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OTR |
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A media critique... and then some!
Tuesday Letters are up - harsh comments on Boguslawski, lack of consequence for parents whose kids die in cars, reporters who change their name to appear more ethnic...and more. Inside LA TV - More on KCAL..... Links to Recent Issues 06-25-01 Monday's OTR 06-27-01 Wednesday's OTR 06-29-01 Friday's OTR |
To get on the OTR email reminder list, email me at BRUIN74@aol.com. |
HAS KCBS REPORTER MIKE BOGUSLAWSKI GONE TOO FAR?
The LA Times recently reported that the 18-year old who was named Miss Barstow had to give up her crown. Why? Because she was caught vandalizing a pickup truck by using chalk to write on the windshield. It was part of some graduation tradition they have in Barstow, where graduates go out armed with silly string, toilet paper, and chalk. The question left hanging was whether Emily Arnold would be criminally charged. On Thursday, Deputy District Attorney Gary Roth announced that Arnold's activity didn't rise to the level of criminal behavior.
In the story which aired on KCBS, consumer report Mike Boguslawski actually seemed to take credit for the decision not to prosecute. Listen to the facts, and tell me what you think.
On their Friday 11pm news, KCBS anchor Gretchen Carr led into the story by saying "Tonight Bogey comes to the beauty queen's rescue..."
In the story reported by Boguslawski, Emily Arnold said "we toilet papered, silly stringed and car chalked." Boguslawski explained she was caught by a CHP officer and taken to the CHP station. He also said "Fearing that charges would be brought against Emily, we asked the deputy DA of Barstow to drop the charges."
Here is what Deputy DA Gary Roth said on camera, "What she has done does not qualify under the California Penal Code as vandalism. It was deminimus activity and we will not be filing any criminal charges."
In the next piece of video, Boguslawski is with Emily Arnold's mother Patricia. She says to Boguslawki, "Now I'm almost ready to cry because I'm so happy, because I'm so grateful to you." To that Boguslawski asks "Give me a hug?" And she says "You bet!" Boguslawski thanks her for the hug and then tells the viewers "I was happy to help the Arnolds."
Deputy DA Roth told me that while he had no problem with the KCBS story, Boguslawski's opinion had no bearing on his office's decision not to prosecute. So I was left to wonder; how did he help the Arnolds? Why is anyone grateful to him? Exactly how did Boguslawski come to the Arnolds' rescue as Gretchen Carr reported?
I talked on the phone today with Patricia Arnold who said "we're gonna love that man (Boguslawski) forever." Why? She explained to me that the DA's office seemed to be taking forever to make a decision on this incident which happened May 25th. She credits Boguslawski for getting the DA's office to finally decide. She says the interview with Boguslawski last Thursday was the first time Roth had announced a decision. Of course crediting Bogey with pushing the DA's office to make a decision, is different than crediting him with convincing the DA's office on what decision to make. Arnold says she's not sure if she believes Bogey influenced that. Roth also denies that Boguslawski influenced the timing of the decision. In fact Roth says his office had tentatively decided not to charge Arnold weeks earlier, but had been waiting for more information. However, Roth wouldn't tell OTR what that information was, or exactly when his office made its final decision not to charge. So while he says Bogey had no influence on his office's decisions, he also says it may've been his fault for not making things clear to Boguslawski. Roth says he can't remember everything he said to him.
While I talked to Roth, it became clear that he didn't want to say anything that could be construed as negative against Boguslawski. But unless Roth said something to him like "Thanks Bogey for helping our office to come to the right decision", I can't imagine how Boguslawski could've honestly thought he influenced it.
Based on what Roth told me, as well as good old fashioned common sense, it's pretty clear that Boguslawski is trying to take credit for something he had nothing to do with. Even if he did influence the timing of the announcement, which Patricia Arnold believes but Roth denies, the story left the impression that he influenced the decision itself. I imagine some of the real journalists at KCBS would like to die, just so they could roll over in their graves. No doubt Bill Stout has already done a couple of 360s. Remember, this is the same Boguslawski who falsely boasted on the radio that Joe Lieberman was the best man at this wedding. So, it would not be the first time he was dishonest to help enhance his image. Though I think a reporter's story speaks for itself, I emailed Boguslawski for his comments this afternoon. He's not responded yet, but if he does, I will of course be happy to tell you what he has to say.
Your opinions, as always, are welcome.
You can reach me at BRUIN74@aol.com.
