Victory Light with The Kid MeroEpisode 99 | "Breaking News" (Ft. Dean Meminger)
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TODAY IS ONE FOR THE REAL NEWS-WATCHERS AND NEW YORKERS, AS WE ARE JOINED BY LEGENDARY SPECTRUM NY1 ANCHOR AND FELLOW BRONX BOY DEAN MEMINGER. WE DIVE INTO DEAN’S DECADES COVERING THE NEWS, HOW HE REMAINS TRUE TO HIMSELF AND HIS ROOTS ON AIR, SIFTING THROUGH THE DELUGE OF MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT MASQUERADING AS JOURNALISM TODAY, AND HOW REAL BRONX FOLKS REACT WHEN SOMEONE CALLS YOUR NAME OUT ON THE STREET. HOLLA!
A Ligitarly Light.
Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Victory Light News Network. I am your host, Rainy Mama Beacho, and I am here joined with none other than the Kid Merrow with a special guest anchor and Spectrum News New York One Legendine the machine Memager Ron Joy in the building.
Great to have you here, Great to have you here.
Thank you for having me on your show.
Yes, fantastic.
You could tell, you can tell how enthusiastic I am because I'm smiling with my tope only.
Only the top one trying to do stereotypical news anchor.
How are we doing right now? This very mobile?
That's right?
What are the chances of us appearing on New York one zero.
Ligitly building?
You know what it is, man, It is when that came right here with the direct flight of course, buildings out with us.
But she will be soon.
We got men trained, figging man, We got Victor in the building, we got people everybody.
And of course the man who makes everything happen to sound.
Beautiful, Hassan insane.
Okay, yeah, we got Dan in the building.
New York is New Yorker, That's why I am. I'm from here. I'm born in Harlem, raised in Harlem and the boogie down bron See what.
I'm saying, You know what I say.
I want to listen.
We got an order that we have and Rainney is very good at sticking to that. I'm just gonna jump out the window immediately and looked.
Straight down the battle of the camera and say, ll cool, j h.
Please all the queens guys. There's a lot of queens, a lot of queens guys. Yo, Yo, what was that about.
Listen When somebody says I'm from the Bronx, that's not something you can make up.
Yeah, that's not something you just claim because it's cool, you know what I mean. You gotta gotta be real. You gotta really live that life, you know what I'm saying. And he might have a house in Jersey.
Now I'm not going across the bridge. That's the prices really right. Yeah yeah, but no, I don't live in Jersey.
Yeah yeah, yeah I do. No.
But it's but yo, you see what I'm saying to you know, you know, you know it's okay. You know what, because we were talking about this with our in our Cash episode. He was on some like, oh yeah, you gotta cop this house in Jersey. Look at this, look at this real estate. And I'm saying, and I'm showing them my property. I'm like, and here's the co op I got in the trenches. And if you see this garage here, this is where they sell base garage.
But I can't bring myself to leave. It's the Bronx in me.
Do you feel like there's a part of you that will always sort of be tethered to the Bronx.
When is that sort of energy when I'm on you know, I was making fun of me. It up, We're just having fun.
Yeah.
I think he knew us from the Bronx, and maybe maybe it was the news voice that he was like from Jersey. I'm like, no, I'm from the Bronx. But come on, you know, for Jersey. But the Bronx is a part of me. And even on New York One most days, some of my producers and writers like, what did you say? That was so Bronxi somebody, that's a word I'm looking up. Oh, we only say that in the Bronx okay retape. Yeah, so no, I'm the Bronx person. My my parents still in the Bronx, my family's from the Bronx. My kids went to school in the Bronx. I went to school, and the schools out man the Bronx school.
Shout out to the school system. You know what I'm saying, making ladiators out of.
I went to Topic school. Sorry, sorry, a shout out to PS one forty six. You know what I'm saying.
Shout out to Shout out to TAFT. You know what I mean, Shout out.
To Goddamn Clinton, Truman, shout out to Truman child.
What let's talk out a moment in New York history because this is very portant to me as an old head.
You know what I'm saying.
Okay, it's very important to me the era of New York City high schools having one name, one name, Walton, Clinton Lehman, Truman's Columbus.
That's right, Kennedy, That's what I'm saying. Well, and it's so funny because when I report stories now and they say this happened in the school of Environmental Scienceists and pollution Configuration, I'm like, Kennedy. Yeah, on air, I may say inside the old Kennedy, because I understand my audience, they won't know where that school is. Like you mentioned Kennedy or Clinton used to be one big school thousands of kids. Now there are four or five schools within that school. So when you have to set a landmark, you have to say it's at Kennedy over there near Kingsbridge and Riverdale. You know, if it's Clinton High School, you gotta say, you know, near bron Science off of Jerome Apple. What's the name of that street? Marshall, Now, monsieur, I say Marshall Lung from the Bronx.
I said to say Mashall when when they when they whatever?
When they updated the fore train And I heard the voice yeah, And I heard the voice say, next step is ma Shooter Parkway.
I was like, it's not say that. Maybe that's just been saying it wrong all along in the broad you know what we know?
So we we said the trends, you know, like like we were talking about gate keeping and hip hop and stuff like that, but we you know, we said the trends.
So if you say something, you are the membag that is it.
Yeah, allegedly allegedly and everything.
If if enough people agree that this is how you say a certain thing, there's no argument, especially now with Bronx folks, Come on, you.
Know what I mean, especially now with how would you pronounce an animated.
On your phone or computer?
For example, is it doc Jiff or Dotiff?
I would say a gift?
Thank you, Oh my god, thank you, thank you.
See the guy that made it was like, no, it's.
Okay, but but in our defense.
But in our defense, Tean, the G stands for graphic, not draphic.
You know what I'm saying, So it would be gift.
This is all.
This is.
This is hard hitting. This is hard hitting. This is newsworthy right there, right, no, no.
