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Jeff Crilley Calls It Quits at Channel 4

Posted on March 27th, 2008 4:15pm by Tim Rogers
Filed under Media

Uncle Barky has the scoop. The reporter plans to set up his own PR shop staffed solely with former practicing journalists. I would say something snarky, but I don’t want it to come back and bite me two years from now when I ask Crilley for a job.

12 Comments to “Jeff Crilley Calls It Quits at Channel 4”

DM @ March 27th, 2008 at 4:40 pm

Uncle Barky needs a new hosting company!
Anne McKinney-Page @ March 27th, 2008 at 4:58 pm

Congrats to Jeff!

Some of the funniest News stories I have ever done were with Jeff Crilley.

I will miss his interviews, and his sense of humor…. but I have to say:

“GO FOR THE BIG BUCKS, JEFF!!!”

Signed,

A Woman who would not mind writing copy for Jeff
Chris @ March 27th, 2008 at 5:19 pm

Did his wig quit also?
1Metroplexual @ March 27th, 2008 at 5:23 pm

Jeff Crilley funny stuff, indeed…Check out some of his pre Dallas work…

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HTJBIwIXYbc
Danno @ March 27th, 2008 at 5:35 pm

Crilly Public Relations-CPR
SLR @ March 27th, 2008 at 7:16 pm

Dear Tim:

Two years from now? Really? Have you talked to Wick lately?
Kinsey @ March 27th, 2008 at 7:41 pm

Looks like Barky’s site is down - “bandwidth exceeded.” Can someone please post the details of Jeff’s departure?
david @ March 27th, 2008 at 8:52 pm

Breaking News: Crilley is LIVE on Fox4 at 9:06 p.m. Nothing new on www.jeffcrilley.com Back to you, Tim.
david @ March 28th, 2008 at 7:22 am

Reporter Jeff Crilley decides to call it a night at Fox4
03/27/08 12:58 PM

By ED BARK
Fox4 mainstay Jeff Crilley, whose reports regularly lead the station’s 9 and 10 p.m. newscasts, has decided he’s had enough.

Crilley confirmed Thursday that he’ll be leaving after his contract expires in May to launch what he hopes will be a “new breed of public relations firm.”

A majority of PR companies are “trying to sell snake oil most of the time,” he said. “So my vision is to start a firm staffed exclusively with former journalists. The mission will be that we don’t pitch B.S. It will be an alliance of former journalists practicing journalism in the PR world.”

Crilley, 44, joined Fox4 in fall 1992. He’s also moonlighted as an author and seminar speaker whose Free Publicity book instructs prospective newsmakers in the arts of writing “killer” press releases and holding press conferences “the media will love.” Videos of Crilley working his audiences into a veritable frenzy are readily available on youtube.

Crilley said he doesn’t get paid for his public appearances, but does use them as fertile ground to sell his book. His on-air reporting style long has been notably understated, contrasting with his live-wire off-camera presentations.

“I’m ready to try something new,” he said. “I don’t want to be 60 or 65 and hang up the hat and say, ‘What did I do with my life?’ ”

“Maybe I’m Polyanna here,” he added. “But I don’t think there’s ever been credibility in the public relations industry . . . I hope we will change how these things are done by holding up this gold standard of practicing journalism with a PR firm composed solely of former practicing journalists.”

Crilley said he hopes to start his new venture in June and already has talked to several former local TV reporters who might be interested in joining him.
Bobby Ewing @ March 28th, 2008 at 8:46 am

Hmmm…PR lesson #1: characterizing your new-found profession as one that’s full of snake oil salespeople and admonishing from on high that “I don’t think there’s ever been credibility in the public relations industry” is not only a negative tactic but rather naive/foolish. Discard the newsroom focus on negative attributes and thin generalizations and instead position yourself, your industry, and your perspective more positively. And best of luck!
Good riddance @ March 28th, 2008 at 10:15 am

Personally, I’ve never been impressed with his reporting, and I was even less impressed with that terrible PR book he’s constantly hawking. The fact that Fox4 allowed him to publish such a book and continue reporting says a lot about the kind of journalism that station practices.
PR Chick @ March 28th, 2008 at 1:32 pm

Journalists making the PR agency leap have a 50/50 chance, not that they can’t do the job, but mostly because they have a hard time working with clients and simply see PR as pitching stories (speaking only from my experience). That’s a big part of it, but not the whole shebang. I wish him luck, but would recommend that he hire a senior-level PR person to help him get going.