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A media critique... and then some! Banned in Beijing, Kabul, and at KCAL TV.
Thursday Letters are UP Inside LA TV - more criticism of KCAL's Interim news director, praise and criticism for former KNBC ND Nancy Bauer Gonzales, and more. Links to Recent Issues 09-10-01 Monday's OTR 09-05-01 Wednesday's OTR 09-07-01 Friday's OTR If you'd like to send a contribution to help keep OTR going, you can send ten dollars to Ron Fineman, PO Box 42364, Bakersfield, CA 93384 Or you can send $ on-line. Just click on the PayPal Logo. Thanks to Gigi Graciette and Alan Oda, .....our latest contributors. Your help is appreciated!
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To get on the OTR email reminder list, email me at BRUIN74@aol.com. |
A DARK TUESDAY FOR AMERICA
From this day forward, America may never be quite the same. Even though memories will fade a little with time, the toll on the United States just can't be calculated right now. As I write this on Tuesday afternoon, we still don't know who hijacked American commercial planes, forcing them into killing machines. What looked like special effects in a movie was incredibly real. We don't know exactly how they managed this sort of coordinated attack against the United States. But we do know that our country has seen terrorism on our soil unlike we have ever seen before. It is without question, an act of war. Now, our government must figure out who has declared war on us.
It would not surprise anyone if it turns out this was carried out by an Arab terrorist group with sympathy toward the Palestinian cause. As you may've heard, Palestinians cheered today when they learned about this attack on America. Suddenly we in the United States have had a tragic first hand example of what it is like to live in Israel. For years Israel has been the target of terrorist attacks. They usually strike back, sometimes harder than other times. Too often, other countries including the United States are quick to condemn that Israeli response. As many Americans anticipate a military response, once we know who our target will be, sadly we can now relate to Israel in a way we hoped we never would. And when you look at the death toll today, which we certainly don't know yet, I would imagine it is far greater than what any one act of terrorism ever visited upon Israel. Some may suggest this is an example of the price we pay for supporting Israel. That may be the case. Sometimes taking the right stand can be costly and painful. And it's not as if the USA and Israel under Barak didn't try very hard to make peace. Arafat just wasn't ready, and he may never be.
I haven't heard it mentioned yet, but I am remembering the Black September terrorist group. It was a Palestinian Terrorist organization formed after the PLO was pushed out of Jordan, after the PLO challenged the rule of King Hussein. It was the Black September group which was responsible for the Munich Massacre. I'm not saying the group is back, but I am just wondering if there is a reason that today's attacks were launched in September.
And now I also wonder what will be the results of this day...this dark Tuesday for America. We can expect stricter airport security. While no anti-missile defense could have stopped today's attacks, I would imagine this will pave the way toward going after the defense system that President Bush has been wanting. No one has to be convinced that the United States is a target for terrorism. Of course a strong country like the United States will endure and always prosper. But we will also be more cautious now. We know what can happen here. Our international consciousness has been raised in a cruel and vicious manner. Maybe we'll all be a little smarter now too. All of the things that we know and love about our country will go on. We'll have our Sunday football, we'll have our music and our movies...we'll still have the chance to pursue our dreams. But are also going to hurt for a long time. We'll probably never be quite the same.
INTERESTING OBSERVATION
KTLA reporter Jim Nash at LAX commented last night that it was unusual for an airline spokesman not to come forward and speak with the media after a crash. Usually, he said they're telling how many people were on board, how many died, and who was on the plane. Yet on this one, he said no one from United or American had come forward to talk to reporters. He could only speculate why that is...including the possibility that maybe they don't want to release passenger lists, since they would include suspects. Whatever the reason, I always like a reporter who can look at a story, and notice "what is wrong with this picture?" Earlier in the day after a news conference at LAX, he emphasized how little information officials had to offer. In a business where people are always trying to oversell what they have, it was refreshing to hear such a straight forward observation.
DID HE HAVE TO BE SUBJECTED TO IT?