Look, let me let me tell you. At my at my job, we have some people we call them the pronunciation Police. Say something incorrectly on air, and I'll sit you hit you with a little email. Sometimes it's helpful. Sometimes it's like all right, but you know, but if you know we say rainy, but if you if your mom or grandma, well I came in and said we call him something different. Well, okay, you just made it.
Say over here, you know what I mean. But I wouldn't be upset.
Listen, Dean membser Man, the Dan Memager. You're a New York One legend. You're a bronze legend, like I would have been upset any type of way.
You know, I want to call you the right name, but you know, but funny story real quick. Then you guys can keep going with an interview. You know, but people know my name, but Memager is not an easy name. But a lot of people know the name I've been on for a while. And but one lady saw me in the street. She goes, oh my god, it's Dean Meningitis. I said, I'm like, yes, ma'am, I'm Dean playing.
Oh my god, it's Dean menoserie, who.
Move in?
Get him up?
I'm moving in with you.
So so tell us, tell us about the typical damn life of a New York One anchor, because you just said that you get stopped in the street from.
You know what I mean, Like you've been in the game long enough that you are certified.
Yeah, I think so you're one of the ones anchors.
Yeah.
Look, that's a great compliment. I mean that everybody, everybody doesn't know me. Maybe they don't have the cable. I don't know. But that's fine. But my job is humble, you know. My job is just informing people about the news. So I wake up sometimes there's already a phone call, I'm getting text or emails. What's going on. Then, you know, the other day we had a police shooting, so I had to get on that because I'm also not only an anchor criminal justice reporter. Jump on that. Then I have a you know, an afternoon meeting. I could be anchoring the nightly news, the afternoon news my big gig, though I love. I anchor the news on Saturday and Sunday, where I can get a little crazy. Maybe that's where you guys like me because I say stuff that's a little off the cuff.
Say that it's a little off the cuff, and it's also your voice.
Okay, you know what I mean.
So it's like at the top of the show, you know, New York One.
But you you have never had to do that, And I think it's incredible that like you have had, you have found such a sort of you have such a staying power, and you've been yourself pretty much the entire time that anyone has sort of been exposed to you.
And I think that's fantastic and it lends itself to.
You being from the Bronx. And because I was about to say, you know, no, to speak form, but I am say, oh day, we're the last borough.
Wait, no, we're the first borrow. Okay, I take that. I take that. I take that. But you know, my audience, like you guys, I mean, people can see it's actually in many cities and many states in New York one, but we are focused on the five boroughs. And we used to joke and Connecticut ain't one of them, so I am you laugh, but you know we we really focus on the five boroughs. So you guys are focusing a lot on New Yorkers, right, So if I say something in a New York Way or Bronx Way, I think the audience get from the city, so they respect that. You know. There was a way back when Puffy got into a fight out of club, way back when I've been covering this a long time, and they were like, Sean Clembs got into an altercation in the nightclub. When I got to the scene, I was like, yeah, Puffy got into a beef in the club. Your producer was like, yo, that's exactly what happened. I'm like, yeah, you don't get into an altercation. There was an altercation on the Ford train on the Grand Concourse or Jerome Avenue or the D train. It wasn't an alteration, and I pushed my boss and sometimes but then sometimes they give me the eyelight. You're not saying that on air again, No, I can imagine me upstairs.
I was like, okay, I can imagine the members. Yeah, breaking news here. Someone just got buck fifty on me uptown for train.
Wow.
Wow, that's the two am newscast Saturday morning.
Yeah.
Yeah, and this justin Halloween weekend.
You better keep your kids at home this Friday because the bloods are outside.
Remember that.
Because Yo, this is this is why we love having people at you on, because you are such a New Yorker that you've seen things that are like icond of New York moments, like the Miracle.
At the Crack.
Superdu he, sir, I didn't even notice that is your footage.
Some of the footage is actually it's a Bronx story. I was at the Bronx Zoo, I mean and seeing them call me up. You know you have to come on and seeing it and tell the story. I was at the Bronx Zoo leaven doing the story. I'm in the car.
I hear.
What the heck I thought of snowplower hit me because it was the wintertime. I jump out. I see the plane on fire in the air. I'm oh, my god. Like then I see it turn around. I said, they're trying to make it back to LaGuardia. I jump out at a low camera at that point tried to get the footage. It wasn't on fire, but you could see it was just floating through the air, floating through the air, and I'm like, I call my news desk, there's a plane on fire. The boss gets on like, are you sure?
Who are you.
Talking to you?
That's the yo, who are you talking.
To So literally, in thirty seconds, the whole news that's not yelling there's a plane in the Hudson. I go told you, yeah, thank god everyone survived. That was amazing because that was one of the coldest days I can remember reporting. So the fact that a plane landed on the Hudson in freezing temperatures, freezing water and they were able to walk away, that's why we said it's a miracle on the hutject.
Yeah.
So, how do you feel like Dean Memnger now versus Dean Memager twenty years ago, thirty years ago? Yeah, you know me, su yeah, exactly.
Like at some at what point did you get used to the constant sort of like pushing of like you gotta go here at this point and it doesn't matter what time it is, what doesn't matter where you're at at the time. How much of your life have you had to sacrifice in pursuit of journalism versus A lot?
Yeah, a lot?
Yeah. I turn around like tag, how was my kid twenty now? Now my wife's like said, I told you you're working too much at the beginning. I love doing it no matter the time, call me. I'm there, you know, whether I have to fly to Dr Puerto Rico wherever, or go to Brooklyn or whatever, I'm there. I'm doing it. I love it. So that's how I was able to you know, and even today right right now, I'm a hustler. I'm hustling. People use that as a bad word, but I'm hustling. Like you said, I've been on New York one almost thirty years. But you guys call up, do you want to come on? I'll be there, yeah, you know, And then I'm a hustler. So I've always hustled in a good sense. Nowadays, the line don't call me into in the morning. I don't know to the scene, but I am always involved because the boys this is no I've been around for a minute. I know the people, I know the players, and I also can you know, get through all of that nonsense to really figure out if something is real or not real or at least bring some some history to it, you know. So that and that's important when you talk about news and getting good information, like please know who you are listening to, yo?
