From education to the viaduct, from business to health care, we have tried each week to tackle issues that matter to our community. Sometimes, it's not the most flashy television, but we're proud that over the past seven years, the number of people watching KING 5 News Up Front has steadily grown. Thanks for watching and please feel free to leave a comment about the show...
21 Comments
DougInOlympia said:
Robert Mak [Or Mr. Mak]. You Truly do a service @ this great area with Great people, we are truly greatful.
JM said:
How about making your 345th (or 346th) about the WASL and how Terry Bergeson has screwed up the lives of our kids?? Have Juanita Doyon on your show, along with Nancy Vernon, to discuss what they (along with our legislature)know!! Yet still, the state legislature DOES NOTHING!!! When are you going to stop being a player in the OSPI's hands and actually do some REPORTING???? If you need help with this, go to http://www.thefactsaboutwaedreform.org/ for a great eye-opening report! Get off of the Upfront set and DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!!
TimSeattle said:
I am sorry to hear that Robert Mak is leaving and taking a job with the Mayor's office. I have always thought that Robert Mak fairly presented both sides of an issue. Now we have lost him to the dark side of Seattle politics. I have lived in this city longer than the Mayor and I believe he is trying to change our beautiful city to be like Chicago, where he is from. I wish he would just move back there. The Mayor doesn't seem to care to hear any opinions other than his own. Robert's talents are lost. I am sad...Good Luck.
Francisco Irigon said:
Dear Robert: You will surely be missed. I enjoyed your commentaries and news reporting. I wish you much success with your new job.
Barry Sehlin said:
Robert: The people of Washington are losing a valuable asset. During my years in the Legislature you were the ONE TV/Radio reporter who actually attempted to understand the complexities of issues. The public needs something more than opposing quotes and gotcha investigations. You've been the professional, responsible, source on television where most people still get their news and information. I will miss you.
Josef said:
The Mak Attack was one of a kind and will be sorely missed as there's not much coverage of Washington State Politics. But obviously, Robert wanted to make more money than many of us could dream of and practice his unique talents.
All the best. Hope this show can be reborn.
Jon Horton said:
Robert:
As the producer of the other local show from the news department (HS Gametime) I know how hard you have worked on your show. It was a wonderful and entertaining look at something I rarely enjoy - politics. It was apparent that it was your love... and I wish you well as you change course and try out the other side of the spectrum of politics.
Christy said:
I hope KING 5 can replace this program with something as quality. What a loss for people looking for information and not spin.
Holliday Moore said:
Robert,
As a fellow political reporter I'd like say congratulations! I hope your decision is not based on the national trend in news to cut politics out of the daily rundown.
Having attended a few of the same Political Excellence events as you, I gained an incredible amount of insight from your ideas. You motivated me, and others, to find better ways to track politics and open the public's eyes.
Thank you! Our industry has lost a huge asset in local political news. I hope Seattle viewers understand how unusually lucky they are to have such a politically saavy reporter watching out for them over the years.
mr mak i am glad your off the air on king 5. i never liked your on air reports to programs. the awards you got were because of your race and nothing else. it's sad local goverment had to hire you just because of your race and no more!
if i clicke on king and you were on i clicked and change to another channel thanks to direct tv and others.king and other seattle tv news hosts have too many asian and others hired todate. you turn seattle tv news to a joke and play re-run newscasts daily and the weekends and holidays newscast are the worst.today we get better news from the network than seattle tv news.the weather channel does seattle weather better 24 hours a day.you show traffic on tv news as if we are driving and watching you. their is no need fo traffic reports on tv news except when the road is block etc....king tv will be better off with no more mr mak to waste local seattle air time.
thanks for leaving king tv.
gillian said:
we often wished that your show was one hour long. you did such a great job at giving concise and unbiased information. we always liked your style. you will be sorely missed.
lots of success to you!
Don Marvin said:
Robert, how could you? Local television news on its best day is little more than infotainment. You have always been one of the few bright spots on the local news scene. Your departure will not only leave a void at King, it will leave a gaping hole in local television journalism. Your integrity and professionalism have always been apparent in your quest to inform and educate your viewers. Your interviews were always probative yet fair. You have the unique ability to elicit information from your subjects without being offensive or biased. Your focus was always on the story and its value to your viewers. That's rare in a field that is saturated with mediocre reporters who are more interested in making themselves look good in furtherance of their personal agendas than they are in simply reporting the news. It's a sad day for northwest television viewers. Your quest for new challenges is understandable and I wish you well. Thank you for the last 16 years, it's been great.
