A media critique... and then some! 10/12/01 - Friday COMING Monday - an insider tells OTR something KTLA should look out for with their new morning co-anchor. Links to Recent Issues 10-08-01 Monday's OTR 10-10-01 Wednesday's OTR 10-05-01 Friday's OTR OTR can use your help to keep publishing. If you like it, feel free to send ten dollars to Ron Fineman PO Box 42364 Bakersfield, CA 93384    OR you can send $ electronically by clicking on the PayPal logo   My sincerest thanks to our latest contributor.... Lenny of San Diego gave $50! Your help is very  much appreciated! Send your opinions to BRUIN74@aol.com.

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BOGUSLAWSKI FIRED

One week after OTR reported that his consumer segment, Bogey's Corner, had been cancelled, word comes that Mike Boguslawski has been fired by KCBS.  CBS Vice-President of Communications, Dana McClintock told me this morning that there has been a "parting of the ways."  After Bogey's Corner was dumped, I was told that they were still going to keep him around, since he was still under contract. I was skeptical about how long that would last. Well, it didn't last long.  I imagine GM David Woodcock had to ask himself, "are we better off with him on our station, or not?" If the answer was "not", then whatever money they had to give him was worth it. 

What was amazing was not just that he was ever put on the air in Los Angeles, but how strongly the station promoted him. You'll recall one of my biggest complaints was when he was given a hard news story to do about a land use issue, and they led their newscast with it. It was a terrible piece of journalism.  Making the KCBS slogan "The Station of the People" was certainly Bogey inspired. For a time, anchors had to say that stupid slogan each time they went to a break.  Woodcock just has to scratch his head and wonder, "what was Severino thinking?"

KCBS has a long way to go in the ratings battle. Credit must be given to Woodcock. He is trying to turn the ship around.

SOMETHING GOING ON AT NBC-LA

The Burbank Fire Department is at NBC in Burbank, which includes KNBC-TV. I'm told there is a yellow tape around the building, and that there is some sort of quarantine in effect right now (early afternoon). People cannot go into the building.  After what we've learned about the Anthrax case at NBC in New York, it's not hard to imagine that whatever is going on...people are being very cautious. I've called Burbank Fire and KNBC, but have gotten NO information. So whether there is something serious going on, or just a cautious reaction to something....I don't know.  Obviously if it turns out to be a problem, you'll find out about it on the news.

RATINGS SNAPSHOT -WEDNESDAY

6-7 am 

KTTV - 4.1

KNBC - 3.5

KABC - 3.3

KTLA - 2.3

KCBS - 0.6

From 5:30 - 6:00 am...Both KTTV and KABC beat KNBC.  Also worth noting...some improved ratings for KCAL at night.  Their 8pm hour had 3.0....9pm...4.2 and 10pm...2.8. KTLA won the 10pm with a 4.8, KTTV came in second with 3.4. KCOP was last with a 1.4.

SHOWING BIN LADEN

When The White House asks the news media to think twice about broadcasting Bin Laden messages, because he might be passing along orders to attack America, you've got to give that some serious thought. Certainly everyone is doing that. I'm glad Bush was smart enough not to tell the news media what to do. Obviously, we can't have the government telling TV news what it can show (other than troop movements in war). Not in America. 

No one wants to be used by the enemy like that. But we should also remember the White House can be wrong. It turns out there was no evidence that Air Force One and the White House were targets on September 11th, even though we were told otherwise by Ari Fleischer.  Going back to another war, the LA Times just had an article which mentioned that George Bush the first said that patriot missiles had shot down 41 of 42 scud missiles. But a study done by an MIT professor couldn't find any evidence that a Patriot had ever disabled the warhead of a Scud.  Later, Clinton Defense Secretary William Cohen acknowledged that Gulf War patriot missiles "didn't work."

I will trust that American intelligence has reason to think Bin Laden may be sending messages. It would be pretty shameful if this were just an underhanded way to get TV news to stop spreading the hateful message of the enemy.  Certainly, you can make a good journalistic argument that we should know what this guy is saying.  

