Huckleberries: TV Talking Head guilty of arrogance, bad manners

If the truth be known, print journalists don’t like their pushy TV counterparts any more than you do. Take cable’s “Court TV,” for example – puh-leez. Moments after the verdict in the Jonathan Wade Ellington road-rage case Thursday afternoon, local print reporters began interviewing jurors about the verdict: Taryn Brodwater and Meghann Cuniff for our side and Marc Stewart for the Coeur d’Alene Press. The jurors were answering a question when a raven-haired New Yorker with a pointy nose and shoes interrupted. She and her crew were from “Court TV,” including a guy “with a funky microphone thing strapped to his back.” (Taryn’s description, not Huckleberries’.) Ms. Cut-In-Line had introduced herself and was halfway through her opening question – something about the “turning point” in jury deliberations – when Stewart of Brand X said (and Huckleberries paraphrases): Hey, wait until we’re finished. The Talking Head didn’t like that. She and her show (of which Huckleberries had never heard until Thursday) were important, after all. She snapped back: “Could you have asked me that before I asked my question?” For those keeping score at home, Ellington deservedly was found guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery in the death of Vonette Larsen on New Year’s Day. At least the Talking Head knew the charges and the verdict. That’s more than can be said for KXLY reporter Janet O. She shook down other reporters for info. Now, there’s something you won’t hear on a KXLY promo.