Garrett Cobarr said:
Journalism for Politics? I hope that you can have the same impact as you have had at the helm of UpFront. There seems to be a long tradition in this city of being in media and then moving to a political role, your predecessor, Jim Compton and I believe one of our former mayors, Charles Royer, I am sure there is more.
I do not think that UpFront is just the best example of media journalism in the region I think it is the only example, everything else is a distant second. The cornerstone of democracy is an informed public, journalism in this region has been far to connected to vested interests, both right or left. There have been many occasions that a story on UpFront has influenced my vote on a issue. One of the highest compliments I can pay to a news source is that I may not agree with it but I will continue to read or watch it and most importantly, respect it.
The only other news source I can think of that I feel that way about is "The Economist," you are in good company.
Good luck Mr Mak, the next host has some bug shoes to fill.
It is really terrible that Robert Mak is leaving. He is literally the only Western Washington TV reporter that covers politics well. He is the reason I watch KING5 news, and I may stop. Probably not, because KING5 is still decent enough without Mak compared to the others.
If they get that unfair and inaccurate "Goldy" to replace Mak, however, I will definitely stop watching.
ledog3 said:
Adio's Robert.
Thanks for not being a sucker or a suck-up.
michel said:
Robert Mak was the only political reporter in local news i felt i could trust. his ability to explain things with an independent look will certainly be missed. farwell
In my humble opinion Robert Mak is the most objective and thorough professional in journalism today.
Unfortunately news has become entertainment first sprinkled with fact to give the appearance of legitimacy. For me it is difficult to watch most newscasts regardless of channel. I tend to lien on the News Hour on PBS since they do not demagogue an issue they report and “panel” up to discuss the topic with civility and usually with folks that do not have an ax to grind.
Ironic that Robert is making more than the Mayor of Seattle and he is 24th in that list. Now that’s a story I could see Robert reporting on!
Robert I am sorry to see you waste your talent with the City of Seattle. I wish your soon to be old employer would see the civic value you provide when informing us on the issues and match the offer. That is a value that goes beyond dollars.
Robert I wish you and your family well.
Best regards,
Kirk Williams
Jeffry said:
But Robert loves Seattle. At one time, King5 was knows as minimum wage five. Talked to a boy from Chico whle in the army that said he rode a bus up here and worked at Kiro for $8/hour. He had to move on. It will be interesting to see Robert Mak, the factualist acting as a mouthpiece for a ragged group, green and allegedly in the know, that Nickels has speaks for. Seattle is one of the prettiest cities in the country. There is not a vaste difference in people like you see in Boston in San Francisco. The news in Boston is about the stabbings in Roxbury. The News in San Francisco is about a 2 week Chinese new year. We have more balance here.
SeattleMichael said:
Mr. Blair what a horrible and slanderous thing to say about a fellow human being. Mr. Mac has been a fine example of newscasting, and should be commended and King5 is losing a valuable asset
I know we cannot please everyone, but publicly attacking someone qualifications playing the race card in this day and age is such a throw back to 50's thinking
ledog3 said:
Mr Blair clearly has nothing much beyond a 3-4th grade education under his belt. Look at the grammar and sentence structure of his post. I can't see anyone with that apparent shortage of brain cells doing anything more than watching Sunday morning sports while eating his daily Egg McMuffin's and playing the newest video game on his laptop. Roberts show brought a bit of intelligence to a medium that has gone otherwise gone completely stupid. Blair can go on watching Entertainment Tonight, Fox News, The Simpsons, Cops, Sports Center and other newsworthy shows to get his much needed dose of news and opinion..
Joe Renton said:
THANK YOU,
ROBERT MAK
I have just started watching up front this year and quickly became a fan. Today I was just saying to someone, up front with Robert Mak is my favorite show and Robert Mak is the man. I feel up front was a great program to educate society. I've wondered if other urban regions in our country or around the world had great programs like up front. This show was a very positive part of the northwest and was a good reason to live here. I hope king 5 carries on the great reporting of pubic issues on up front. They do well with their news programs, this is why I watch them over other channels. But it's tough to follow Robert Mak and I have a feeling I will not continue watching the show weekly.