Sounds like a good time for a new poll. The question is, do you think Bin Laden has been using his video taped speeches to send coded messages to his followers? Please head to the poll section on the menu.

ROD BERNSEN ON FLYING RESTRICTIONS

"As the current debate over anchors or reporters wearing American Flag lapel pins continues; or discussions over CNN deciding call the WTC suspects "alleged hijackers," instead of terrorists, a full frontal assault on the First Amendment is under way. 

Right now, throughout the United States, all news choppers and traffic reporting aircraft are prohibited from entering the so called "expanded Class B airspace." In Los Angeles, this means the entire basin from Zuma Beach on the North to John Wayne Airport on the South and everything West of Mulholland Highway, Ventura Freeway, San Bernardino Freeway to the 71 Freeway. 

There are those who decry the start to finish televised police pursuits-- the million plus viewers we attract would disagree. But as brush fire season draws near, how do we explain to thousands of viewers that we cannot cover the flames that are racing toward homes or businesses? Remember the Northridge Earthquake? The live pictures of a river of water topped with twenty-foot flames rushing down Balboa Boulevard. How many people will not see a repeat of the heroic efforts by firefighters to save a man from the Northridge Mall parking structure collapse if there is another major quake?

The most frustrating aspect of the aerial news ban-no one at the Federal Aviation Administration will talk about the issues-all that they will say: "This is a National Security decision." The reason this so frustrating, there is a perfect precedent available.

During the Democrat National Convention in Los Angeles, there were Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) in place. One pool chopper was allowed within the TFR by taking some precautionary steps (no need to explain what there were-sorry Osama). By insisting on all news aircraft be kept in secure areas, that all pilots, reporters, camera operators be cleared by the FBI or Secret Service and if there is a crew change, the replacement must have prior clearance-then what is the chance a news aircraft being used in a terrorist attack?

Besides the viewers that are being adversely affected so is law enforcement and the fire service. Every morning at least four news choppers and several traffic watch aircraft fly. We are the ex-official eyes for police, fire, and the Highway Patrol. I cannot begin to guess how many traffic accidents or stall's we reported as they happened-long before the first call the Highway Patrol. Same with fires. On one occasion, we picked up a fleeing suspect the police lost in a pursuit. We used SKYFOX's nightsun to follow the suspect until the police got back into the pursuit. All this is on the positive side. There is of course an opposite issue-who is watching to ensure law enforcement does it job. That is the role of journalists. Choppers with speed, hi-tech equipment, and immune from yellow police line tape is they're to show the good and the bad of the police, for all government.

Finally, if the government, in this case the FAA, decides aerial newsgathering is prohibited from nearly all of Los Angeles. What next, the FBI preventing live trucks from using there microwave transmitters in the interest of national security? This is hardly a slippery slope, more like a constitutional out of control skid in progress."

PART THREE WITH DREW GRIFFIN

Drew is an investigative reporter and weekend anchor at KCBS-TV.  We had done two parts with Drew, when he was called to go to New York.   He's back, and so now we have the chance to finish the interview.

(8) OTR - You went to New York recently. Can you give up any insights that we
might not have been able to get watching the news? Meaning...what was your
personal reaction was to what you saw....how difficult was it to report 
under the circumstances.....how were you treated by New York officials as well as
others?

Drew - "I'll be honest here. I have a strong ability to separate my emotions from 
what I'm covering. I've done it in Somalia, at plane crash sites, in ghettos 
outside San Salvador and Guat City and Manila and at crime scenes. I think 
it's the same strength that allows photographers to continue rolling when 
they are witnessing some horrific event.

But in this case I was finding it very difficult to suppress my emotions. At 
odd times during the day my eyes filled with tears. Once, when I walked 
passed a fire station in the Village and saw a space where 6 or 7 coats were 
missing....that struck me. Another time when I caught a picture of a missing 
person on a flyer, it looked like my brother.

