Rena Sarigianopoulos you've broken my heart

My goal isn't to tell the world how terrible the Twin Cities broadcasting scene is. I mean that.

But it's what we don't like that gets us fired up. We are less likely to tell somebody they did a good job than we are to tell somebody they suck.

So I tend not to kiss a lot of ass. If you work in broadcasting, you know you're going to have people who don't like what you do. It doesn't matter who you are.

And the reality is that it doesn't matter if they love you or hate you, all that matters is that they're watching or listening to you.

I have been an avid watcher of KARE11 over the years. I watch every station's newscasts now and then, but all things being equal, I gravitate to the local NBC affiliate.

So I've seen Rena Sarigianopoulos many times over the years. I don't know if I have a favorite local broadcaster, but there are a few that make me cringe. Sarigianopoulos was not one of them.

As I noted not so long ago, Sarigianopoulos and her sister are doing one of these interactive news shows where the viewer is so important to the product. The fine folks at KARE really want to know what we think.

It's not good.

I still don't know what the hell the name means. They call it "Breaking the News." They talk about serious news topics, produce complete fluff and offer mindless banter. And so far it has made me cringe.

They seem desperate to connect with viewers, and the show is far from polished. It has been painful to watch. They know this, too, as the first time I watched the show they shared Tweets criticizing the show. (Nice job ripping off Jimmy Kimmel.)

I'm a discerning viewer, however, so perhaps I'm the exception to the rule. Regardless, I've lost a lot of respect for Sarigianopoulos and her station after watching the March 22 edition of her news gabfest.

The show seems to be targeting the dolts who think hearing the opinions of our intellectually superior TV people are important, as well as the dolts who think having their comment shared on a local broadcast is some sort of validation.

I don't watch much TV in the early evening, so the time slot for this Mensa meeting disguised as a news magazine doesn't fit into my schedule. It took weeks for me to finally watch an episode, and I proclaimed that I wouldn't be tuning into it again any time time soon. That was a month ago.

For the record, my first comment about the show on Feb. 15 was simply a reaction to their discussion of one of the water cooler topics of the day. If I was a "hater," as Sarigianopoulos wants to proclaim, I'd have ripped the show right out of the gate. My hatred of the show was so evident, clearly, that the social media guru for the show shared my first reaction to the lead story with the dozens of people who follow the show via Twitter.

As a "hater," I didn't rip the episode nearly enough. I expressed displeasure with a segment, but didn't "hate" on it, and I did criticize the brutal segment of the show where the social media guru tried to favor us with his on-the-spot analysis of Twitter and Facebook reactions. It didn't come off as professional, and I'm not fond of the trend of "reporting" the social media feedback to news or fluff peddled by our TV elite.

Yes, I wrote a blog post outlining all the things I didn't like about the show, and how it let me down. Welcome to America, where the consumer is entitled to have an opinion.

Last week I found myself sampling the product again. And once again it didn't win me over.

I tweeted reactions to it, and responded to a few comments made by others who tweeted their reactions as the show unfolded.

That's partially true, as I stopped watching before the end of the program. Since the show is partially about discussing news topics,  they trotted out something called Peter Parker, a DJ on the new Hubbard hip hop station. People who watch Breaking the News want to know what a hip hop DJ thinks about pop culture fluff, it seems. It was at that point I couldn't stomach the show. I turned the channel to anything else available.

I continued to follow the Twitter conversations about the show, responding to a few things along the way, but watched something else. That's when a clown who claims to be a KARE11 photojournalist tried to bust me. I quote tweeted something about #BTN11 and he responded with, "Looks like you watched through the show by your comments."

I questioned if he had reached that conclusion based upon my responding on Twitter after changing the channel. Then I told him, "I'd look again."

The goofball responded with, "Cool story bro."

I have no idea what he was getting at, so I responded with "if you say so." And that was the end of my Twitter interactions for the March 18 edition of the show.

I don't know what this photojournalist was trying to accomplish with his initial comment, but he didn't convince me that KARE11 conducts drug testing as part of its hiring process.

So for the third time in its nearly three months on the air I watched Breaking the News on March 22. That's two weeks in a row. I must be really bored, or terminally ill.

I started off my evening with a couple of meaningless observations: I noted that I still have no idea what the hell the name of the show is supposed to mean, and I noted that the opening segment was awkward, given Sarigianopoulos was standing with all sorts of visible mic cords hanging off of her. Clearly I'm a "hater."

The show opened with talk about the news of the day, including a segment about how local Muslims feel about international terror. It was a pretty good segment. It's not going to win an award, and it's a rather predictable piece, but it was well done. I didn't slap the Breaking the News team on the back for it, but I did find the Twitter reaction of its viewers to be curious, and I noted that.