Yeah, Which leads me to.
My question, what is it like for a guy like you who's been in like the trenches, bro, like be like out of school, beat reporting work their way up. Now you're an anchor on a desk for thirty years and now you see this like I feel like it's been the last couple of years. But like this like like deluge of like misinformation and like people looking at certain people as like sources of information, and it's.
It's like, Bro, that's just a dude in his garage.
Yeah, I mean, you know, you look at some of it. Some of the people have great information. But I always remind people like Yo, that person is not trained. They may look good on camera, they may be able to get a couple of lights and a mic, but be very cautious. I always say, listen to people. Get your information from people who can get fired right if they get it wrong, if I get it wrong. The boy, Yeah, come on, I'm saying, let me tell you. If you listening to you know, Jamal Jose and you know they're in Brooklyn, other Bronx and there, and they get it wrong. So what And but you know, news is just so important to us. I mean what I do is important, you know, it's it's the information about whether we talk about what's going on today with people's money, with people's stocks. You're talking about people whove worked twenty thirty years that they're like, no, what do I do? My retirement is gone? That's important information. If you're listening to Homeboy Homegirl on social media talking about that, you better look into their background. What kind of history do they have? Maybe they have good information, but it's important. I'm always amazed when people walk out and there's a major storm and they're drenched. Oh my god, I didn't know is going to rain? Like turn on New York One. We do where are you getting your information from? So what we do as journalists and newspeople. It's important. I mean, it's great to have all of these social media platforms, but like I say, make sure you know where you're getting your information from because there's so much going on and if I get it really wrong, yeah, Victory light.
Of legit.
That's one of the beautiful things about you and your career is that you hit this middle ground where like people, despite us not being journalists, people will come to a platform like Victory Life because we are relatable and we're we are we are just the average person. And a lot of news anchors, no shade to anybody in particular, just aren't personable, and they seem to have this sort.
Of cold disposition of sort of like, oh, we're.
Just a messenger and breaking news today there was a yeah, yeah exactly.
So how does it feel being in that sort of middle ground of like getting away with just enough personality person ability to get the message across, but then still be objective and be connected.
I think where you get to a very comfortable spot. And that's where I am.
Now.
Dean is Dean. Whether I'm talking to you, I'm in my newsroom or on air. I mean, obviously I can't say crazy stuff on the air. But I'm just comfortable with that person that I am now, and my bosses un comfortable with it. Now. If I was on another network, I probably could even be more bronches without being profane, you know, using profanity or anything like that. But I still could have more personality. Like you know, they tell me I dance too much in the news Handkerchief. Yo, sit still, Dean, because I'm doing this bronxe thing, you know, with that, and so like, okay, bring it down a little bit. But I think people look at that and I'm comfort Well, this is Dean. This is how I've been successful. And like you said, I've been in the trenches. I put my life on the line for this job. I've been in hurricanes in Puerto Rico where people are in the staircase playing in multiple languages and we're like, Yo, we don't know if we're going to get out of this.
YO.
Put this outside, you know, I mean it.
You know, Queens Hurricane Sandy. So many of my colleagues covered this, but even though I've traveled the world, it was in Queens that I thought I was gonna die. My wife called the station, Yo, where's my husband? Because she probably heard it in my voice that like I saw the New York one car float down the street in the Rockaways and the house we were in I asked that. My colleague of was like, Yo, is your house gonna make it?
He was like, I don't know.
We were like, hush, what's going on? And that was in Queens, you know, and that that was wild because if you were over here, you know, on twenty third Street thirty, it was a little crazy, but it wasn't like that. They were like, why why is Dean wilding out?
Well, They're like, because because Dean is really like real part deans really like that, and that speaks to your dedication to the crafts. And I honestly feel like, Yo, not to glaze my city or whatever, but I feel like if you was from anywhere but the Bronx, you would not like that. That level of dedication is in us innately, you know what I mean? And like, I feel like you wouldn't have put your life on the line if you weren't, if you weren't from the whole.
Do you know what I'm saying?
No, People in the news business, though, That's why I say what we do is important, right, Let's be honest. A lot of people work very hard to become news people, right, and they dedicate their lives to it, so it is tough they you know, you see a lot of people and hurricanes, you know, shout out to al Roca because you know, ya Roca was in a hurricane not too long ago. And people were like, yo, ah, you've been in the game. You too old to do that. I was like, I got this what I do. But you know, but it is, it can be dangerous, but it's what we want. We want to give the information, so you know, people do it. But it's like after a while, you're like, I don't know if I want to stand in uh, you know, three feet of snow. That's why I'm glad that.
The way you still definitely but ninety six, Yeah, I tell people about that, Like it was like, you know what, ninety.
Six my mom bought an ankle in that snow storm. Man.
I was like, we went to school in that snow stock. I can't imagine. I can imagine the two of you around a campfire with a staff and I got cloth. Let me tell you boring something.
Hey, We're not that oh you.
Guys, hold onuf O Game fifty two.
But Dean, you are back in my day.
You had to hang up the phone to use the internet sport. So, Dean, you are in New Yorker, throw and through, So I want to I want to kind of take us back a bit. Okay, just ask you a few questions. Uh, how much was the subway fair when you were taking the train to and from Pace University.
Actually I went to Pace in Westchester County. I only went to one semester downtown, so I wasn't taking the trains about but I.
Lived on campus.
But after a while it was so close. We didn't know that until a few years later. It's like, yeah, we could jump on Metro North and be home on two thirty third Street exactly. Yeah, you know, no, But I do remember as a young kid, I actually used to take the bus. I don't remember how it was. I was like ten years old from the South Bronx over to Hall and Washington Heights. My sister and I'd going to see Grandma, so we did that. I don't remember how much it was, but I know when I first started graduating, I was working for Kiss FM Radio and w o R Radio, totally two opposite stations and what they do. And that was on forty second Street. So I used to leave work at forty second Street and get on the two train midnight. It was going home.
