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A media critique... and then some! 8/17/01 - Friday Friday Letters - comments on Good Day LA, should reporters say "laid to rest?", and more. Coming Monday - a local reporter is confronted in his station parking lot and  called a liar. Guess who? Also, we've got a station memo that the news director would rather you didn't see. Links to Recent Issues 08-13-01 Monday's OTR 08-15-01 Wednesday's OTR 08-10-01 Friday's OTR To send a contribution to help keep OTR going you can send ten dollars (or more if you like!) to Ron Fineman PO Box 42364 Bakersfield, CA 93384 - Thanks Send your opinions to BRUIN74@aol.com.

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WHAT DO YOU THINK?

San Diego sports talk show host has resigned his new job as play-by-play announcer for the Minnesota Vikings, after he says pressure from the NAACP forced him to resign. This came after a reporter in Minnesota did a story about some of the controversial comments Hamilton has made over the years.

Based on Mike Penner's column in the LA Times yesterday I have some concerns. For example, the reporter who wrote the story refused to talk to Hamilton! I've heard of subjects refusing to talk to reporters, but I've never heard of a reporter refusing to talk to someone they've written a story about. Reporter Larry Fitzgerald said he refused Hamilton's phone calls because "What do I need to talk to him about? I didn't hire him." Can you believe a reporter said that??? Fitzgerald is black, and Hamilton suggests that he had an agenda with his story.

Arguably the most offensive thing Hamilton was quoted as saying is when he called Hideki Irabu a "fat Jap." There is just NO excuse for using an offensive slur like that. It certainly shows signs of bigotry, or at least stupidity.

A comment which I would suggest fits into the "insensitive" category is that he suggested Lawrence Phillips should be lynched and strung up for his off-field activities. I'm sure he didn't mean that literally, but it's not hard to imagine where some black listeners might be offended by a lynching reference to a black man.

Then there are comments listed in Penner's column, which I think might have some merit. In one case, he suggested that a network football analyst kept his job "probably because he's African American." I don't know who he was talking about, but generally speaking, it is no secret that some people have been hired in this business only because of their race or ethnicity. Does anyone believe that in some cases, being a minority can help keep your job? Are black broadcasters ever fired? Of course they are. But on the other hand, are there not those afraid to fire a minority for fear of being branded a racist? If you're a network, or a large station, surely the fear of a Jesse Jackson boycott has to be out there.

In explaining why his radio station has no black talk show hosts, Hamilton said that in his experience at XTRA radio, "I think it's real hard to find an African American who can come in and do sports talk across the board and be able to talk about a lot of different things. I've tried hard to hand-deliver blacks, and when they come into the process, they can talk basketball, but they can't talk NHL or they don't want to talk baseball or they're not interested in a wide variety of things."

 I have no way of knowing if that is a reasonable reflection of reality or not. I know I don't care about the NHL, and I've never heard of hockey being popular among black sports fans.  It sounds to me like a guy talking about his experience, and accurate or not for the rest of the world, it would seem to make for reasonable discussion.

One of my concerns in all of this is 'different rules for different people.' Reggie White made a number of arguably racist statements.  Would the NAACP have a problem if he were to work for the Minnesota Vikings? Would they be concerned if Richard Williams were to do network tennis commentary? Does racism only go one way?

I'm afraid situations like this Hamilton case make white people afraid to talk frankly about race. Some would rather be quiet, than risk being called a racist. But, you don't make any progress in mutual understanding if you don't talk about these issues. I'd like to open up this site for a discussion on all of this. I'd like to hear from readers of all races. What do you think? Send your comments to BRUIN74@aol.com. 

ENOUGH ALREADY

There were the Levys again. Talking to a reporter in front of their home in Modesto today. Look...Gary Condit is a bum. The Levys are victims. We still don't know what happened to their daughter. But absent anything new to talk about, it's time for the news media to move on. Sure, reporters can and should keep their eye on the story and stay in touch with the DC Police. When Condit finally talks publicly, that will be a story. If there are legitimate new developments in the case, then report that. But this re-hash is ridiculous.  What started as a good and responsible job by the news media has gotten out of hand.

