Clucking, whispering, winking and nodding, people have spoken of WYOU News' sky falling for a long, long time.
Rumors, "facts," innuendo, gut feelings, whatever, the sky had been alleged to be falling on that operation for probably beyond a decade. I will say again that my only surprise is that it didn't come crashing down sooner.
I'd like to tell you that countless people have asked me about WYOU calling it quits...I can't.
Countless haven't asked. Those who have mentioned it add roughly the following caveat, "...well, I'm not really all that surprised."
That alone is a sad lack of tribute to those who worked there, those especially who stood before cameras each day and tried to comport themselves in a fashion more consistent with a station of sizable audience.
And therein lies one of the myriad reasons WYOU News is no more.
Few watched, fewer cared enough to mark its passing, to be nosy enough to need to know just what happened. It truly did end with whimper and not bang. It's been less than a week since it happened and boards and blogs have all but fallen silent on the matter.
So, what did happen?
Opinions are about all you'll get from me. Being formerly associated with the corporate tangle that operated WYOU News, or more accurately, "provided news services" for WYOU, my opinions, unlike WYOU viewers, are indeed countless.
None of them are very flattering.
It all came down to a matter of neglect, plain and simple neglect. The only question left hanging would be, was it neglect of thoughtlessness, or neglect of design?
When WYOU's present owners purchased that station I once worked for, it became clear in both abundance and a hurry that WYOU was being shoved into the backseat, that it was to be treated like the poor stepchild. We lived in the big house on the hill, WYOU had that little shack of a place down below.
The little shack's gone, the sky fell on it. The big house stands. If clocks still ticked, you just might hear one somewhere off in the distance. Or maybe it's another piece of the sky starting to crack, someday likewise to fall.