GOOD JOB PAULA
This one goes back a couple weeks, but is certainly worth a mention. On The Fox News Channel, Paul Zahn was going to interview Chandra Levy's father on the phone. But when she goes to the phone, Levy was not there, but a spokesman instead. Even though Levy had agreed to the interview that day, the spokesman said that a decision had been made not to do any more interviews a few days earlier. Anyway, it was a pretty awkward situation for Zahn, especially since this spokesman had nothing of substance to say. Zahn would've had every right to be angry, and maybe she was. But she handled it like a pro, trying to get what she could out this sudden surrogate interview. Certainly, one mark of a pro is being thrown a curve and handling it without missing a beat. Well done.
MAYBE IT WASN'T THAT FAMOUS?
Heard recently as a promo announcement on the KTLA Morning News...."Remember the show with that famous address Beverly Hills 90201?" I guess you never know when dyslexia will strike.
SOME OUTSTANDING VIDEO
It's the kind of story that makes you say to your friends...did you see that? No this wasn't the world greatest implosion, or another clerk at a convenience story getting shot. This was police officers responding to a call of a baby and a small child being left in a car on a hot day. The cameras got there before the mother made her way back to the car. What made this memorable was the mini-lecture that one of the cops gave to the bonehead mother. He let her know what a dangerous thing she had done. She was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment. Police say the kids had been in the car at least 20 minutes, with the windows rolled up. One thing you hope is that maybe that video of the officer reprimanding the mother might prevent someone watching from doing the same thing. Though, wouldn't you think parents would know you DON'T leave small children in car alone no matter what the temperature? Sadly, just a day or two later, another child died in car. In this case, a foster mother was distracted when she arrived home. She got out....saw a couple of her other kids leave her car, and didn't realize that one child was still in there. Amazing.
PICKY, PICKY
During KCAL's newscast last Friday night about the mayor, the leadin read by anchor Pat Harvey said that "tonight is his last night in office." But then, reporter Lora McLaughlin correctly said that his term ends "tomorrow night at midnight." I only bring this up because the same mistake was made in the leadin at nine. I would've hoped it could've been corrected for the next hour.
But how about this? Riordan's term ended midnight Saturday, but Hahn wasn't sworn in until today. Does that mean LA was mayorless for a day? Suppose San Francisco launched an attack on LA yesterday, with missiles full of pretentiousness and arrogance? Would LA have been ready to respond with its own defense system of Laker Flags and silicone? Luckily, we may never have to find out.
ANOTHER OVERBLOWN TEASE
A 200 acre plus brush fire was burning early Friday evening in Ventura County. Homeowners there did a great job of clearing brush and weeds away from their homes, and so no homes were in immediate danger. Yet the tease read by anchor Kerry Kilbride said that fire season was starting with a "vengeance." With that kind of buildup, wouldn't you expect something more than 200 acres of brush and no homes damaged? But I suppose the more important thing it to sensationalize a not too serious fire, rather than give the viewers an accurate impression of what is going on.
AN ENERGY INFUSION NEEDED
As I was listening to the start of KNBC's 5 o'clock news today...I heard Paul Moyer give his usual high energy first line. In contrast, the much more laid back Nerissa Witherspoon sounded like someone just woke her up. She sounds like she'd be at home doing news on an FM radio station. While I don't think an overly energetic news reader is a good thing, since that can sound phony..... you really do need to sound like you care. More importantly, if your co-anchor is high energy, you need to complement that person. Otherwise, Moyer and Witherspoon anchoring together can be like driving on an LA freeway. STOP...GO...STOP...GO Not a good combo.
LAST WEEK'S POLL RESULTS
| Do you believe Duke Energy has withheld energy to increase prices? | ||||
 |
votes | percent | ||
1.) Yes |
120 | 83% | ||
2.) No |
11 | 8% | ||
3.) Undecided |
14 | 10% | ||
| For LA viewers, which is the best weekend anchor team? | ||||
|
votes | percent | ||
|
1.) KCBS - Griffin/Alvarez |
22 | 16% | ||
|
2.) KNBC - Diaz/Chatman |
11 | 8% | ||
|
3.) KNBC - Giggans/Witherspoon |
4 | 3% | ||
4.) KTLA - McCormick/Waller |
22 | 16% | ||
5.) KABC - Sykes/Palmer |
29 | 21% | ||
6.) KABC - Romero/Dador |
6 | 4% | ||
7.) KCAL - Clark/Nguyen |
9 | 7% | ||
8.) KTTV- Michael/Hirasuna |
31 | 23% | ||
9.) KCOP - Ninomiya/Silva |
1 | 1% | ||
If you go to the poll section on the menu, you LA viewers can vote for one of the two finalists. For everyone, I have a little house-keeping question. I just want to know how often you log onto OTR. Even if you don't normally go to the poll, please help me out on this one. Also....we've got ten choices for Jack Lemmon's best movie. Let us know which one you like.