Forty second was different.
Oh my god, I don't I don't remember how I.
Ever seen Watchman.
It was like that.
That was forty But no, it was a lot of performers. I remember meeting a great performer who was performing on forty second Street. Uh you know, that was back in the nineties, and this dude ended up They gets Roger Ridley. You can look it up. I'm not sure. This dude was so good. You remember that's when they started the program, the music program because somebody died were performing. He ended up going to Vegas and performing in Vegas at hotels and they got him from the subway. But you know, if you look it up, he has some celebrity status too.
And uh, speaking of performing, did you stop DJing once your left fist?
I wasn't scratching and doing all of that, but I was like a bonu. No, I was a bona fide radio DJ. You know, welcome to you know whatever it was we were doing. But I was like, you know, we were I was playing house music. I was playing, you know, dance hall. I was in the dance hall.
Give me like a three song?
What was it? What was your go to?
Like the Break for Love?
House music?
Break for Love?
I mean, if we talk about shopping, could it could be any number of his tang.
Nine, fight for Dumpling, give me a Man, and actually profile rings on New York One.
That's that's how I bring it. Obviously I loved a lot of that. I mean, we're laughing at LLLL, but I loved ll back in the day as well because he had that sing songy rap love song.
In that way.
Yeah so, But definitely a ton of house music, a ton of dance hall, reggae, whether it's super Cat, you know, you know all of that.
Mad y'all think I ain't know about I'm tapped in you know what press trigger? I mean, not press people for the come on.
The funny thing is that I'm a straight up news man. But whenever there's people who get in the car and me and I stopped playing music, they were like, Yo, Dean's a game, this is the this was the radio DJ.
Come from rock camp.
How'd you get this quick? Another? You'll love this story? Back in the day when Big Punk came out, right, I knew Fat Joe. Right Big Punk came out, I was like, yo, I gotta do an interview with this dude. The manager was like, oh's this guy this and I'm like, no, it's Big Punk. Then when they said okay, all of the kids that were younger than me in the newsroom, I don't care if they were black, white, Hispanic, Asian. They heard I was interviewing Big Pun, it was like, yo, can we go with you to interview Big Punk. Then the busses were like, oh, snap, say I told.
You nobody's house.
Has that happened in your career?
A lot of the guy to tell the boss however, yeah, listen, you don't get this, but this ain't for you.
But this but I mean, that'swear Now you're really getting the behind the scenes with demailer and the wrong stories. Like you know, and we had to change our way recently of looking at smoking weed or smoking marijuana, you know, back in the day maybe you call it, I don't know which called, but recently we had to change that how we reported on that. You know, it's legal, you can't like make it. But back in the day, and not that long ago. I said, but I can do a story on kids smoking weed in the morning before school. They were like, are you sure you could do that? Yeah. I went over to a high school in the Bronx seven thirty eight o'clock in the morning. These kids were lighting up smoking and they were like, yeah, it helps the match stay in my brain. I was like, I mean, honestly, but I really but but but it was an important story to tell because you know, parents didn't realize that kids were leaving fool and smoking weed. And you know, no matter what you think about weed, smoking smoking, it can be an issue, right and then if you wake up in the morning and that's the first thing you want to do, there's a problem. Okay.
No, I feel like I.
Feel like his Dominican like sibling, where I'm like, no, tell him, tell him.
Being a problem.
But you know, but it was important for parents to do it because some parents at that point then had to turn to having their kids go to rehab because the kids were smoking too much weed.
You know.
So that to me, it was a fun story, too much funny any story. I convinced my bosses to allow me in that story to put the song on. I get that's a Bronx journalist.
No, no, incredible, So how does it feel?
Bit is a virgin peanut color?
It is?
It is?
I am sure you can move in with me.
If it isn't get the get it all over my hand.
No, no, it's it's it's fine. It's fine, mister Jesus Christ, mister memager, I'm so sorry.
We'll get there. Sorry, mister Oh Jesus Christ.
Did not stop.
Stop. Bb Q's is the spot, Bbq's get crazy. You know you know what I'm saying.
It's virgin bosses, it's Virgin's virgin. Okay, I gotta go in there in a little bit.
Okay, we understand twisted.
That would kind of be you know, my wife is from the Bronx. She'd be looking for you, son, because.
You gotta Yeah, that's the bright winner.
Stop playing.
So, speaking of the Bronx and everything, did you ever see the phantom parked in front of the building on Trinity As.
No, Joe's fan that's he brings the Fantom.
That's what it said.
No, No, I I lived at the South Bronx when I was a young kid, and Fat Joe and I indeed did live in the same building when we were young. So that's how I know him. But we were kids at that point. I always say my formative years. By the time I became a teenager, I had moved up to the North Bronx and I went to Cardinal Spelman, so you know, it was, you know, a different dynamic in the North Bronx because I have my friends who would come from like, you know, the Middle Bronx to the South Bronx didn't come to my house. They were like, this is not the Bronx. You get a lot of trees like it is the Bronx, but this is the North Bronx.
This was when you.
Looked more like Steph Curry and he looked like Dennis the Menace. This is.
I don't know that hairbag.
I mean we were just young kids, you know. And and like he remembers me being there, I remember him. And it was like but see, as I was saying, I went to Catholic school my whole time, so you know, they would laugh at me. I didn't have any living suit and tie. You know, we knew each other and you know, hey, we were there and it's so funny two kids, you know, from the same neighborhood. He grows up to be the rapper. I grew up to be the reporter. And now, you know, so many years later, we're still intertwining. I'm interviewing him on big stories and he's writing about me and his books. I'm like, whoa, he got mad at me, dude. Joe was like, you didn't read my book. I was like, yeah, let me go get it.