P.S. Bernard Choi could do well, replacing Robert Mac.
From education to the viaduct, from business to health care, we have tried each week to tackle issues that matter to our community. Sometimes, it's not the most flashy television, but we're proud that over the past seven years, the number of people watching KING 5 News Up Front has steadily grown. Thanks for watching and please feel free to leave a comment about the show...
Robert Mak [Or Mr. Mak]. You Truly do a service @ this great area with Great people, we are truly greatful.
How about making your 345th (or 346th) about the WASL and how Terry Bergeson has screwed up the lives of our kids?? Have Juanita Doyon on your show, along with Nancy Vernon, to discuss what they (along with our legislature)know!! Yet still, the state legislature DOES NOTHING!!! When are you going to stop being a player in the OSPI's hands and actually do some REPORTING???? If you need help with this, go to http://www.thefactsaboutwaedreform.org/ for a great eye-opening report! Get off of the Upfront set and DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!!
I am sorry to hear that Robert Mak is leaving and taking a job with the Mayor's office. I have always thought that Robert Mak fairly presented both sides of an issue. Now we have lost him to the dark side of Seattle politics. I have lived in this city longer than the Mayor and I believe he is trying to change our beautiful city to be like Chicago, where he is from. I wish he would just move back there. The Mayor doesn't seem to care to hear any opinions other than his own. Robert's talents are lost. I am sad...Good Luck.
Dear Robert: You will surely be missed. I enjoyed your commentaries and news reporting. I wish you much success with your new job.
Robert: The people of Washington are losing a valuable asset. During my years in the Legislature you were the ONE TV/Radio reporter who actually attempted to understand the complexities of issues. The public needs something more than opposing quotes and gotcha investigations. You've been the professional, responsible, source on television where most people still get their news and information. I will miss you.
The Mak Attack was one of a kind and will be sorely missed as there's not much coverage of Washington State Politics. But obviously, Robert wanted to make more money than many of us could dream of and practice his unique talents.
All the best. Hope this show can be reborn.
Robert:
As the producer of the other local show from the news department (HS Gametime) I know how hard you have worked on your show. It was a wonderful and entertaining look at something I rarely enjoy - politics. It was apparent that it was your love... and I wish you well as you change course and try out the other side of the spectrum of politics.
I hope KING 5 can replace this program with something as quality. What a loss for people looking for information and not spin.
Robert,
As a fellow political reporter I'd like say congratulations! I hope your decision is not based on the national trend in news to cut politics out of the daily rundown.
Having attended a few of the same Political Excellence events as you, I gained an incredible amount of insight from your ideas. You motivated me, and others, to find better ways to track politics and open the public's eyes.
Thank you! Our industry has lost a huge asset in local political news. I hope Seattle viewers understand how unusually lucky they are to have such a politically saavy reporter watching out for them over the years.
Good luck to you.
Sincerely,
Holliday Moore
Fellow WCPE Recipient
Phoenix, AZ
mr mak i am glad your off the air on king 5. i never liked your on air reports to programs. the awards you got were because of your race and nothing else. it's sad local goverment had to hire you just because of your race and no more!
if i clicke on king and you were on i clicked and change to another channel thanks to direct tv and others.king and other seattle tv news hosts have too many asian and others hired todate. you turn seattle tv news to a joke and play re-run newscasts daily and the weekends and holidays newscast are the worst.today we get better news from the network than seattle tv news.the weather channel does seattle weather better 24 hours a day.you show traffic on tv news as if we are driving and watching you. their is no need fo traffic reports on tv news except when the road is block etc....king tv will be better off with no more mr mak to waste local seattle air time.
thanks for leaving king tv.
we often wished that your show was one hour long. you did such a great job at giving concise and unbiased information. we always liked your style. you will be sorely missed.
lots of success to you!
Robert, how could you? Local television news on its best day is little more than infotainment. You have always been one of the few bright spots on the local news scene. Your departure will not only leave a void at King, it will leave a gaping hole in local television journalism. Your integrity and professionalism have always been apparent in your quest to inform and educate your viewers. Your interviews were always probative yet fair. You have the unique ability to elicit information from your subjects without being offensive or biased. Your focus was always on the story and its value to your viewers. That's rare in a field that is saturated with mediocre reporters who are more interested in making themselves look good in furtherance of their personal agendas than they are in simply reporting the news. It's a sad day for northwest television viewers. Your quest for new challenges is understandable and I wish you well. Thank you for the last 16 years, it's been great.
