Tuesday Night Clear Out

UPDATE 2/3/10 9:15 AM: Duji is back on "Rover's Morning Glory", as the show talks about working through a "very difficult" personal dispute between Duji and Rover, who used to date. That's all for us on this topic.

For those looking for the "gory details", "19 Action News" has more...

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Clearing out not only our Twitter feed, but some other stuff...some interesting, some frustrating...

WHERE'S DUJI?: No, we haven't seen the face of Clear Channel rock/talk WMMS/100.7 "Rover's Morning Glory" cast member Duji on any milk cartons in Northeast Ohio, but some are looking for her there.

The sudden absence of Duji's name, picture or staff listing on the show's in-house "Rover Radio" site led a virtual flood of E-mails into our inbox this weekend into early this week.

We've been trying to find out why - and if it means anything or not. So far, we haven't heard any word from inside Oak Tree...even among our usual sources in the building.

There seems to be considerable sentiment among Rover fans, who have been following our Twitter account in large numbers over the past day or so, that this could be some sort of "publicity stunt".

That, we don't know.

What we do know is that Shane "Rover" French complained of illness on his Friday show, and that "RMG" has been in repeats this week so far. Duji's voice has been heard on the repeats, but as a show-listening relative pointed out, it's hard to air repeat programming that is "Duji-free", due to her role on the show.

Oh, and WMMS has posted an ad for an "off-air producer" for the show, though we have no idea how long that ad has run, or if it has anything to do with Duji's (off-air) work on the show.

Duji's absence from the "RMG" site has merited a mention on the radio trade site AllAccess, but they don't seem to know any more than we do.

If there's anything to report on this, stay tuned...but we'll stop tracking the "could it be?" moves until then...

JOY'S EXIT: OMW hears that Scripps ABC affiliate WEWS/5 is not renewing the contract of "NewsChannel 5" reporter Joy Benedict, who has been heavily promoted as a consumer reporter for the station.

We hear Joy's last day at WEWS will be in March...and we don't know who will take the consumer reporting beat from her...

GOING JUST A BIT FAR: We really, really try to be fair with the folks at Reserve Square, home of Raycom Media's WOIO/19 and WUAB/43, and "19 Action News".

When they do something we like - one of the most recent examples is the hiring of former Clear Channel talk WTAM/1100 voice Mark Schwab to handle weekend sports anchoring - we mention it here.

But then, they do something like this.

OMW hears that "Action News"' on-air needling of competitor WEWS/5's "Power of Five" radar is likely to reach a new level, and it's due to one of those incidents the folks at Reserve Square do so well.

We hear from our sources at WEWS that an "Action News" reporter paid a visit to 3001 Euclid the other day, ostensibly for a friendly visit with "NewsChannel 5" chief meteorologist Mark Johnson.

We're told (by the WEWS sources) that Johnson instead got a full-court press...an on-camera interrogation on the "Power of 5" radar, including questions about its location(s).

For the record, the 5 radars are not owned by WEWS, but the data comes from National Weather Service locations. Really, like anyone thought "NewsChannel 5" owns radars in places like Wilmington OH and Fort Wayne IN...

WOIO has made quite a point in promos about the superiority of its live radar, which comes from a station-owned facility along I-71 in Brunswick. Gannett NBC affiliate WKYC/3 has the other in-house TV radar in Cleveland, which can be seen behind its studios at 13th and Lakeside.

This kind of incident when it comes to competitors is in the DNA of WOIO. "19 Action News" has a long history of being the Cleveland market's Stalker Station.

Just to cite two examples from memory:

* "Action News" treated an incident involving staff of Local TV Fox affiliate WJW/8 as if it were vital to national security, leading with the story with partially-hidden-behind-the-truck live shots near the South Marginal Road studios of its competitor.

* And who can forget when WOIO camped out on the Medina doorstep of WJW weather icon Dick Goddard, upon learning of allegations against someone else in his house? (The personable weatherman was actually the victim in the case.)

This may be the first such thing involving WEWS..."Action News" generally seems to have it in for "Fox 8"...but watch out, "Channel 3 News", as you may be next...

PAT'S MOVING ON: We don't cover the print media all that much here in your Mighty Blog of Fun(tm), but we've covered the moves of Akron Beacon Journal sportswriter Pat McManamon before.

And...as hinted in his Sunday column, he's leaving the Beacon again for new horizons.

According to the Cleveland Scene sports blog, McManamon is heading for the Internet, as a writer for AOL's Fanhouse site. Quoting McManamon from the Scene blog:

"It wasn't easy to leave a place that has been so good to me, and a job that was so much fun. But AOL Fanhouse is growing, aggressive and has a national audience. And I can write about the same teams and sports. It just seemed like the right move at the right time."

Yes, that means the now-former ABJ sportswriter will cover the Browns, Indians and Cavaliers for the site, which is apparently chock full of former newspaper sportswriters. Maybe there is life after newsprint after all, at least for those covering sports.

Pat heads off into the ABJ sunset in a blog post here, which also has his E-mail contact address for those who want to wish him well:

The decision was not an easy one because the Akron Beacon Journal has been a good place to work these past 11 years. The daily newspaper means a lot to me, as does being part of a local community. The Beacon Journal was gracious in providing both. I am fortunate and blessed, and grateful to the Beacon for the many opportunities.

Though McManamon says he's been at the Beacon for 11 years, we seem to remember a brief break when he took a job writing for the Browns' in-house website...