Skip to content
Roger Simmons Roger Simmons

Birds, Words, Pics + TV

  • Home
  • All Posts
    • Orlando Wetlands
    • Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
    • Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive
    • Joe Overstreet Road
    • UCF Arboretum
    • Fort DeSoto Park
  • My Bird Catalog
    • All Birds Catalog
    • American Flamingos
    • Bald Eagles
    • Barred Owls
    • Belted Kingfishers
    • Black-and-White Warblers
    • Eastern Bluebirds
    • Florida Scrub-Jays
    • Green Herons
    • Little Blue Herons
    • Northern Parulas
    • Ospreys
    • Reddish Egrets
    • Red-Shouldered Hawks
    • Roseate Spoonbills
    • Sandhill Cranes
    • Whooping Crane
  • Orlando TV News/History
    • Orlando TV Schedules
    • Florida TV History
  • About this Site
Roger Simmons
Roger Simmons

Birds, Words, Pics + TV

Did O-Town stations stage news?

Roger Simmons, May 22, 2007

All the stations in town picked up on the story about a 9-year-old boy who called 911 when his mother fell unconscious on the floor. But when area stations showed the "first meeting" between the Alex Swee and 911 dispatcher Matt Nicotra — it was actually staged for two local stations who showed up late.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, "crews from WESH-Channel 2 and WFTV-Channel 9 were on time to film the exchange of hugs when Alex and his mom met Nicotra for the first time. But WOFL-Channel 35 showed up late and asked the three to do it all over again so they could tape it. Then in the middle of the second ‘first’ meeting, a WKMG-Channel 6 crew arrived and asked the three, ‘Can you do it one more time?’ "

The paper wryly pointed out, "The ‘first’ meeting ended up taking almost as long as the six-minute 911 call between Alex and Nicotra."

Share on Social Media
xfacebookredditemail
Orlando TV WESH-2 WFTV-9 WOFL-35 WESH-2WFTV-9WOFL-35

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

Orlando stations grab Emmy nominations

October 31, 2010

Five Orlando news outlets grabbed 30 nominations in the 34th annual Suncoast Emmy Awards competition. Market ratings leader WFTV-Channel 9 pulled in the most nominations among the Orlando stations with 11. It was followed by Fox Sports Florida/Sun Sports followed with 10, WKMG-Local 6 with five, Central Florida News 14…

Read More

Not many folks see Frier’s goodbye on Local 6

February 17, 2009

Why did WKMG let go longtime anchor Bob Frier? Could be a combination of things — budget tightening, wanting to go in a different direction … yadda, yadda, yadda. But one key reason has to be Local 6’s ratings. Yes, WKMG’s 11 p.m. newscast — once ranked No. 1 —…

Read More

Hurricane Charley: Orlando stations remember anniversary with special, Red Cross telethon

August 10, 2009

Thursday will mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Charley’s surprising and destructive visit to Orlando. Orlando’s TV stations performed a great public service on Aug. 13, 2004 — dismissing the official National Hurricane Center track for the storm and correctly predicting the hurricane was headed to Orlando, not to Tampa….

Read More

Latest Posts

  • Could drought be driving Snail Kites to Central Florida?
  • Video: American Flamingos at Merritt Island
  • More flamingos! Now 20 at Merritt Island
  • Flamingos are back at Merritt Island
  • Cute Sandhill Crane colts signal another generation

Top Locations

Orlando Wetlands

Posts about visits to Orlando Wetlands


UCF Arboretum

Posts about visits to UCF Arboretum


Merritt Island

Posts about visits to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge


Lake Apopka

Posts about visits to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive


Fort DeSoto

Posts about visits to Fort DeSoto Park


Galleries

Roger's Favorites

An ever-changing collection of my favorite pictures


American Flamingos

Photos of American Flamingos in Indian River


Belted Kingfishers

Photos of Belted Kingfishers across Central Florida.


Oystercatchers

Pictures of American Oystercatchers at Fort DeSoto Park


Spoonbills

Pictures of Roseate Spoonbills in Central Florida


Whooping Crane

Pictures of one of the last Whooping Cranes in Florida


MORE GALLERIES


Topics

American Flamingo American Kestrel Anhinga Bald Eagles Belted Kingfisher Black-and-White Warbler Black-Crowned Night-Heron Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Caspian Tern Common Gallinule Common Yellowthroat Digital TV Eastern Bluebird Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Little Blue Heron Northern Cardinal Northern Parula Orlando Wetlands Park Osprey Palm Warbler Prairie Warbler Purple Gallinule Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-shouldered Hawk Red-Winged Blackbird Reddish Egret Roseate Spoonbills Sandhill Crane Savannah Sparrow Snail Kite Snowy Egret Tricolored Heron Tufted Titmouse WESH-2 WFTV-9 White Ibis WKCF-18 WKMG-6 WMFE-24 WOFL-35 Wood Stork WRDQ-27 Yellow-rumped Warbler

©2025 Roger Simmons | All Rights Reserved