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A media critique... and then some! 8/03/01 - Friday Friday Letters -  questions about video which doesn't match the writing, background music during the news and should OTR consider voluntary subscriptions? Links to Recent Issues 07-30-01 Monday's OTR 08-01-01 Wednesday's OTR 07-27-01 Friday's OTR Send your opinions to BRUIN74@aol.com.

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STILL EVALUATING KCOP

I've been given some conflicting information about KTTV Fox GM Dave Boylan's visit to KCOP this week. One KCOP source told me he talked about consolidating the newsroom operations.  Another source there told me he talked about sharing resources, but didn't hear talk of consolidation.  Another person told me that there are no plans of moving KCOP to the Fox11 location on Bundy Drive, and in fact with all the office space on LaBrea, some people may be moved over to LaBrea, and they may expand the graphics department there. Obviously allocation of office space is not what is on the minds of the KCOP news staff.

GM Dave Boylan was kind enough to return my phone call.  He told me they're still evaluating the situation.  He says he didn't say anything on his tour about consolidating the news operations. He says right now everything is business as usual. He stressed to me that nothing has happened, and there is no plan yet. 

This is a good place for me to add that should the ultimate decision call for the Fox11 staff doing the news on KCOP, that would first have to be negotiated with the various unions.

OTR READERS KNEW BETTER

At least a majority of you did.  Here are the results of our mini-poll on whether you believed the tip about Chandra Levy's body being buried in a parking lot. I started the poll when the story about the tip broke, and ended it yesterday afternoon after the FBI called it a hoax.

 Yes 15   23% 
 No  50   77% 

When this story first broke, a woman with WE-TIP explained that they had a tip from their website which was three pages long. She said it was very detailed. That right there made me suspicious. A three page tip sounded like a wacko to me.  But later on it was reported that the tip came through a phone call, which makes you wonder where the three pages came from, unless I suppose the WE-TIP operator took three pages worth of notes. In any case, it is too bad that the news media made as much out of this as they did.  Saying things like "the search could be over", while technically accurate, really made too much out of an anonymous tip.  But considering the TV news track record of exaggeration and blowing things out of proportion, what else would you expect?

OUR FRIDAY INTERVIEW WITH JOSH MANKIEWICZ - PART TWO

As I'm sure many of you know, Josh is a correspondent with Dateline NBC, and also used to report for KCAL news in Los Angeles.

When we last left off, this was the last part of Josh's last answer, which will help make Question #6 make sense.

Josh -"I think viewers are bored with celebrity news, with pointless titillation, and
with chasing the police blotter. And they're telling us precisely that in every
successive rating book, as the share of people watching local news drops again
and again. The gap in Los Angeles between what's really happening out there and
what makes the lineup of the 4,5,6, 10, and 11 is getting bigger every day and
eventually it will threaten all of us.

There's no question that there's a huge audience that's turned away from local
news. In LA, at least, they can be won back because no one is serving them.
There are plenty of reporters in town who know exactly how to do it; all
that's required is the commitment of managers to ignore the N'Sync concert and
send the troops out after something way more significant."

(6) OTR - What about KNBC? They seem to have taken some steps in the direction you're talking about. Who do you like to watch for LA local news?

Josh - "I think KNBC has taken some steps in the right direction, but I'd like to
see them go back to having a full-time political editor, which they haven't
had since Linda Douglass left in 1993. There's a lot going on in Sacramento
these days, and someone ought to be up there on a regular basis, filing
daily on the latest energy news. That's a subject so complicated and the
politics surrounding it so Byzantine, it begs for the attention of a
specialist. And let's face it--that sort of coverage is the kind of thing
you can promote. There's a new Mayor. Channel 4 should be down there every
day. And if they are, they'll have the place pretty much to themselves.

I generally watch KNBC or KABC at 11, because I'm a big fan of both Patrick
Healy and David Jackson, and I'm glad I didn't have to compete against
either of them when I was covering politics at KCAL. And I'm very happy not
to have to face off against Mark Coogan anymore.

At 10pm I watch KTTV because Mark Thompson always makes me laugh. And there are plenty of reporters around the dial [Goldstein, Grover, Nolan, Griffin,
Erickson] who keep me watching if I know they're about to be on. Sonya
Crawford [who used to work here at Dateline] is going to be a major star one
day. And I'll be watching to see where Tracie Savage ends up; letting her
get away was a mistake. "

(7) OTR - Going back to your first TV magazine work...how did you like working for the Fox show?

Josh - "It was1993. I thought working for Fox would be interesting, and I thought it
would be fun to work on a start-up. So I turned down an offer from Dateline and
went to Fox's "Front Page." Murdoch wanted a newsmagazine that played to the
Fox audience, so we did stories about tagging, about Kurt Cobain's suicide and
about Duran Duran. We also shot and edited all the stories in unusual ways,
with odd [and frequently distracting] camera angles and sudden moves. It was
definitely fun, although I'm not sure the audience thought so. One week, we
were dead last in the Nielsens, out of like 105 shows. Fox should have hung on
to the show --we were on Saturday night and nothing would have done too well in
that timeslot [and they ended up doing a pale imitation of Front Page a few
years later, called Fox Files]. But after a year and a couple of attempts to
retool the show, Fox gave up, and I went to Dateline, which fortunately hadn't
hired anyone for the job I turned down."