And throughout our six days in NYC, people...strangers...would just walk 
up to you with tears in their eyes and tell you of there little tragedy of 
missing friends or family. The entire city was truly in mourning and there 
was no turning a cold journalistic shoulder to all that grief.

There were a lot of physical barriers to getting the job done: 
excessive police checks, no transportation, bad phone system and horrible 
air. But the oppressive grief separated this shoot from all others.
There was an overwhelming sadness in the city that became personal the longer you lingered there."

(9) OTR -I'd like to ask you about competition in LA TV news. KCBS has been 
number 3 among the traditional O&Os for quite a while. Does that sort of thing get
discouraging for you?

Drew - "Yes. it is very discouraging. There are lots of reasons for KCBS' position 
in the ratings, but I can tell you it's not for lack of effort by the staff. 
We've got some of the hardest working folks in the business who have 
performed year in and year out under some pretty stressful conditions.

The management turnover rate, the constant changes in directions and anchors 
and sets and formats has resulted in erosion of our base 
viewership....mostly (and this is my opinion, and mine alone) from the 
inconsistency of the product.

The positive side of this is that the KCBS staff, the core of writers and 
editors and shooters and others, are battled hardened veterans who I would 
put up against any other shop in the biz. You could not find a staff doing 
MORE WITH LESS anywhere on the planet.

We put on a great product, Ron. And sooner or later KCBS will shake the past 
and emerge as the ratings leader again...not just the news content leader."

(10) OTR -  Now that the slogan is gone...I must ask ....how did you feel about " 
The Station Of The People?"

Drew - "Although I understood the feeling behind it, we are a station for the 
little guy or the common man, I think the Soviet overtones turned a lot of 
people off. Slogans or brands don't concern me as much as our news content."

(11) OTR - You report, as well as anchor on weekends. Do you like doing both
equally?

Drew - "I've got the best of both worlds. I love to report news, break news, 
give viewers a little more insight into issues they may not be aware of or 
have time to find out on their own.
And I do love anchoring, especially with Linda Alvarez, my partner. 
She is sooooo terrific and a true news pro. We take our weekends very 
seriously. We both are actively involved in story selection and writing and 
fact checking. Our weekend team is led by our producer Marty Guerrero who 
has a true team approach to the casts. It's a great atmosphere to work in, 
and under those circumstances I do love to anchor."

(12) OTR - When you won a Golden Mike last year, I remember Tony Williams bringing the trophy on the set, and I remember thinking (and writing too) that you
really seemed embarrassed by all the fuss that was made. Do you remember
what you were thinking at the time?

Drew  - "Oh come on Ron, you can do better than that.
Who the heck cares?....and, by the way, that's precisely what I was thinking 
when that happened. "Who the Heck Cares?"

(13) OTR -  I was trying to get an idea of how embarrassed you felt about that sort 
of attention, and that does answer it. But that does lead to the bigger issue
of how far beyond simply reading the news that anchors should go. As you 
may know, I get concerned when they sometimes slip in opinions on big issue, or
stray in other ways. What are your feelings about that?

Drew - "Two things really bug me in this biz: anchors who think we give a damn 
about what they think, and anchors who think we give a damn about how they 
feel. Just tell me the news!"

(14) OTR - Finally, if you could make any changes you'd like to the way local TV 
news is done in Los Angeles...what would you do?

Drew - "I would add more people to the staff. Even with layoffs in their own 
newsrooms, newspapers have a huge number of reporters and editors working on 
content (when compared to TV). This allows papers to work beats, develop 
sources and stay ahead of the curve on many local, national and 
international issues. But unfortunately for the papers, a lot of what they 
are reporting falls on deaf ears and blind eyes, because tv news (that you 
can see and hear) remains the number one source for news in this country.

The onset of single ownership between tv and newspapers should have 
been a big bonus for the content of local news, but so far I haven't seen 
any effective synergy developing.