I didn't hide my disdain for a segment they teased. It appeared to be about how former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, a media whore if ever there was one, is trying to parlay his expired NFL career into another moment in the spotlight. I don't necessarily disagree with Kluwe's opinions, I simply have little tolerance for his antics and choose not to read about them or watch them.

I'm also not a fan of watching stations shill for a network's entertainment division. Whether it's Jason DeRusha shilling for a show on CBS, Alix Kendall shilling for a show on FOX or Sarigianopoulos shilling for NBC's ninja warrior show. I turned the channel.

Once again I kept an eye on social media, and I did turn back to the channel several minutes later. I was interested to hear what they had to say about the Bent Paddle kerfuffle that broke last week. Unfortunately I failed to flip back to KARE11 in time to catch it, and I don't care enough to seek out the segment online.

So I watched the end of the show and tweeted a few other comments, most notably my unwillingness to feed Chris Kluwe's ego.

And that's when KARE11 and it's cutting edge news crew flushed all respect I had for the station right down the toilet.

I'm not sure if Sarigianopoulos was trying to be clever and funny, or demonstrate that she's a TV bimbo.

I had tweeted early in the show that the camera work appeared as if the camera guy was trying to get an upskirt shot of Sarigianopoulos as she was sitting at a desk. It was very awkward, and as I learned via Twitter during the show, it was the crew's first night with a fancy new camera.

I find it a bit sad that the FOX News Channel has a reputation for upskirt moments during its broadcasts. As I learned a couple of years ago, there are Youtube videos dissecting such moments in slow motion. Yes, that's the weird world we live in.

Two shots of Sarigianopoulos using that new camera were rather awkward, and obviously made me think of FOX news. I noted this via Twitter.

After I turned back to Breaking the News, I watched a couch shot of Sarigianopoulos and her fill-in sidekick talking, and it was hard not to notice that it looked like Sarigianopoulos could use a new pair of tights. The holes in her tights were large enough to be noticeable on a 50-inch TV. Not a crime, of course, just awkward, and being the funny tweeter that I am, I noted that it was time for Sarigianopoulos to buy new tights at Target.

After the show she replied via Twitter: "Thought you changed the channel? You can't fool us...you just love to hate. #hater #socialbully

Was she trying to be funny, or was she tweeting brainlessly? I changed the channel, and missed two segments in the middle of the show. Never did I say I wasn't turning the channel back after the Kluwe segment.

More important, how the hell am I a hater? I don't like Kluwe, at all, and won't hide the fact. While I didn't praise Sarigianopoulos for wearing tights without holes during a previous episode, am I really a "hater" for pointing out the awkwardness of her wardrobe, or the weird camera angles, on Tuesday evening?

I'd like to think she was simply having fun with my wardrobe criticism, but her #socialbully hashtag suggests otherwise. It suggests to me that she's arrogant and lacks critical thinking skills in canvassing Twitter feedback to her show.

I criticized her show for "shilling the network" and ripped the Kluwe segment (which I didn't watch,) but when did I tell people to go to hell for watching the garbage she's peddling? I have noted via Twitter that the program seems to be aimed at the lowest common denominator, but that's hardly bullying.

Sarigianopoulos has turned out to be a major disappointment. But I shouldn't be surprised, given everything I've had the misfortune of reading about her. And by that I mean crap that is spewed by Cheryl Johnson. (I can turn off Kluwe, but I can't help but peruse Johnson's "gossip.")

And if I had any doubt about whether or not Sarigianopoulos was trying to be flirty and fun, her response to my question about how I was guilty of bullying proved she's not the sharpest knife in the dishwasher. She responded, "um, no. You tweet hate about BTN daily and yet you continue to watch. Does it make you feel good to make others feel bad?"

Daily? I've watched the show three times, sweetheart, and I don't tweet about it when I don't watch it. Continue to watch? Yes, twice in two consecutive weeks.

Does it make me good to make others feel bad? Who feels bad? When was I telling people they were idiots who should be ashamed of themselves for their opinions?

Sarigianopoulos lacks critical thinking skills, and seems to be delusional.

As if this weren't enough, one of her behind-the-scenes cronies decided to lecture me, too, although she wised up and deleted her tweets to me.

A producer named Nikki lectured me in a series of tweets she doesn't stand behind, evidently. She threw out the "bullying" claim and suggested that I'm making personal attacks of some sort. Yes, I criticize opinions and I don't fawn over her lousy program, but her delusions were fantastic.

Part of her lecture said that while the show exists for the exchange of opinions, somehow there's an unwritten rule that I'm only allowed to offer constructive criticism. She didn't say it quite that way, but that's essentially what she said, although I can't prove it to you, because she's embarrassed by her opinions, it seems.

So there you have it, a weak show staffed by people with lackluster critical thinking skills, thin skin and not enough sense to ignore what they don't like on Twitter. (They ought to hire Dawn Mitchell to join their show.)