Best Radio Station: WKBC 97.3
This hot AC station from Wilkesboro gets the props for mixing it up. Take the Cure, Jack Johnson, O.M.D., Green Day, Aerosmith and Eagle Eye Cherry. Now play them in the same hour. That’s a decent mix, and no Charlotte Top 40 station mixes it up that much. You can catch the signal pretty much all over north Charlotte, but as you head toward the border, ole Shania starts to sound like she’s gargling feedback. That’s a good thing.
Best Radio Personality: Divakar Shukla
OK, so we admit to being a little biased here simply because for anyone who has spent as many years plugging and supporting local music in this town the way this fine fella has, well, we feel almost obligated to take full advantage of any circumstance in which we can give him a much deserved shout out. In Radioland, there’s always going to be those over-the-top, smart-ass, ego-manic personalities that we love to hate, but Divakar from WEND 106.5 is a real class act whom we just love to love. From the long-ago days of Fox Exposures on WRFX 99.7 to the Sunday night local and indie shows he’s hosting these days on The End, Divakar is doing what he loves to do most and that comes through even over the airwaves. His knowledge of music (which spans far and wide) along with his warm and approachable personality are just a couple of the traits that make him our favorite radio star.
Best Drive-Time Radio Show: The WFAE lineup
There comes a point — it’s called adulthood — when you realize you need a more nutritious breakfast than Pop-Tarts. Around the same time, you similarly find yourself aching for something beyond the typical morning radio sidekick shows. Thank heavens for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, which provides the latest news updates each half-hour (with local news inserts from WFAE), as well as in-depth reporting on events from around the world. During the drive home, NPR’s All Things Considered brings listeners up to speed on the events of the day, combined with well-researched, well-written stories featuring, well, just about anything interesting or unusual. Consider yourself nourished. Bonus: If you’re one of those people who start their weekends after lunch on Friday, then “drive time” includes Talk of the Nation: Science Friday, quite possibly the coolest, geekiest program ever.
Best TV Newcast: WSOC-TV
It’s been a little over a year since longtime anchor Bill Walker retired, but since his departure, WSOC has managed to more than maintain traction: Pound for pound, it’s the place to go to get your evening fix of what’s happening around Charlotte and the Carolinas.
Best TV Anchor: Mercer Merrill, News 14 Carolina
In the competitive rat race that is TV news, Mercer emerges as the swan: graceful, poised, confident and intelligent. And she doesn’t stutter. She’s a weekend anchor now, but we’re rooting for her to land an 11pm weekday slot. Call Channel 14 and petition.
Best TV Meteorologist: Larry Sprinkle, WCNC
A repeat winner. Forget the perfect hair, forget his history as the Ty-D-Bowl man. What our critics remember, and like best, about Sprinkle — yes, it’s his real name — is his laid-back approach to the weather. It doesn’t need to be incredibly complicated, it doesn’t have to resonate with whiz-bang technology … just give us the damn weather report. Sprinkle does so, always with a “regular guy” touch that makes us feel like he’s one of us. Don’t think we don’t notice, as well, that Sprinkle is incredibly generous with his time and celebrity, frequently lending both to nonprofit causes that are dear to his heart. We like a guy who’s part of his community and who commits to the things he believes in.
Best TV Sports Anchor: Delano Little, WBTV
Like Larry Sprinkle, Little posts his second consecutive victory in this category. With his baby face and nice-guy delivery, Little, WBTV’s sports director, hardly seems old enough to have been with the station since 1989 (anyone remember when Paul Cameron was the sports anchor?), yet his on-target reporting reveals his experience and street cred. On a personal level, we like Little for similar reasons as Sprinkle: His community involvement and willingness to volunteer to make a difference for others.
Best TV News Reporter: Steve Crump, WBTV
Crump, a longtime veteran of WBTV, is that rare breed of TV journalist: one who takes his job, and his responsibility to the news profession, seriously. He goes beyond the daily news grind to create documentaries for WTVI that explore issues he thinks are not only newsworthy, but important — often focusing on racism, and always concentrating on the people who stand for what they believe in. He has won boatloads of national journalism and broadcast awards, and deservedly so.
Best Print Reporter: Tim Whitmire, Associated Press
Associated Press correspondents’ bylines are often omitted or overlooked, but the news collective’s reporters, including local Tim Whitmire, are some of the hardest-working newshounds in the business. When they get a scoop, the local daily often ignores the story for a day while their own reporters rehash the item.
Best Local Columnist: John Grooms, Creative Loafing
Humor seems a scarce commodity in this city lately, but when you want to read an irreverent columnist who doesn’t take himself or the world too seriously, look to the Loaf’s own pages for Grooms. Yes, we know picking him smacks of nepotism, but sheesh … where else can one turn locally for a laugh?
Local Columnist You’re Sick Of: Rick Thames, The Charlotte Observer
It was sooooo tempting to pick Tom Ashcraft, the George Will wannabe whose smarmy mug disgraces the pages of the Charlotte Observer on Saturdays. But this year’s award has to go to Thames, even though he’s an editor, not a columnist, and by all accounts a nice guy. Before the McClatchy company offered the Observer a lifejacket, Thames was all-too-frequently filling the shrinking newshole with tedious and overly long explanations of changes in the Knight Ridder-owned newspaper that could be summed up thusly: We’re cheap, get used to it. These earnest attempts at justifying unwise budget cuts brought to mind this adage: Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining.
Local Issue That Needs More Attention: Traffic congestion
It’s forecasted that by 2020, nearly a million more people will move to this region. Some of them will locate inside the county and some in the surrounding counties. Then, every weekday morning, many of them will get into their cars and attempt to drive to their jobs in Charlotte (or surrounding Mecklenburg County burgs) on our already clogged roads. That means the Charlotte area could be headed for traffic worse than Atlanta’s if we don’t find solutions quickly.
Local Issue You’re Sick Of: Carolinians on American Idol
Just because they’re from McCleansville or Rochingsham or Fartbutt, NC, doesn’t mean we care. North Carolina’s Idols might have other similarities with us (two eyes, own leaf blowers, harbor strong hatred of reality TV), but that doesn’t make something front-page news. Too bad every day can’t yield a major terrorist attack or Panthers playoff game to make the cover choice an easy one. (Well, OK, we’ll admit when Chris Daughtry got the ax, it may have been worthy of some front-page attention.)
Back to Best of Charlotte 2006 index
This article appears in Aug 2-8, 2006.
