Best of Utah 2012: Media & Politics 

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Best Weekend Weatherman
John Goulet, Fox 13
He’s done time with KUTV 2 and KSL 5, but weatherman John Goulet (no relation to Robert, as far as we know) seems much more at home in the looser weekend environs of Fox 13. His loopy, unpredictable delivery never fails to surprise viewers and, occasionally, his fellow newscasters. Also, his Twitter feed is the most entertaining of any local meteorologist’s: “Summer breeze … makes me feel fine. I think Snoop sang that,” “Morning showers and afternoon T-storms. Oh, the rapture. I miss Saturday,” and the hits don’t stop.
Fox 13, weekends, 5 & 9 p.m., Fox13Now.com, Twitter: @JohnGoulet

Best Local Cable Show
Big Movie Mouth-Off
Jeff Vice and Jimmy Martin have fast become the biggest names in televised movie reviews in the Salt Lake City area, and it’s no mistake. Filmed at one of our favorite watering holes, Brewvies, their funny, beer-fueled Big Movie Mouth-Off is funny, entertaining and insightful, even when they’re dead wrong about a movie. And their Facebook page is the site of dozens of movie giveaways every month, as well as offering a daily reader poll, making it a must-like.
Comcast 6 and Xfinity On Demand, Facebook.com/BigMovieMouthOff

Best Weekday Wake-up
Jamie Gadette, KRCL 90.9
The standard morning banter and news rips are fine for most, but sometimes all you need from your radio in the a.m. is straight-up good music and a less talk/more rock touch—and no one on the local FM airwaves does that better than KRCL’s Jamie Gadette. She knows her stuff (after all, she was City Weekly’s music editor for five years), striking the right balance of current indie-hipsters and classic rockers and the best of everything in between, making segues from Joan As Policewoman into James Brown seem as natural as her leading the Black Keys into Little Richard. If over-over-overplayed Top 40 hits and “morning zoo” noise leave you cold, this is where you should be.
90.9 FM, weekdays, 6-10 a.m., KRCL.org

Best Comeback
Kerri Cronk, Fox 13
In August 2011, Good Day Utah anchor Kerri Cronk was involved in a hit-and-run incident; her on a bicycle vs. a car whose driver has yet to be caught. Cronk suffered fractured neck vertebrae, a separated shoulder, a concussion and other injuries, but was back on the air by October, as cheerful and positive as ever. “I feel like I want to give the driver the benefit of the doubt,” Cronk told City Weekly shortly after the accident. “That there is some legitimate reason as to why they left, because if not, then they left not knowing whether I was dead or alive, and that’s heartbreaking that another human being could do that.” Almost as heartbreaking: The thought of mornings without Cronk—thanks for coming back so soon.
Weekdays, 6-9 a.m., 11 a.m., Fox13Now.com

Kerri Cronk, Fox 13

Best Anchors Away
ABC 4 News
After ABC 4’s news team came in fourth in the November 2011 sweeps, station management decided on another kind of “sweep” for its anchors. A substantial shuffle resulted in amiable staffers Brent Hunsaker and Kylie Conway heading up the 10 p.m. news. Anchoring the 5 p.m. newscast is former a.m. anchor Don Hudson and Kim Fischer, from KXAS in Dallas. Dan Plante, from KUSI in San Diego, and Ann Sterling from Los Angeles’ KCBS/KCAL were brought in for Good Morning Utah. And then there’s the new weather guy, Jim Kosek, a Penn State alumnus known as a forecasting wizard. Let’s hope the fickle winds of TV ratings don’t blow them all away.

Best Radio Resurrection
101.9 The End
After 101.9 The End dumped its DJs and moved to “Gen-X” music in 2010, some listeners mourned and some rejoiced. But most, apparently, moved on from the station, which became a bizarre mishmash of Puff Daddy, Pearl Jam, Backstreet Boys and Ace of Base. The End eventually returned to the “alternative” format, and is now again pumping out the intense electronic sounds of The Cure, Depeche Mode and Duran Duran on an hourly basis. Our moody, alternative ears are grateful.
101.9 FM, 1019TheEnd.com

Best Radio Station

X96
We asked midday DJ Marci Wiser to give us a reason why Best of Utah voters still love alternative-rock station X96—she gave us 10: “1. X96 isn’t corporate, and we don’t take anything too seriously, except our listeners and the music we play. 2. Bill Allred’s abs are hot. 3. If we play a crappy record, trust me, our listeners rip our heads off—we’ve learned to avoid musical mistakes. 4. Who needs ESPN? Gina Barberi’s sports reports are incredible. 5. If you don’t listen, Kerry Jackson and the Geek Show will force you to read comic books. 6. Richie Steadman … He’s not a reason people like X96, but I had to give him a plug. 7. Sean Demry’s too new to hate, so we’re good there. 8. Corey O’Brien gives stuff away all night. Who doesn’t like free stuff? 9. The suits upstairs are afraid of the DJs, so it’s like a keg party downstairs. People like keg parties. 10. I pay people to listen to my shift. Actually, we’re just really lucky to have kick-ass listeners—we’re all a great big happy, dysfunctional family.”
96.3 FM, X96.com
2. KRCL 90.9
3. KZHT 97.1

Best Locals-Only Radio Show
The Salt Lake Soundcheck, KBER 101.1
Since 2005, host Helmut Von Schmidt (and, for the past couple of years, partner-in-rock Metalhead Murphy) has spun and interviewed local bands Saturday nights on KBER 101.1; if you don’t follow the tightly formatted commercial-radio biz, you don’t realize what a rarity Utah has in The Salt Lake Soundcheck. The hour-long show, like KBER, leans toward rock, but SLS is open to all comers regardless of genre—as long as it doesn’t suck, your band is eligible for 3 1/2 minutes of weekend fame. So send Helmut and Metalhead your non-sucky songs, already.
101.1 FM., Saturdays, 6-7 p.m., KBER.com

Best Radio Immigration Advocate
Doug Wright, KSL Radio
When it comes to the subject of immigration, KSL talk show host Doug Wright, who usually leans right to our left, is the voice of reasonableness in the face of often irate irrationality. After yet another caller demands to know why Wright doesn’t understand the meaning of the word “illegal,” you can all but hear his teeth grinding as he struggles to stay cool while explaining both the history of immigration in this country and the role that immigrants, documented and not, play in society, economically, socially or culturally. Keep it up, sir!
KSL 102.5 FM/1160 AM, weekdays, 10 a.m.-noon, KSL.com, Twitter: @DougWrightShow