One other thing I would change if I had no concern on the cost: Every 
local station in Los Angeles would have a fully staffed bureau in 
Sacramento. It's amazing what those lawmakers get away with simply because 
they are working in a small news market! One of the greatest public services 
we could provide to Californians is to follow every dollar we send to the 
state coffers."

NEXT WEEK - WE TALK WITH KCOP VETERAN LA REPORTER HAL EISNER

NFL PICKS ( 6-9-1)

Only the Rams came through for me last week.  1/4 two weeks in a row.  If this happens for another six or seven weeks, I may start to get embarrassed.   

Packers vs Ravens  + 1

Bucs vs Titans +3

Vikings vs Lions - 10

Giants vs Rams +10 1/2

OTR ONE YEAR AGO THIS WEEK (10-11-00)

I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY DID IT AGAIN!

Not too many weeks ago, I described a very poor piece of TV journalism on KCOP. The point of the story was to feature small community banks which cater to those who can't get accounts with the big banks because of their poor credit.  The man who runs these three small banks says the big banks purposely discriminate against blacks and Hispanics....a charged reported by KCOP. The story named banks which the man is suing...Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Washington Mutual.  When this story first ran, I complained that reporter Natalie Pujo never bothered to let the banks defend themselves. They were branded as racist, with NO chance to respond. I was honestly surprised to see that level of journalism in Los Angeles. 

This time Rick Chambers re-voiced the same story that ran before. And much to my amazement, once again, the banks were trashed and not given an opportunity to respond. I can understand re-running this feature on the community banks because of community interest. But I cannot understand why someone wouldn't take the time to correct a very basic and serious error in journalism.

HERE'S WHY GORE WILL LOSE

I've talked about this theory once before. But since we are so close to the election, it's time circulate it one more time.  To give credit where it is due, this pattern was actually pointed out by Bakersfield Californian reporter Robert Price. Ever since 1960, a man who has been vice-president has lot the presidential election, every eight years.  That's right; 60-Nixon, 68-Humphrey, 76-Ford, 84-Mondale, and 92-Bush.  And here's something I just noticed; the losers alternate by party.  With Republican Bush losing in 92, it would follow that Democrat Gore will lose in 00.  That noise you hear is a very large sigh coming from Al Gore.

PERSONAL ATTACKS MAY BE JUSTIFIED

I'm tired of this silly attitude that so-called personal attacks should be out of bounds in the presidential campaign.  Criticism of Al Gore's exaggerations and his fund raising are completely legitimate issues. Personal? Sure. Appropriate? Absolutely.   

The same goes for George W Bush.  The Gore campaign has every right to suggest that Bush bumbles and stumbles, because he does. It's certainly personal, but again, it IS relevant to whether he's qualified to be president.

IT SOUNDS LIKE "CANNON"

Kofi Annan has replaced Elian Gonzalez as having the name which is most often mispronounced in America.  Most local anchors get it wrong, and I'm sure they're not alone. When I covered a story with Annan a couple of years ago, I asked him how to say his name. He said it sounds just like "cannon." This was an event which the UN Secretary General had been introduced by Jack Valenti. Valenti also got it wrong. He had the wrong sounding "a" and he put the accent on the second syllable.  So come on LA news folk...let's be the first city in the US to get it right 100% of the time! Then maybe we can all get an ice cream party on the last day of the semester.

ANCHORS WHO KNOW WHEN TO SHUT UP

At least this time they did it right.  On KCAL, Leyna Nguyen did a story about a young boy who needs a heart transplant to save his life. She interviewed the mother, who cried, saying how badly she wants to bring her boy home from the hospital. This was strong emotional stuff.  Nguyen did a good job, and when it was over, there was nothing else to say.  Now if this were a story on KABC, I'm sure when it was over, Laura Diaz would've had something profound to say, like "such a sad story," or "we're pulling for them."  But luckily that was not the case. When the story ended, Kerry Kilbride and Pat Harvey were on a 2-shot. They both looked like they'd been listening to the story, with somber looks on their faces. Kilbride simply said "Thank you Leyna." That was all we needed to hear.