You know.
But Joe he does so much stuff now, and he's always in the middle of something. He's always in the middle of something. But he does so much and that's where you know, the longevity comes in. Of course, not too many people can, like, say, the newsual yo fat, Joe's calling for Dean, he needs to talk to him. Yeah, you know, so that's great longevity. Yea.
So in a world where.
People have more access to technology to sort of build a platform more than ever. Now, how would you define journalism versus news considering people go to unqualified parties and call what they say journalism despite that being an opinion, and people sort of don't respect journalism as the accredited sort of like actual profession that it is. Because now anybody with cameras and lights in a microphone and get them.
For you look official, right, and I mean people are official. But I mean that's a great question because I sometimes I'll say to well, there's a difference between sometimes just reporting the news, because there's breaking news. Right if there was a fire to break out right here, I can walk out on the street and say, right now, we're on twenty third Street, there's a fire breaking out. I see ems cruise here, fire cruise the NYPD. This is historical because this area hasn't had a fire in about twenty years. But that's news, like you just do. But you know, journalism a lot of times, or if you're talking about in depth journalism or investigative, well you're taking a lot of time to talk to many sources to really get to the bottom of it because you want to make sure it is rack. And that's the sort of thing you want to look at when you're talking about very serious issues, like if it's something that happened today and a bunch of people happen to be out, you know, on Flatbush Avenue or Ford and Row with their cameras. Okay, but I mean I really want to stress the point that you know, there's so much going on and it's so serious. Now, really get your information from people who are accredited and who have been in this game a minute, because you can really get messed up believing something, and even news people get proof, sometimes they run with something that is that's not true.
Right of ligity, like legitary like.
So to that point, man, when did you start to kind of because you've been doing this a while, so like when did you kind of start to feel that shift from straight like, yo, this is the news, here's the facts, to kind of like that weird like editorial op ed like disguised as news type of.
I mean, I think that's been going on for a minute. So you know, there's a difference between let's say your local news channels, right, a New York one or even any of the other local new channels. I think we are right up the middle because we're just trying to give you that local information. When you talk about some of the national networks versus networks versus cable channels, right, some places are just trying to make money and they have to talk to their audience. I mean, and that's what they're doing. I don't care if it's on the left or the right. They're talking to whoever they think their audience is right, You guys are talking to your audience right now. You're not trying to talk about the stock market and where to move your stock trucks, you know, So you have to but you have to pay attention though, even with those because sometimes, like you're given a lot of opinion here, but just you know, listen to what they're saying. You realize it's opinion. Sometimes it is a valid opinion, and it's a research opinion. But you know, you could turn on there could be a riot somewhere and you turn on two or three different stations and you're like wondering, wait, they covering the same story, and that's where to me it becomes dangerous, you know, So understand that, like, you know, get your facts and then if you want their opinion, because sometimes opinion is based in if I give you an opinion about the NYPD, well, I've been covering them for twenty five years. Every police commissioner that's been there for the last twenty years will walk in the room and say, Yo, what's up, Dean. So I know the history of the NYPD, at least for the last twenty twenty five years. If I give you an opinion on it. Well, it's based on fact and research. It's not like I just dropped in now, and I'll be honest, I don't know everything, so I have to ask people, Yo, what do you think about this? Du a little research, Let's make sure we're getting this correct. And that's where the difference comes in, y exactly, like my reputation is on the line. You know, I'm having fun with you guys, but I don't want to be wrong, and I don't why I always say no. I don't want Grandma Rosie to call up and say, Dean got that wrong. And I do get things wrong and I try to correct them. Sometimes the information I got was wrong, or sometimes that has slip up and I say something that's not correct.
So speaking of getting things wrong and just sort of adjusting to the ever changing landscape of news and news media and stuff like how do you treat something that used to be taboo and used to be looked at as like a sort of fringe topic like UFOs or in this case u aps of the as they've been.
I can't even you what did this stand for? I looked it up, but it's it's one of those words on my newscats. Do not put that in on a lot of that. I can't pronounce it, so.
If you can look it up and actually I know it by heart, it's an unidentified aerial phenomenon as.
Opposed to I don't know if they use aerial. That's not the word that I thought.
It's not.
No, No, I didn't use the aerial is easy, I guess, yeah, I mean it's I'm it with something else.
You know, come on, yo, he's gonna yo. Your house big enough for him to move in.
Dean. You don't even know he'd be with the Dean, he'd be with the he'd be the mob lives. No, no, but until he looks at the interest rate at his loan, he's like.
No.
But but you know, to the subject of UAP's UFOs, like, how do you go about reporting on something that used to be considered taboo and used to be considered a fringe and not really taken seriously to Now you have people in high ranking positions of government banding together saying, hey, we never came forward with this before because we were so afraid of being ostracized and so afraid of action being taken against our livelihood. In our lives that now there are enough of us that we can band together and say, hey, we know too much for you guys to threaten us in a tangible way, So now we can come forward with this.
How do you report on something like that?
The big part of what you just said government officials and former government officials. Now every government official you can't believe, right, But once you say government officials, then that's where I would go on that story. And in fact, they've had congressional hearings on UFO, so now this is something serious that they are talking about. It's not just somebody who's talking about it, or maybe they did a documentary. So once you can get you know, government officials on the record talking about this. Okay, so what do we know about UFOs? Why are you investigating it? Whether you know it's real or not. When you say something is being investigated, it doesn't mean that it's true. The FBI can run up in here and say we're investigating d memagery. When they put it on the news, it makes it seem like, oh, yeah, they're just investigating.
Right, I knew we couldn't trust those.
