouldn’t need a good back light to see her red hat on television.

Christina is another QC transplant to Des Moines. She formerly worked at WHBF in Rock Island. She is not the first and probably won’t be the last to be transferred from one to the other.

Andy Fales, WHO - TV13

And we finish this post with Mr. Andy Fales.

This is a rare find. Normally, Andy will not wear a hat, but this Tuesday storm forced everyone to bundle up more than usual.
It is time for me to get ready for Andy on SoundOff with Keith Murphy.

There was another big storm in north Iowa and I expect to see some pictures soon of reporters out in the elements and wearing their protection.

Don’t touch me and unbreakable windows- Videos of the week

I found a couple of videos this week that I thought you may all enjoy.

This is the second installment of  my “Videos of the Week.” The first included yo-yo fool, We Built Sioux City and Jim Brockmire. Here’s the link to the post on those videos.

Now to this week’s entries. My reporter friends are used to having public relations folks close by when you’re on their turf. I think hospitals, factories and banks.

But I’ve never had a PR person get this close and be with me, ah, so much. This comes from San Francisco and is at a town hall meeting in a hospital. The reporter hits the target when she walks in, camera rolling and mic in her face. That approach bothers me, but this goes a bit further.

A note to PR folks, this approach doesn’t work. At least, with this reporter. This is a longer clip than I first saw. This clip shows a second confrontation.

Yikes.

A few years ago, I was sending my resume tape out to TV stations looking for a job. I’m sure my tape to Doug Merbach at KIMT-TV looked a lot like this.

But I know I didn’t include video of myself not being able to break a car window. This TV reporter really struggled to break the window with a hammer. It gets funny, then he gets the a little extra parting gift.

I’ve had some memorable stand ups. Thank goodness YouTube is only 5 years old and I’m the only one who has those blooper tapes. By the way, I don’t even know where those tapes are.
Enjoy.

February Hats

Elizabeth Klinge - WHO-TV Des Moines

I had to do it.

After many great posts and polls, I’ve found more pictures of hats to share with the world.

I’ve held off as long as possible, but this time away has also given TV reporters to get new lids and see if the hat patrol caught them in the act of wearing that new hat.

Geoff Greenwood - KCCI-TV Des Moines

We’ve got a new entry this time. Mr. Geoff Greenwood of KCCI-TV in Des Moines is seen here to the right. Geoff has covered several snow storms in his day and is a hard working and very organized reporter. He serves at the expanded media coverage coordinator for this district. He’s always good to work with on things.

Emily Carlson - WHO-TV Des Moines

Emily Carlson of WHO-TV is back in this round with a new hat. She appears to be out in the conditions the most this season. And that’s been quite the season as we’ve had near-record snowfall this season. More on that in a moment with a graphic that Ed Wilson of WHO-TV put up Monday night. You know, Ed, I’ve yet to see you in the elements this season. This would be a good time to get your entry together for next year’s Iowa Broadcast News Association‘s Excellence in Weather Coverage category.

Keri Gavin - KCCI-TV Des Moines

Keri Gavin’s entry is more of a fit for construction season, but it counts as a fun hat.
We did have a few past entrants who have been trying to enhance their google search results and we’re always pleased with the hit counts to the site.

We are working on an upcoming Iowa Journal about the potential for flood this spring in light of all this snow we’ve received. The post was made Monday.

Danielle Wagner - KWWL-TV Waterloo

Thanks to my friend Michael Graham for coming through with this picture from the Waterloo/Cedar Rapids TV market.
Here’s Danielle Wagner of KWWL-TV and her hat. That’s a hat that matches the coat. That should get some bonus points for the effort.

This is also her first entry into the Mad Hat-ness.
We did have several KCRG and KWWL entries before, but not anything from KGAN… ahem, cough, ahem.

Courtney Baker - WHBF-TV Rock Island

And I had to make a stop in the Quad Cities for another WHBF-TV entry. This time Courtney Baker is outside the front door of the Rock Island studios. I guess that makes it easy to get to the District when you have a front porch live shot.

At least the camera is pointed down the street and not with the station as the backdrop.

If you remember, the last entry for WHBF looked a lot like Britney Spears.

9th Snowiest Winter on record at 58 inches.

About the weather. Ed Wilson posted this chart on Monday, February 15th, 2010 to show where we are at for record snow fall. At least now, we’re in the Top Ten all-time snowiest winters. We’ve come this far, we might as well go for broke and hit 72 inches.

KCCI did a story Monday that included lots of numbers. In Des Moines alone the city’s public works department has logged 50,000 hours, 57.5 inches of snow, 80,000 gallons of fuel and spent $4.2 million.

That flood potential show airs Thursday at 8p, by the way, on IPTV.

By the way, February is traditionally the snowiest month of the season. I’m just saying.

If you’ve seen a good entry, drop me a line at yeagerp@hotmail.com and we’ll put together another rundown of hats and reporters. We’ve only got 4 more weeks of winter to go.