I want to welcome OTR's latest advertiser. Once again, for those in the market, I really encourage you to consider the services of our sponsors. Thanks.

OUR FRIDAY INTERVIEW WITH GOOD DAY LA HOST STEVE EDWARDS

(1)  OTR - What we see now on Good Day LA is not the show it was when you started
with it. Could you explain what it was like at first, and how the decision
was made to change it?

Steve - "When Josh Kaplan( the executive producer )talked to me about joining the show it was with the idea that it could be a forum for interviews with newsmakers, authors, and pop culture tastemakers. Each day we would talk with the likes of Newt Gingrich, Ross Perot, Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiasson, Bishop Tutu and Hanan Ashwari, the Palestinian spokeswoman, along with the usual assortment of celebs plugging products and projects. We would have debates about the issues and try to keep an eye on southern California politics and trends (not just fashion). That along with a decent chunk of news coverage.

There were five morning shows on the air and I think we were 12th and sinking. We once had a quarter hour with a famous jazz musician ( not to be named here) where there were more people running camera than in the viewing audience. I believe getting a hash mark in the overnights did make an impression on management (especially a very patient Jose Rios), and they moved us out of a set that looked to some , like Hef's place 1959, back to the regular news set. There was no specific mandate and we just evolved to whatever it is we are today. Jillian Barberie and Dorothy Lucey were unleashed, politics , international affairs and issues faded into the background , show biz and fashion get heavy play and GoodDayLA has become a successful morning show . It is personality driven( Jillian, Dorothy, Tony Mcewing , Rod Bernsen and everyone else) that features a serious and sincere attempt to cover local news well, a digest of national and international news and the rest is up for grabs. Some people love it, a lot of people (including the producers) get a headache from it. It is a Show with news in it.

We've won the Emmy for daytime news broadcast twice in the last three or four years. The first was a shock, the second a surprise. I demanded a recount."

(2) OTR - You obviously are able to not take the show or yourself TOO seriously.
Were there times in your career when you were too serious, and that had
a negative impact on what you were doing?

Steve - "I've always thought of what I do as playing a game. When I was kid playing team sports, I tried hard to do well and get others to do their best. I practiced and trained and wanted to win but had a good time either way . I still feel as if I get up in the morning and go to the playground . I can be serious about how a show should be done and I can be critical about my performance, but it's still a game and I know I've gotten a pass on ever having a real job in my adult life. Given that attitude, I don't think that being serious has a any real negative impact on what I was doing....except, maybe, for this answer."

(3) OTR - How often do you sit down (or stand up) and watch tapes of your show?
Does the staff have post-show meetings, discussing how it went? What
are the areas where you tend to be critical about yourself? 

Steve - "It's hard to watch the show later...doing it is enough. Sometimes
 I'll check to see if some moments play on tv as they did in the studio.
I usually find find that things are never as good or as bad as they seemed
live; the tv screen tends to take some of the edge off.
We talk about show in general but we tend not to do post mortems. There's
a real efficiency doing all the all the self criticism on the air. When
you can do a bump tease, pick it apart for it's hype, it's cliches and
lack of adequate grammar and and say the show's not very good today it
saves a lot of time all around. 

Even on our worst days, one of the real virtues of Good DayLA is that
nothing is hidden. There's no attempt to create an artificial environment
; it's clearly a show with no fourth wall, no posing allowed
with real people and real moments. Most of what defines the show is always
unplanned: there is a well produced structure in place and we violate the
hell out of it everyday. As I mentioned earlier, GoodDayLA isn't a 2 hour
newscast, it's show, mostly about pop culture (such as it is) with news in it."

(4) OTR - When you do pick something apart on the air, like the time you criticized
Jillian for saying "Southland", does it do any good in the long run? Do
people learn something, or is it forgotten right after it is said?