I don't know if it was CBS network reporter, or one who works for an affiliate. But there he was last night, interviewing a young guy (he looked about 17), about his father who had just been killed in one of those airplanes. It was painful to watch this young man cry about his father, and to listen to the reporter try to drag sound bites out of him. Do viewers really need to watch that to appreciate this terrible story? I did not get the sense that this young man really wanted to be going through this interview. I can't believe I'm the only person who felt this young man's privacy was being invaded when he was quite vulnerable. When will this exploitation of victims stop? Only those in charge of newsrooms can answer that question. You don't really have to do such interviews, do you?
CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORDS
A number of TV people have been confusing a couple of words; cancelled and postponed. Of course cancelled means something won't happen, and postponed merely means some event has been put off for a while. Especially when you are talking about events which viewers may be planning to watch or attend, it really is a good idea to use the correct word.
Also...a lot of people have been using the word "enormity", falsely thinking that it means real big, as in enormous. No. It means "excessive wickedness or outrageousness." As a third definition, my dictionary lists "great size; immensity" , but also lists that as informal. Of course it only made it in as informal because of so many people misunderstanding what the word means. I think news anchors should use the word correctly, though obviously when they're talking about yesterday's attacks, either definition fits the story. But when they say there is much enormity involved in the recovery and rescue effort, than they are really using the wrong word. Considering that most TV reporters don't seem to know what "irony" means, maybe expecting all TV folk to know the correct meaning of enormity is asking too much.
MOVING ALONG
It seems a little odd continuing with a normal issue, under the circumstances. What with this terrible attack, the usual media criticism here seems so trivial in comparison. But I've had my say for the moment about the attack, and of course you are welcome to comment too. Maybe this site will serve as a welcome distraction today....so onward we go.
HOW COULD SHE NOT KNOW THAT?
On the KTLA Morning News last week, Sam Rubin had made reference to KNBC not carrying a car chase in the morning that everyone else had covered. As many OTR readers know, when GM Paula Madison took over last year, she decided to de-emphasize car chases. How poorly KNBC does in the ratings during car chases has been covered here more than once. You would think that every TV news person in town is aware of this Paula Madison policy. Well maybe every person, but one. Anchor Sharon Tay actually commented how surprised she was that KNBC had not covered the entire chase, since they normally do. How could she not know about the KNBC policy? It makes you wonder if Tay even watches the news, except when she's on it, of course.
PRETTY WELL DONE, HAROLD
The technical glitches in one story airing on KCBS last week was so bad, they had to dump out of the story. I must compliment Harold Greene, who did a pretty fair job of summing of the story on the fly. He could've said "we'll get back to that tape later", but instead jumped in to explain what it was about. The only thing that was a little odd, was that when he ad-libbed the story summary, he looked at his co-anchor instead of the camera. But I suppose Linda Alvarez is a lot better looking than a camera lens.
BY THE WAY
My memory was at fault on Monday when I said I thought that Woody Allen had written the introduction line "here they are", for a busty blonde on the Tonight Show. Reader George Kreisberg wrote in to say it was Dick Cavett who wrote it. Once I read George's email, it all clicked in, and I knew he was right. While I'm correcting my faulty memory, I should also add that "On Broadway" was written by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. This time I'm catching my own error. I had mistakenly credited Carole King and Gerry Goffin in place of Leiber and Stoller. . I don't think I can blame newsheimer's disease this time. Maybe I should just stop writing about anything more than two weeks old.
TIME FOR ANOTHER LA NEWS POLL
Maybe I've forgotten, but I don't think we've ever done a poll on best individual anchors, have we? I know we did best anchor teams, and most attractive female anchor/reporter...but I think that's been it. So, let me open the floor for nominations for best female anchor. You can nominate up to three, if you like. Send them to me at BRUIN74@aol.com. I'll take the top ten, and then we can do a poll.
INSIDE LA TV
We've got more criticism of KCAL interim news director Davida Plummer, praise and criticism for former KNBC ND Nancy Bauer Gonzales, and is one local reporter exaggerating on her station's web site bio? Head to Inside LA TV on the menu.
BROADCASTEZE VIOLATION OF THE WEEK
Who: Sylvia Lopez
Where: KCAL-TV
What : telling us the number of people who "perished"
It may sound poetic, but "died" is what most people say.
Put your hand on the monitor and count to three....one, two, three....HEAL!!
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.
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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