That you know, that's where it is. And then you dig a little deeper and try to figure it out. But also I always questioned, is it art imitating life or is it life imitating art? Why have we done all of these movies over the years and dependence and there were more than before that. Yeah, you know, so you question, And if I'm interviewing a government official, I'm like, you know, we say that, you know, the universe has been around for billions of years. Doesn't make sense that we are the only people. What do you know about it? You know? But so that's where you're live. And then this made so many people go crazy, right, I just saw it yesterday, my ring Alon went off. I just saw twenty you know drones that we're you know, so we have to question it, and I have to point this out. Documentaries, whether inn entertainment or otherwise, some of those documentaries drop and all of a sudden, prosecutors are now having the reopened cases and look at things because the documentary brought things to life that maybe the government officials did not. And then when you say they didn't say anything about it twenty thirty, forty fifty years ago, makes your question why journalism is important because we have to hold government officials you know, hold them accountable because if you didn't tell me something fifty years ago, what are you not telling me about today's Actually yeah, yeah, How do you feel about.
The state of like news, like journalism like here to like today in twenty twenty five.
I mean, I still think it's important. I think we've gotten a bad rap because of you have some of these organizations that are just catering to their audience who they think their their core audience is. They're gonna speak to them about that. If we're doing a show about the Bronx, we're talking about the Bronx. We we're gonna not gonna talk about Brooklyn, right, So they're doing that. But when people hear those opinions, they take them always as maybe lies or fake news, right, But we're not doing I've never done fake news never. My boss I can remember ass he may say, be careful on this story. When I came home my boys, you know, so they're like, so, you know, and I want to point that out, like you say that I've been on TV for a long time, I've done radio. No one has ever said, oh, this is story. You may say, well, this is our direction of the story because we're looking at the history of the story. We want to make sure we get the most important part of it. But I'm not a journalist that somebody's saying you better do this, or they're in the closet, like you know, threatening me. No, we don't do that. And like a lot of times, political news in New York is important. The environment is important. I mean, all of this stuff that people like we were laughing about. I'm happy it doesn't snow anymore, but people who are serious about it are like, yeah, yo, why doesn't.
It snow in New York anymore?
We got more snow in parts of Florida and Louisiana this year than when we got in New York City, So there are some people who are very concerned about that, you know. So you know, news is important, research is important. So is the game changed though over time?
You know what I mean from when you came in, you know, obviously, like technology has advanced things and changed things, but like overall, like the like the pursuit of the story, you know.
That kind of that that blends into the question I had too, like kind of like what makes a source verdible in two thousand and five versus twenty twenty five.
Well, my song is incredible because I've known them for years. Like if I meet you know, if I meet you know, Officer Joey on the street today, you may call them, but I'm not gonna put my job on the line, right And there's people who I've known for many, many years, for decades who I rely on, you know, who I get information from that oh Yojean blah blah blah, all others who actually believe, you know what, the news should have this information. There are people who believe in that. Some people try to hide it. Others like, look, this should be public information. The public should know about it, so they trust me to give it. But there are more networks out there now, so it's changed. You I mean, you know, you still have to stay up on it. You got to have to try to keep an audience. So that's how it's changed. Its not the Big three anymore, right, Like there are hundreds of stations out there. There are streaming services that are not even I'm on TV, but I'm streaming as well. But there are some stations that are not even on TV. They just stream news. Are competing with a lot of different entities. So that is the difference. So you got to move fast, you gotta keep it right. And there's a lot of competition. I mean, like I could post something, you know, on social media, maybe get one hundred views. But you know, Javier, my friend up the block, does it and he has like ten thousand people, you know, So like you're competing sometimes with that as well. But I say, you know what, whatever piece of the pie we have, you got to keep it. If you have a good restaurant, you don't have everybody coming, but the regular people come in there, you got to keep them satisfied. That's it. That's hard. You know. If it's a couchie free throw, we use that on and Today on New York One, the lady says, I don't know if you know, a big fire fire in University Heights today, burned down several way yes today, yeah, yes, today, yeah, the last twenty four hours. And the lady said, yeah, the Kuchie free throw was on fire. This she had to explain it. Oh, that's a small restaurant, it's yeah, so that's a straight up New York Well well interview people the CUCI free.
Throw, Yeah, igble, but see, only Dean members could report on it. Because any other angority be like, and we are here in front of the coop, how do you pronounce.
In front of some sort there's a lot of.
A lot of I would say a lot of stations, though nowadays really thought try to get people who are from their regions because it's so important now, right. So when I was reporting in North Carolina for my network, we have a station down there, they were like, yo, Dean, you so in New York. I was like, I'm the one with the accent down there. They're looking at me like what did he just say? You know, but a lot of their people are from the local area because they can reflect on what they've grown up with and people relate to them really, and if they come down there with this New York craziness, they're like, I don't know if we believe in New York. It's like you know, yeah, one love they do. I mean I run into it all the time. I appreciate that people look at wopleever like I mean you just said they did, But like do they ever put you with like a real like a real question like d who should I vote for? As the time, like I can't tell you? Or what do you think about the new police commissioner. I get that all the time, and people just want to have a conversation because I tell people like on a station like New York One where it's twenty four hours news, people see me more than they see their family members. Yeah, Like they see me almost every day, you know, for several hours during the day, so they feel like they really know me. But I am a bronze boy because I had a friend, you know, so me coming out of my studio. It's like yodd. I kept walking yod like and he was like, Yo, it's so and so I was like, Yo, okay, don't come to Yo, Dan, I don't know who you are. No.
It's like it's like Meryl was saying, like a couple of episodes ago, he was like, yo, when people in the street be like yo, Meryl, you don't know if it's static, you don't know.
You know, time they are the Brouns come with that energy. It's like Yo. If somebody say, yo, Dean, you don't know.
That I'm a fan.
Remember that you said twenty years ago?
That has happened.
Happened.
I've had cops roll up on me. It's because of you. I was all modified duty. I'm like, oh no, bron, like, oh me go inside, actually, let me walk down the blocks, and.
So how do you handle that then?
