Fox 11 reporter John Schwada used to be a print guy, and recently spent two weeks on a reporting fellowship in Germany. So I guess he feels comfortable exposing the international affairs gaps of his colleagues in local TV. His latest blog entry at the Channel 11 website talks about how neither of the camermen he asked knew the name of Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor.

“Angela Merkel,” I said, testing the waters. I was sitting with a cameraman in a microvan, waiting in the early morning gloom (this was weeks ago) to do a live-shot about a murdered LA bikini model whose body was found in a trash dumpster. “Angela Merkel,” I repeated. “That’s not the dead girl’s name,” the cameraman said, correcting me. “It’s Jasmine Merkel.” No, I was about to say, Jasmine Fiore is the dead bikini model. Angela Merkel is….oh, forget it. Just to make sure this wasn’t a fluke, after a live-shot about the wildfires, over lunch, I put the same question to another cameraman. “So, Angela Merkel - what do you think?” I asked. “Who’s that,” he grunted, barely looking up from his burrito. “Should I know her?” “No, I guess not,” I said. “By the way how’s that burrito?”

The post also talks about gallows humor returning to the newsroom after the layoff of 100 Fox 11 staffers, which Schwada previously blogged about.

Also: Fox 11 producer Bob Tarlau has posted pics from the going-away gathering for Fox 11 staffers who were recently laid off.