GOOD QUESTION LARRY
Talk show host Larry Elder was questioning the wisdom that celebrities die in threes. One person said after Carroll O'Connor and Jack Lemmon, someone else will die within 90 days. Another person said the threesome was already complete because of John Lee Hooker. Another said it was complete because of Anthony Quinn. As Elder wisely asked, when do you start counting?
Though Bob Hope might not be laughing...at one point Larry Elder said to one caller "Why don't you count Bob Hope? Or is he still alive?" The caller said "that was a long time ago." Another person came to rescue to tell Larry that Bob Hope was still alive....to which Elder said "Keep Hope alive."
REDUNDANCY OF THE WEEK
This one came from KCOP a couple of weeks ago: "For the first time, Disney is reaching out to African Americans like never before."
BROADCASTEZE VIOLATION OF THE WEEK
Who: Pat Harvey
Where: KCAL
What: "fled on foot"
You know, I thought maybe we had this one eradicated. I hadn't heard it for a while. Please, let's make this a "fled on foot" free world. Thank you.
Put your hand on the monitor and count to three...one, two, three...HEAL!!
THE ENERGY MESS
We continue our Q&A with talk show host Marc Germain, better known as Mr KABC. Last week, he had a Duke Energy spokesman on his show.
OTR - Tell us about your interview with Duke Energy. Did they make a
decent case that they've NOT withheld energy to increase prices?
Mr K - "Tom Williams who was the Duke Energy spokesman on my show Thursday night
made some highly controversial claims. Duke has gone on the offensive by
taking out full-page ads in a number of California newspapers, including the
LA Times, claiming that the "Davis Three" [Governor Davis'
whistleblowers] are not Duke employees - they were SDG&E workers who did not know that the
CAISO directed plant operations to ramp up and down the South Bay's units
and that Duke has not manipulated the supply and in fact has been generating
50% more power than in the previous year. Williams claimed that Duke
offered power contracts to Governor Davis last year a $.05 / Kwh which were
rejected. He claimed that Duke has only been paid $.016 on the dollar and
owes nothing to the state but has entered into settlement talks concerning
refunds on the order of several million dollars to prevent litigation. Mr.
Williams reiterated his belief that we have a real power crisis that many of
the California plants are old and in need of repair and will fail when
needed most.
I challenged him on several issues including his belief that Duke has the
right to run their plants as they see fit. He was very comfortable with the
way his company has conducted business in this state and that they have not
profiteered or gouged California ratepayers or taxpayers. My goal was to
have a greater understanding of the generators' perspective who, until now,
have not been very willing to grant interviews. It was important to get him
on the record with these statements."
(Note to readers - This appeared in a Times article yesterday
...."The operator of California's electricity grid has
acknowledged in internal documents that it was responsible for
gyrations in production at a San Diego power plant that Gov. Gray
Davis and others have touted as evidence of gouging by out-of-state
energy companies." And "Aides to
Davis said Saturday that it was unclear whether the governor was
aware of Cal-ISO's role. His spokesman, Steve Maviglio, said Davis
based his criticisms on the trio's sworn testimony."
"It sounded like the smoking gun
that everyone was pointing to," Maviglio said. "But if
there's counter-evidence, there's
counter-evidence."
However, I did still haven't heard a good explanation of the
charge by one of the workers that he was ordered to throw away good
parts.-Ron)
YOUR OPINIONS
They are always welcome. You can reach me at BRUIN74@aol.com. Unless you say otherwise, I will assume your comments are for publication.
OTR ON THE ROAD
As this web site evolves, it seemed like a good idea to offer my services for speaking engagements at colleges, service clubs or anyone else interested in the OTR gospel. Of course one of the great advantage to speaking in person is that you get far few typos. If you check the OTR On the Road page on the menu (Netscape users CAN now access it too), you can see learn more. You can also read what some well known OTR readers have to say about this web site. If you are interested, you can email to OTROnTheRoad@aol.com.
Ron's disclaimer: Like all reporters I have opinions. I do the best I can to make sure that nothing I say here has any effect on my objectivity in covering stories.
OTR's main page IS PUBLISHED MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY. Letters are added Tuesday - Friday.
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