Like in real time? Like I mean at that point, then he quickly flipped and was like, I know it's because of that elected official did the story. But the dude that's you know, allegedly slapped up this kid and my story was serious. I was like young so and souls hazel, eyes of bloodshot now and the video was there, so he got in trouble. But you know, I was just doing my job. But I've had people run up on me on the street like you did that story on my brother. So I'm always cautious about, like, let's make sure these stories are right, you know, you know, get my haircut in and haul of f Street and the cops was like, yodde, what you doing, Like give my haircut? He's like, yo, you know, we could run up in any of these businesses at anytime. I'm like, oh, guys, I can get my hair cut. You know, that's real New York.
Yeah, litery of literary.
Speaking of elected officials, You've covered Eric Adams for nearly twenty years, now, did.
You small than twenty years? Man, Yeah, did you?
I mean shit, did you see him becoming mayor?
Like?
Did you? Was that part of his trajectory in your coverage of him up until.
He was always into being out there, being on camera, being heard, even when he was a police officer, right, he was a part of one hundred blacks in law enforcement, so actually speaking out against police a brutal abuse or misconduct, or even talking about crime. He would have a news conference every Sunday, so he would be on TV. You know who also did that as well, Senator Chuck Schumer. Chal they both had it. And if you look got the news a little inside baseball, turn on the news, tell me if you don't see Charles Schumer. Every Sunday he does a news conference. It was a way to get on the news because Sunday perhaps a slow news day. But he was always out there. The mayor was the mayor of the people. He would have parties. He was moving around. He wanted to move up, you know. So, I mean I've covered him, I know his background, but right now he's moving in so many directions. He has a lot going on. But you know, when I've covered recently, it's like raise my hand. The pr people didn't call me. The mayor said, call on dene Is he gonna text me or call me on my cell phone? You know, New York City politics can be wild at times, and it's very but it's very busy, very busy.
Man moves like this and it's the thing that that strikes me is that there's always a new mix of names, like every every so often.
It's not yeah, I mean if you go to like other states, like you.
Know, I'm just assuming, but like from what my limited experience, it's the same like group of people.
Yeah, I mean we have the same thing here. But there are a lot of young people if you you know, if you watch or you read, a lot of young elected officials who are moving up. Even me, I can't keep up because I know the old heads, right, But you look at I'm like, oh, wow, who's this assembly person? They're really good. Yeah, you know, let me start paying attention to that. And then you look at, wait, this person who's you know, in the city council. They graduated from this Ivy League school. Oh. And it's important like that you keep moving because when people say, oh, politics doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Then when you realize all of a sudden, you know, they've taken your parking away in your block and put something else there. You're like, we hug that happen.
You know, you should have gotten the trench at least paying attention.
They're closing my son's school.
Years ago.
Yeah, So, like, what is the difference between something that Dean Meminger is sort of elected to report on by upstairs or whatever, versus something you feel compelled to report on, like something you feel is important.
And does any of that ever get overwhelming?
Just the volume of news that you are meant to report, does that ever get overwhelmed?
I mean sometimes it does, right, I kind of remind people, Look, this is New York City. We have eight and a half million people who live in the five boroughs and just live, but just live here. We're not talking about the millions that come from Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island, West does the county. So there is always something going on here that you have to respond to. So, you know, we don't have the resources of let's say, you know, a national network just to cover the city, So we have to figure out what we are covering day to day. Sometimes there are so many stories that you just can't keep up on it. Right, So you know, if there's a story of a major national elected official coming to New York doors a Merrild candidate, you got to cover that. But three businesses burned down in the Bronx, you can't ignore that. You know, there's a police shooting in Brooklyn the same day, you can't ignore that. So sometimes it is a lot that you have to like try to keep up on it. Sometimes your bosses they are calling you, you know, especially if you're reporting on the street. Can you do this? Can you do that? You're like, yo, I need some time off, you know, but you got to keep up on it. And it definitely is because it moves like this. Think about how long it's been since you started this or how long you started right, and you look how many years has been like that like that, So time moves or kids later, oh good luck, Yeah.
It later for him, two kids in a vasectomy for me, so I'm out, you know what I'm saying.
But and you know, but you know what, and your kids will always be with you. Some people don't understand that. Yeah, you know, it ain't gonna be twenty you still gonna beat their parents.
People say they're like yo.
Oh when you kids get all the weekids, I'm like, there's still my kids.
Yeah, yeah them.
Yeah.
I'm like, I'm not going to return them to the dealership.
You still got a couple of things in it, Like I but I'm this one got.
Hit when it was parked.
No, so that's not so.
But uh, Dan Memager, I have a.
Question for you.
I feel like I I feel like I have It's like it's like it's like Jan Michael Vincent.
I have to say Dean Memager every time. I can't just say Dean. You can't say Dean. I just I tell the young kids because I always try to grow my audience. So when the twelve to thirteen year old, oh, I see you on TV every time, they're like, yeah, it's going to mister Dean. I tell you, mister Dean.
Yeah yeah, yeah, so mister Dean, mister Dean the machine memitry.
Where do you see NYC goings after?
And this is this is uh this question comes from just sort of look, I want you to look back on your thirty years of experience and you pace university all that stuff, the subway tokens, the payphones. Where do you see New York city going in twenty twenty five up until twenty thirty.
You know what, it's New York City. Understand now you're here that term all the time. New York City is strong or strong. We are strong. We are the financial capital of the country, of the world. We're gonna keep moving no matter what, whether it's the people who are very wealthy will have a lot invested here, or it's just ordinary people who are on the grind. They're gonna keep moving. I understand this. We are now celebrating, well, not even celebrating on that's the wrong word. Marking five years since the start of the pandemic. That's mind blowing. But look at we survive that. I have family, friends, people who are covered, died, but we kept moving. We keep moving, we will keep moving. And it's not just native New Yorker. I'm a native New York I'm proud of this, man, proud of this. But there are those who come from other states, other countries who mix it in, right, guys, of course, But.
