YOUR SPACE: Blogger offers a view of local media from behind the scenes

He's a fly on the wall, in the form of a tall, bearded, bald guy in a green Subaru wagon.

Whether he's pesky is . . . well, you be the judge.

At breaking news sites, chances are 52-year-old Mike Coletta is there, avidly clicking away. His main focus isn't the event - it's the media covering it.

Fires. Homicides. Crashes. Chases. Parades. Fairs. High crimes and misdemeanors.

Coletta chronicles newspeople as they spring into action - or brush their hair.

The no-holds-barred posts define his NewsBlab.com Web site.

He bills himself as, "Blogger. Citizen Reporter. Media Monitor. Paparazzi."

In some media circles, he says he's also known as "stalker." He shrugs it off.

"I say, ‘I am doing exactly what you people are doing, but I am covering you.' I want to show what the media does."

Often, it means showing their behinds. "I'm just capturing them doing their work," Coletta says.

It started in 2001 with a dog that loved car rides. "I'd drive around with her. I was a news geek and I wanted TV stations to focus more on local news."

So, he became a one-man newsblab.

He tells when TV crews arrive, who's there and who's not.

He rates their coverage - and their looks.

Here's an account of a station setting up a shot: "(The female reporter) was busy fixing her hair in the vanity mirror and didn't see me. Nice hair is a good thing on camera. . . . (She) looked very nice during her live shot. Note: A couple of you (at a different station) could follow (her) hair care tips . . . and you know who you are."

Another blog tracked off-duty TV anchors in a 5k race.

Coletta goes where the media is asked not to go, such as the burial of a baby girl whose mother set fire to her. "When I got pictures of them burying the baby, I tried to do tasteful stuff. I stayed back," he says. "It is news. Local news."

A blog last week followed officials finding a missing man's body in a downtown park.

He also covered the nude photo scandal of a high school cheerleading squad. (Headline: "Pueblo cheerleaders gone wild?")

Such tenacity is an asset on Coletta's day job as a civilian test range launch specialist at Peterson Air Force Base.

He and his wife of 22 years, Vicki, share a manicured split-level on a quiet side street.

He denies sleeping with the police scanner on. "We're in bed by 9 or 9:30 p.m.," says Vicki. She approves of his "chases," but doesn't go along.

Their home's lower level is newsblab domain, with media memorabilia, sports items, a train set. Other than a laptop, it's no cutting-edge shop.

He gets about 1,500 hits a day on newsblab, which has forums, video and political bits.

He ran for mayor last year. He couldn't beat Lionel Rivera, but he wins for the most unusual reason for entering the race.

"My dog died," he says. "It was one way to keep busy."

Tell me your stories: 636-0253 or andrea.brown@gazette.com.