Steve -"The Battle of the Southland is an ugly one. As a guerilla fighting against those superior forces , The Southlanders, I will continue to resist, although it seems a losing cause. Where is The Southland?. Does it start in San Luis Obispo?....Goleta?...Oxnard...Macon Georgia? Where does it end? Ask ten people and you get ten uncertain answers and its a clunky, made up thing that should never be used in FinemanLand. 
I like what Jim Rome does, dividing it into NoCal, SoCal and LoCal.
At the risk of sounding really pretentious, I do try to clarify issues and events we talk about and put them in context but I have no idea whether people learn anything or see those moments as intermission .
As for criticizing Jillian, I would never, ever do that to her or Dorothy. Well maybe after 7:05 or so."

NEXT WEEK - PART TWO WITH STEVE EDWARDS, where we'll find out what Steve thinks about rival show, The KTLA Morning News. I haven't asked him yet, but I'm sure it'll be an answer worth reading.

MORE BASEBALL TRIVIA

I know this appeals to a small segment. But of course the beauty of a web page allows you to scroll down without much inconvenience.  For those who like it...here's another one.  What active baseball player has won the most consecutive Gold Gloves?  You can send your answer to BRUIN74@aol.com. 

OTR ONE YEAR AGO THIS WEEK (8-16-00)

TAPE SHOWS WOMAN WAS ABUSIVE TO POLICE OFFICER

Three years ago, Long Beach Police were called to a bar called Panama Joe's. Long Beach Deputy City Attorney Bill Reitter tells OTR that Rhonda Belcher had attacked two women in the bar, and then threw a container of beer at the bartender.  She was arrested for being drunk in public, and eventually was fined and sentenced to community service.

Belcher filed a lawsuit, claiming that Officer Galen Carroll beat her up on the way to the police station.  Officer Carroll has counter-sued, claiming defamation.  The case should be going to the jury today (Wednesday).  Lucky for Carroll, he had a tape recorder handy when he drove Belcher to the police station.  Here're just some excerpts from the 21-page transcript  of that tape-recorded conversation. (Just for the record, I did NOT get the transcript from Reitter).  After thinking it over, I've decided to include the offensive language, so be prepared.

Belcher: I got important things to do. I'm an LA Times executive.

Carroll: That's nice.

Belcher: Okay? I'm going to write a story about you. I want your fucking name, you fucking skinhead.......

A short time later....(after Carroll tells her she's being arrested for being drunk in public)

Belcher:  (unintelligible)...works for the LA Times, and I'm going to tell him you raped me on the way here. Guess what? We're really gonna have fun, baby.

Carroll: Okay

Belcher: Really gonna have...I'm the biggest fucking bitch you ever met in your life.

Later, when Belcher is being booked at the station, with others there....

Belcher: "When I get through with this fucking asshole, he's going to be so fucking fired. He won't even know his name. He won't know up and down Broadway....(unintelligible)....charge. (unintelligible) He tried to stick his dick in my mouth all the way here....."

Deputy City Attorney Reitter says when she was leaning against the booking desk,  while handcuffed, Belcher was trying to kick people. Carroll wanted to sit her on the floor so she could be better controlled. Before he could do that, Reitter says she fell to the floor on her face. Maybe she tripped on her own legs or on Carroll's legs, Reitter says it's not clear just why she fell.  There were a number of people there, and Reitter says there is no evidence that anyone pushed her down.  Reitter says that Belcher does NOT claim that anyone pushed her down. Her claim is that she was punched on the way to the station, and that she was beaten in a elevator. (According to the transcript, Carroll made sure another officer went with him when he took her on the elevator).

Before leaving the police station, Reitter says she told a police sergeant she was NOT raped. Though it was not in her complaint, Reitter says she testified that she was dragged into some warehouse on the way to the station, where she claims she was raped by many men. (The transcript shows that Carroll logged his mileage after he left the bar, and the dispatcher acknowledged what time it was. Reitter says from the bar, it was a seven minute trip to the police station).

On the witness stand, Reitter says Belcher admitted that she lied in explaining her facial injuries to others, like her boss, by saying she fell off her bike.  He says she testified that she will lie when it suits her purpose.

I called Belcher's attorney two days in a row, but he has not returned my phone calls.  Belcher is an account executive (in other words, she sells advertising) with the Orange County bureau of the LA Times.  Her voice mail at the Times says she'll be back at work on Friday. Nevertheless, I've left a message on her voice mail so she can call me and give her side of the story.