(8) OTR - You mention frequently distracting camera angles. Sometimes, I see what I would call MTV style of TV photography on mainstream newscasts. Those snap zooms and swish pans drive me nuts. Do they bother you too?

Josh -"All effects drive me crazy if they're just being done to show off. When we
did Front Page, it was '93 and some of the MTV-style effects were still new
enough not to be too annoying. But the half-dozen people who actually
remember Front Page will doubtless also recall that we never met an effect
we didn't like. And guess what? We got canceled anyway."

(9) OTR - Did you get to Dateline before or after the GM truck incident? If you were there at the time, I'm wondering what the atmosphere must've been like? If you came later, I'm also wondering how much that may've hurt the show while
doing other stories. Do potential interview subjects ever bring that up to you?

Josh - "I arrived about a year after the GM episode, and by then, Neal Shapiro [who replaced the management team that aired the GM story] had already rebuilt a lot of the morale and he had added a lot of new people to the staff as well. I think
most of the damage was short-term and pretty much limited to people inside the
business. These days, it's pretty rare that I hear about it from someone we're
interviewing. What is unfortunate is that today people remember only the scandal
and the poor storytelling, and not the fact that the story was basically true and
accurate."

(10) OTR - While it was pretty blatant, I'm sure the GM truck incident wasn't the only time someone in TV news used deception to make a point. Do you feel like that culture is still out there in any significant numbers?

Josh - "I don't think it is out there in a significant way, despite the clamor from both the extreme left and the extreme right that we can't be trusted to tell the
truth. Even the most devious of reporters must have figured out that the penalty
for getting caught doing that kind of thing will probably end your career [and it
should].

The closest thing to deliberate deception comes in the form of the relentless
teases for stories that don't live up to their billing. As someone once said [and
this is especially true in LA local news]: "Our teases scream; our stories
whisper." And when we oversell like that, when we say "what we found will shock
you"..." a big name implicated in a sex scandal"..."you won't believe what we
found"...we're really saying one of two things to the viewers. We're either
saying, "We think you're as cynical as we are, and you get that there's a
difference between overselling and outright lying," or we're saying, "we think
you're too dumb to tell the difference." Both, obviously, are the wrong message
to be sending."

OUR FRIDAY INTERVIEW WITH JOSH MANKIEWICZ CONCLUDES NEXT WEEK...in which Josh talks about their competition with 20/20 and 60 Minutes.

WE CONTINUE OUR ENERGY Q&A WITH MR KABC

OTR - What is your take on the Davis advisors who owned stock in energy generator companies? Also, do you think his press spokesman Steve Mavaglio owning such stock should be considered in the same category of improper behavior?

Mr K - How can this be anything but a textbook case of conflict of interest? Under
state clean-government law, public officials may not participate in
decisions that could affect their investments, on penalty of termination,
civil fines or criminal sentences.

I mentioned in a previous answer that behind closed doors, Calpine officials
call our Governor, "Gravy Days." I have long maintained that these
long-term contracts are a bad deal. The fact that so many of Davis'
advisors made investments in Calpine and other generators doing business
with the state should, at least, be grounds to void the contracts and at
best, criminal charges should be filed.

Fortunately, Secretary of State Bill Jones investigations prompted last
week's firing of four state energy buyers and a consultant who owned Calpine
stock. Jones' complaints led the attorney general, the state Fair Political
Practices Commission and the federal Securities and Exchange Commission to
investigate.

The Governor's willingness to look beyond these conflicts and the debacle
that was the hiring of Lahane and Fabiani (who also were paid employees of
Edison - another obvious conflict) and continue to fight to keep the MOU
(Memorandum Of Understanding) with Edison alive is confounding. Why is he
so willing to save Edison at any cost? Why did Davis deplete the state
surplus to buy power for the first 6 months of this year and now with the
sweetheart contracts sell power at a loss of over $14 million in the first
two week of June?

The latest revelations of possible impropriety was Tuesday when Davis'
press secretary Steve Maviglio confessed to owning stock in Calpine. He
also admitted to owning stock worth thousands of dollars in Enron. Maviglio
served as Davis' chief spokesman urging the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission to impose price ceilings on power generators.

It takes a unique skill for one Governor to attract so many advisors who
have obvious conflicts. I don't know if Maviglio has broken any laws but he
should have the good sense to steer clear from the appearance of impropriety
and Davis should demand that of everyone he hires."