Journalism for Politics? I hope that you can have the same impact as you have had at the helm of UpFront. There seems to be a long tradition in this city of being in media and then moving to a political role, your predecessor, Jim Compton and I believe one of our former mayors, Charles Royer, I am sure there is more.
I do not think that UpFront is just the best example of media journalism in the region I think it is the only example, everything else is a distant second. The cornerstone of democracy is an informed public, journalism in this region has been far to connected to vested interests, both right or left. There have been many occasions that a story on UpFront has influenced my vote on a issue. One of the highest compliments I can pay to a news source is that I may not agree with it but I will continue to read or watch it and most importantly, respect it.
The only other news source I can think of that I feel that way about is "The Economist," you are in good company.
Good luck Mr Mak, the next host has some bug shoes to fill.
It is really terrible that Robert Mak is leaving. He is literally the only Western Washington TV reporter that covers politics well. He is the reason I watch KING5 news, and I may stop. Probably not, because KING5 is still decent enough without Mak compared to the others.
If they get that unfair and inaccurate "Goldy" to replace Mak, however, I will definitely stop watching.
Adio's Robert.
Thanks for not being a sucker or a suck-up.
Robert Mak was the only political reporter in local news i felt i could trust. his ability to explain things with an independent look will certainly be missed. farwell
p.s: those were some awesome debates you did.
In my humble opinion Robert Mak is the most objective and thorough professional in journalism today.
Unfortunately news has become entertainment first sprinkled with fact to give the appearance of legitimacy. For me it is difficult to watch most newscasts regardless of channel. I tend to lien on the News Hour on PBS since they do not demagogue an issue they report and “panel” up to discuss the topic with civility and usually with folks that do not have an ax to grind.
Ironic that Robert is making more than the Mayor of Seattle and he is 24th in that list. Now that’s a story I could see Robert reporting on!
Robert I am sorry to see you waste your talent with the City of Seattle. I wish your soon to be old employer would see the civic value you provide when informing us on the issues and match the offer. That is a value that goes beyond dollars.
Robert I wish you and your family well.
Best regards,
Kirk Williams
But Robert loves Seattle. At one time, King5 was knows as minimum wage five. Talked to a boy from Chico whle in the army that said he rode a bus up here and worked at Kiro for $8/hour. He had to move on. It will be interesting to see Robert Mak, the factualist acting as a mouthpiece for a ragged group, green and allegedly in the know, that Nickels has speaks for. Seattle is one of the prettiest cities in the country. There is not a vaste difference in people like you see in Boston in San Francisco. The news in Boston is about the stabbings in Roxbury. The News in San Francisco is about a 2 week Chinese new year. We have more balance here.
Mr. Blair what a horrible and slanderous thing to say about a fellow human being. Mr. Mac has been a fine example of newscasting, and should be commended and King5 is losing a valuable asset
I know we cannot please everyone, but publicly attacking someone qualifications playing the race card in this day and age is such a throw back to 50's thinking
Mr Blair clearly has nothing much beyond a 3-4th grade education under his belt. Look at the grammar and sentence structure of his post. I can't see anyone with that apparent shortage of brain cells doing anything more than watching Sunday morning sports while eating his daily Egg McMuffin's and playing the newest video game on his laptop. Roberts show brought a bit of intelligence to a medium that has gone otherwise gone completely stupid. Blair can go on watching Entertainment Tonight, Fox News, The Simpsons, Cops, Sports Center and other newsworthy shows to get his much needed dose of news and opinion..
THANK YOU,
ROBERT MAK
I have just started watching up front this year and quickly became a fan. Today I was just saying to someone, up front with Robert Mak is my favorite show and Robert Mak is the man. I feel up front was a great program to educate society. I've wondered if other urban regions in our country or around the world had great programs like up front. This show was a very positive part of the northwest and was a good reason to live here. I hope king 5 carries on the great reporting of pubic issues on up front. They do well with their news programs, this is why I watch them over other channels. But it's tough to follow Robert Mak and I have a feeling I will not continue watching the show weekly.
P.S. Bernard Choi could do well, replacing Robert Mac.