We hear a lot about the bad cops out there, as we should. But I thought it was important to show that sometimes good cops can be made to look bad.

TOUGHEN UP WOLF

I hate it when politicians avoid answering a question, and the reporter lets them get away with it.  Yesterday Wolf Blitzer was interviewing Donna Shalala. He asked her if Joe Lieberman had satisfied the black caucus that he's with them on affirmative action. She answered by saying he had talked about his long history supporting civil rights, and then went on to say how wonderful it is that Democrats hold their candidates' feet to the fire. She never directly answered the question, and Blitzer let it go.

I heard Lieberman say "I support affirmative action." But WHAT does that mean? Outreach programs to minorities are part of affirmative action, and so are racial preferences in hiring.  Suppose you support one, but not the other?  

It's not hard to understand why Lieberman would be against hiring (or not hiring) and admitting people to college (or not admitting them)  based on race or ethnicity.  When Lieberman was accepted to Yale, he got in under the quota, which only allowed so many Jews. Up until Proposition 209 was passed in California in 1996, many Asians, despite strong test scores and grades, were denied admittance to UC Berkeley and UCLA to make room for other minorities who were considered under-represented.  According to wire reports this is what Lieberman once said about Prop 209 "I can't see how I could be opposed to it. It's based on American values."  Maybe we can do a poll on affirmative action next week.

MAXINE CRYING WOLF?

After Al Gore decided Elian Gonzalez should stay in the US, Congresswoman Maxine Waters said she was so upset with him, that she would consider not taking an active part in supporting his election. Now before Lieberman spoke to the black caucus, she again said she was considering sitting out the election.  Afterward, she said she's behind the ticket.  Interestingly, KCAL anchor Pat Harvey told Waters on the news last night that she's known Waters for a long time, and that when Waters says something, she means it.  Maybe so.  But how many times can you publicly consider one thing, and then keep backing away from it? 

CONVENTION GREMLINS

When KTLA's Jennifer York was reporting live, the picture wasn't so good. I guess some microwave signals got confused, because suddenly, there was KCOP's Peter Thorne appearing like a ghost,  in the middle of the picture, apparently waiting for his live shot on channel 13. I wonder, if we could've heard Peter on channel 5, would union rules have required KTLA to pay him too?

GOOD SHOW AND TELL

I liked a Convention live shot by KTLA's Patricia Del Rio.  It's one thing to hear that police are shooting bean bags, but she got one and showed how little they are. She also explained how when police shoot rubber bullets, they shoot them on the ground so that bounce up to hit people in the legs.  Whether or not it always works that way, I don't know.  But with all of the weapons in the police arsenal, the more education of reporters and viewers, the better.

NOT IN THIS SEGMENT

KCAL-9 has this series of stories in their news, where one piece of video is edited to the next.  Each story is separated by a banner which says "Live, Local & Late Breaking." Oddly enough, during this segment last week, they showed a story which was 24 hours old. It was about an overflow crowd coming to an event sponsored by Maxim magazine.  The event was at the Farmer's Daughter Motel.  KCAL said it was at Farmer's Market.  I know I keep harping on the misuse of the term "breaking news." But really, a day later...it shouldn't be anywhere a segment with the phrase "late breaking."

ANOTHER GOOD REASON AGAINST MUSIC IN THE NEWS

KTLA was doing a story about Roseanne appearing nude, or semi-nude in a magazine. If the thought of that isn't bad enough, the station had to run background music underneath when they bumped the story.  Lyrics to the song were things like "you sex pot" and "you turn me on."  Maybe someone's tongue was in someone's cheek, I don't know.  When Mindy Burbano did the story, she used a term which I realize must be inducted into the OTR cliché hall of infamy. I'll bet you can guess it. What does every anchor or reporter say about someone who appears nude?   Yes, Roseanne "bares it all." Burbano said that, even though she acknowledged it wasn't clear if Roseanne would appear nude or semi-nude. Sorry, I hope none you are about to eat your lunch, or dinner.

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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