OTR ONE YEAR AGO THIS WEEK (8-02-01)

WAY TO GO PETER

I have a feeling it may've been inspired by the controversy over the fake Times Square background used by CBS on New Year's.  On Monday night, it looked like Peter Jennings had a box overlooking the convention floor. But, he showed us that it was actually on a chrome-a-key background. Zap!  Just like that, we saw the blue screen. With all the hype and BS that I see on local news, it felt good to see an anchor make an effort to be honest about something that most of us wouldn't have thought twice about.

CONVENTION STUFF

It is smart of the Republicans to do a little bit of the roll call vote each night instead of all at once.  With absolutely no suspense, it would make for one prolonged bore to do it all at once. Under the circumstances, I wished they'd just do it by computer and not even bother with the long tedious speeches that few of us care about. If I were casting votes, in order to fit in, I'd have to say, "the OTR website, which......(fill in the long first paragraph on today's page)....passes. YAWN.

GET WELL GERRY

  I had noticed in one of his interviews that President Ford didn't sound right, but I just figured he was getting old. He and Jimmy Carter have been excellent examples of useful former presidents. Let's hope he bounces right back from his stroke.

PARTISAN HYPE

During one of the convention interviews, one GOP veteran said he couldn't understand how Bill Clinton could've beaten George Bush in 92. If he really doesn't get it, the GOP can only hope George W and his team have a much better understanding of the American public.

PARTY OF THE MINORITIES?

I think Bill Maher was right to suggest that having so many black performers and speakers on opening night was something of a scam. No, I don't think those on stage have to be as white as those in the audience, but a little more balance would've made the Republicans seem more genuine. Watching a gospel group is not to going to make black Americans any more likely to return to the Republican Party.  I do give George W Bush credit for truly wanting to be inclusive, but he's going to need less sizzle and more substance.

ON THE OTHER HAND

Bush keeps saying he wants to run a  POSITIVE campaign. He doesn't want to be part of the politics of divisiveness. But then he decides to take a swipe at Bill Clinton by saying that Dick Cheney knows what the meaning of is, is. And this comes from a uniter?

GETTING IN BED WITH THE POLICE

It's a tough choice facing LA TV news directors.  There will be a no-fly zone over the Democratic Convention.  An LAPD surveillance helicopter is down, and there is a proposal in which  KMEX TV will lease a helicopter and let the LAPD use it. The police will allow the shooting of pool video from the chopper, but the police will completely control what video is shot. They say they won't censor anything.  So here's the question; if you're a new director, do you become part of the pool (by paying for part of the fuel), or do you say NO, because the LAPD is taking control of a TV helicopter.

First, I think someone should go to court and challenge this no-fly zone. There is NO reason that you can't have ONE media-controlled helicopter to shoot pool video.  But, assuming that won't happen, I agree with KTLA news director Jeff Wald....there is no good choice, so I would become part of this pool.  True, I hate the idea of police controlling the content.  But if you at least use a super which says "LAPD video", then you'll be honest with the viewers. And, suppose there is violence in the streets, and the LAPD controlled video captures it.  Can you imagine being a station which doesn't have it, while others do?  I am often the type to stand on principle. So I can understand and respect those who refuse to be part of this. I don't like it, but, IF the LAPD aerial video is the only game in town, I think the right choice is to take part.

NICE 'LITTLE' AD-LIB

Sometimes I have hard time picking out my most hated bit of broadcasteze. It's like trying to decide my favorite episode of Seinfeld, which sometimes is the last one I watched. Anyway, near the top of my most disliked broadcasteze list is the adjective "little" when it is needlessly put in front of a child's name. It seems that every child, no matter their age, and no matter their actual size, is considered "little" when it comes to TV news. Sure enough, last week, some bonehead news writer at KCAL did it again. The point of the story was about a BIG baby being born, 13 pounds. So believe it or not, someone wrote "look at little Jared." At that point, anchor Jane Velez Mitchell ad-libbed "maybe little is not the right word."  It wasn't. I wonder why the writer of the story couldn't have figured that out?

SPEAKING OF CLICHÉS

I was proud of KCAL reporter David Goldstein, at least for 30 seconds. He introduced a story of his by saying "police aren't saying much." I thought, good....he avoided it. Then, not long into his recorded package...there IT WAS....."police are TIGHT-LIPPED."  And he started out sooooo good too.

X SHOULDN'T MARK THE SPOT

KTTV's entertainment reporter Lisa Joyner recently covered the opening of the movie "X-Men."  There she was wearing an X-men cap!  Could she not cover the story without becoming a human billboard for it? Sadly, she was more of a promoter of the movie, than someone there to report about it. Later, on KCBS-TV, David Sheehan was there, and managed to actually do his live report without wearing an "X-Men" hat. Of course Sheehan reviewed the movie during his report.  That was obviously not Joyner's role. Still, call me old-fashioned, but I think you can cover a movie premier, without being a shill for it.

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.  

YOUR OPINIONS

They are an important part of OTR. Please send them along to BRUIN74@aol.com. Unless you say otherwise, I'll assume it is for publication.

OTR IS PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY, WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY   Letters to the editor are updated Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

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.

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