ANCHOR BABBLE

On Monday night,  KTLA anchors Lynette Romero and Larry McCormick were stuck doing a filibuster for another police chase. When it was over, Romero decided to recap. If only she could've spoken like a normal person. Instead, a rush of broadcasteze took over.  She said it all began when a "male white stole a vehicle." Once again, what race has to do with this story I can't imagine. But since it was taxi cab which was stolen, why couldn't she just say "It started when a man stole a taxi?" Please anchors, if you want to talk like a cop, join the force.

SOME ONE TELL KABC WHEN IT HAPPENED

Even though the stolen cab chase happened during the 10 o'clock news, KABC apparently decided to change the time frame.  Since it would just be a terrible thing to have news from last night on their 11:30am news, whoever wrote the story decided to say that the story happened "this morning."  I think this is something that some news people need to get over. News happens at all times of the day. Trying to deceive the viewer into thinking a story is more current than it is, is not only dishonest, it's pretty silly too.

TV JOURNALISM DOING IT RIGHT

I must give a thumbs up to ABC and Peter Jennings for the hour long look at the NRA on Monday night. This wasn't about gun control, as much as it was about how the NRA operates.  Whether you're a gun owner or not, you must give credit to Jennings showing us how tough the NRA plays. I don't think that should surprise anyone, but it might surprise some folks when Jennings caught NRA leader Wayne LaPierre in a couple of lies. In lobbying against a 72-hour waiting period for those who buy guns at gun shows, the NRA said that the federal government had only prosecuted one person in a three year period for trying to buy a gun illegally. Jennings quoted stats from the US Sentencing Commission that the figure was actually more than 600 prosecutions!  Of course that doesn't count the prosecutions done on the state level. LaPierre said he would stick with the NRA figures.

The NRA has spread that misinformation in trying to defeat one of its own members who's running for re-election to Congress. Even though Bart Stupak always voted with the NRA in the past, they stopped supporting  him after he voted for the 72-hour waiting period (which didn't pass in the House).  The second lie from LaPierre  came when he said he had not tried to recruit someone to run against Stupak. After he gave Jennings that denial, Jennings showed part of an interview with the man who's running against Stupak. He said that LaPierre was an old friend who personally helped convince him to run. 

The NRA has been one of Washington's strongest lobbying forces for many years.  It's obvious they are still a force to be reckoned with.  When the votes are counted next month, it will be very interesting to see if they were strong enough to knock Bart Stupak out of office.

CLAUDIA TREJOS...SHE'S TRYING, BUT....

She's the weekend sports anchor on KTLA with a very thick accent. I watched her this weekend, and I can tell that she's been working to lose some of the accent, with some success.  That's the good news for her. But the bad news is...she's still not very good. While she is easier to understand than she used to be, she still doesn't show the reading ability to be anchoring in a large city. And let's face it...if you needed directions to save your life, this is not the person you'd like to give them to you. While referring to Jacksonville quarterback Jamie Martin, she twice called him Moyer. I don't know that was a matter of her accent, or maybe just a secret desire to work at KNBC (where Paul Moyer anchors). This woman, who seems like she's a very nice lady, still needs a LOT of work. She ought to be getting in a small market, like other folks at her level of ability.

LYRICS AS SCRIPT

In a promo which feature dialogue from a new show on the WB...I heard the line "I like the nightlife, I like to boogie." Tell me, is there anything less creative than getting a cheap laugh that way? Once upon a time, that was creative.  The first time I remember this formula being used was on Rhoda.  Her sister Brenda said, with the appropriate setup, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!" It got a big laugh, and deservedly so. But since then, I'm afraid it's become almost as overused as the old spit take (when someone spits a drink out of their mouth) used to be. 

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.