That's the beauty of New York. It's a melting pot, you know what I mean. And and and despite our despite our abrasive nature and our hard exterior, we are pretty welcoming to you know what I mean to most people.
I think New Yorkers have a special distinction.
That is, we are we mind our business, but we help each other. Some people don't don't feel that, but we do. We don't.
I mean, I've never been in I've never taken a train and there's been a woman pushing a baby's stroller and some random.
Even communicating. Just grab them and help them, don't touch my stroller up.
To know if you if you want to, if you want to d train on on Bedford, then that might happen, you know what I mean.
But most of the time, I think in every other any other station that's not.
Up Town, got to help each other.
You know, you gotta help each other.
If you have not eaten Rod from a train station.
You're not a real New York No, no, no, I don't mess around with the street.
No no.
I mean, I know people love them, you get them from the bag.
From the cuturito frido, but you.
Know they're in New York City.
You know what I'm saying.
This is a little statement. It's special for you, special for me.
You're not gonna give me fire right, No, no, no, no, no, no.
Not at all.
This is just to test your your journalistic metal, you know what I mean, and your knowledge of news.
All right, I don't fail if I failed so well.
No, don't worry.
Don't worry.
We feel we fell all the time. This is success is made out of failure.
Exactly, exactly. This segment is called New York or Florida.
They're crazy down. What we're gonna do is we're gonna live.
We're gonna read off a bunch of headlines and all you have to do is guess whether that's a Florida headline or a New York headline.
Okay, sound good?
You gotta. I think you're gonna tell me if I'm right or wrong?
Excellent? Ok freak it away.
Headline and I'm gonna do yeah, gotta do it.
Yeah.
Woman busted driving after her license was suspended thirteen times, police say New York of Florida.
I think in New York would be like thirty times Florida, Florida.
Maybe all right, Okay, and the next headline here from Victory Light News network. Teen admits to vandalizing cars she thought belonged to ex boyfriend, According to deputies, New York Florida, New York.
I am sorry, mister, Meminger. That is a Florida headline. But she's born in New York.
Might have been different.
Yeah, yeah, she read from Creston. Yeah, she's the work. Yeah, take it away, Take it away, maryl oh Man sugar now, yeah, yeah, yeah, I should have get you gone.
Two men wanted for stealing upwards of eighty Stanley water bottles.
I don't know. Let's go in New York, New York, Yeah, New York.
Let's know exact, Let's go Long Islands, and let's kind of like Florida.
All right, and uh and we got another headline for you here from Victory Light News Network. Man hit twenty eight year old in the head with a chair at a wedding venue, Florida.
I am sorry, mister, that is a New York answer.
All so long Island long you see Long Island gives them all to Florida. Ala five borrows.
How ninety seven?
Guess? Hold yeah island.
You know what I'm saying. I shouting you out in the five bro, shouting that that it's a very how long?
Was it a I?
Two and two?
One two and two? Yeah, that's crazy because I was gonna say City Island.
That was very city.
People haven't been to City Island. People who talk bad about the blessing, you gotta go to City Island.
Beautiful. It was beautiful. There's like six houses and then Sammy's and one fire station is beautiful.
It's amazing. Yeah, all right, okay.
Next one Hallmark movie star arrested for allegedly pulling a woman's hair at a bar.
Hallmark Movies. Not in my mind to go through what one of these movies of the woman getting back at her husband. I'm gonna say, New York. No, they shoot the movie. Listen, they must have, mister Mammager. I have just one more for you.
Man wants and this is going to sound obvious, but it might not be that he's trying to just to just to no, just to give you a clue here, mister Meminger, because listen, as Bronx boys, we want fellow Bronx boy Dean the Machine to win. Okay, all right, all right, listen, Man wants his seven hundred and fifty pounds alligator back after authority seized it from his home New York or Florida.
Might sound obvious, might not.
Be well one it was a dude in Hollywoo had a tiger and an alligator in his apartment.
Okay, uh huh, we're getting warm.
Trying to trick me, because now we're getting warm with the real story. I would know if New York, New York, Babe, let's go, that's what we're talking about. Maybe Florida, what Borough, that's what. I don't know this story, look at it.
All right, but listen now we're three and two with mister Meer. This is the last headline. But I'm down three Tom, you're up and seconds the clock.
God, I gotta hit this foul shot.
Twitter hails an twine yates the real Tiger King after driver raised a tiger in his home for three years before being bitten by it and having it seized by police.
Hall, New York.
Yes, let's go.
That's right. But that's all Twitter was around.
Back then, Hall of them and the scratched out all of them because I was.
Twitter was not around when that happened in New York. One. We just did an anniversary story on that.
There you go, there it is maybe and there you have it four and what two four two? We just wanted to prove to you that.
It is a real New York story. We just wanted to Long Island, Long Alley, but New York One. We covered the Five Boroughs Connecticut and Long Allen wanted him.
So there you have it. This d Menager.
Here we are Victory Light Studios, Episode ninety nine, Dean the Machine Menager, Ladies and Gentlemen from New York One's very own.
This has been fun.
Thank you.
I think I still have my job after this.
Yeah, we have fun.
We'll go up there and pick it for you in case.
You know, I'm gonna call you up.
Okay, it will be an honor for you to take us out. You know what I'm saying, remember, just styles straight down the barrel?
What am I doing? Though? Tell me what he's saying. It's a news network, now you know it's yeah, that's right, that's right network. Do you guys go it's it's v o in. Yes, you don't do that?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is vol And then.
You do know I was on like, I forget what was that on? Got it?
No?
Got them news won right? I forget? I forget them? No, we got it?
Yeah, so we gotta get it straight down the barrel.
Ninety nine all right, we always do like this in New York three two. What hey, everyone, this is Dean Meminger reporting from Victory Like News Network, episode ninety nine v L and N Victory Like News Network in The Bronx. Dean Meminger, New York one.
Let's go.
So I said ligity like like h of ligity, like she show
Sh
