A media critique... and then some! 10/15/01 - Monday Tuesday Letters  are UP- Sam Rubin responds to reader criticism, what is a hero, and praise for the Gilligan's Island TV movie. Inside LA TV - an insider tells OTR something KTLA should look out for with their new morning co-anchor. Links to Recent Issues 10-15-01 Monday's OTR 10-10-01 Wednesday's OTR 10-12-01 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 FIGHTING BACK?

According to Inside.com, former KCBS consumer reporter Mike Boguslawski is not going quietly. After being canned last week, the web site says "Boguslawski said he retained famed attorney Johnny Cochran on Thursday to handle his employment dispute with the station."  It also quotes Boguslawski as saying ""I have a contract for one more year - eleven months, to be exact.  I have not been fired. I don't like that word. It raises my Polish and Italian temper. It is not over until the last pitch. And I'm still pitchin'."  He also says he loves the station and he loves CBS.  Clearly the feeling is not mutual. In fact if you took a poll among newsroom staffers, I suspect you'd find it never has been. Whether he's actually hired Cochran, I don't know. I've put in a call to Cochran's office, and left a message with his secretary. 

You have to assume that KCBS didn't pay off the rest of that contract, or certainly there would be nothing to  threaten to sue over. But I think it would be reasonable to speculate that KCBS gave him something in the way of severance.  Though wouldn't you think that to get that severance, he'd be asked to sign something which would preclude any legal action? So maybe this is more Bogey bluster. Stay tuned.

I WISH THE GM COULD BE MORE FORTHCOMING

When Boguslawski's consumer segment "Bogey's Corner" was cancelled last week, no official at KCBS was willing to talk to OTR. And so I joked that their reason would be "we're going in a different direction." That of course is one of the oldest BS lines in the business when you fire someone.  Yet here is how the LA Times put it after Boguslawski was fired last week:  "KCBS general manager David Woodcock said he had a talk with Boguslawski on Thursday, and that the decision was made due to a change in direction and attitude for the KCBS news operation in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

Are we supposed to believe that were it not for the terrorist attacks, KCBS would be pleased to have kept Boguslawski? Give me a break! If they are now too serious to put up with Bogey's shenanigans, shall we assume they also have too much integrity to constantly do Survivor stories on their newscasts? I'm sure that will change about the time The Taliban hands over Osama Bin Laden to the US. 

Why couldn't Woodcock just tell what I believe is the obvious truth. How about "we were not pleased with the quality of his work." Would that be so bad? Certainly it wouldn't be libelous.  But I also realize in these litigious times, big companies with deep pockets are very careful about what they say about people who work, or have worked for them. And considering that Boguslawski is at least threatening a lawsuit, I suppose I've answered my own question.

THE "STABLE" PROBLEM STRIKES AGAIN

How long will it take before journalists understand that "stable" is not an acceptable adjective to describe a patient's condition?  Last week, KABC anchor David Ono reported that a police officer's condition had been upgraded from critical to stable. Hold on. The same morning,  KTLA's Willa Sandmeyer reported that the officer was in "critical, but stable condition." So as usual, "stable" doesn't tell you very much. "Stable" can only be an upgrade from "unstable." And I can't remember the last time I heard anyone report that a patient was in "unstable"condition. Stable certainly does NOT take the place of "critical" "serious", "fair" or "good." When hospital spokespeople say "stable." it is up the reporter to press further.  Certainly, all producers and anchors should know better than to accept anything less.

NEW NEWS DIRECTOR, BUT SAME OLD NEWS

Unfortunately, KNBC continues its practices of running old news on the weekend. I'm not talking about feature stories, but hard news.  For example, last weekend they did the story on Rush Limbaugh losing his hearing.  Even with the angle of the LA hearing clinic treating Limbaugh, which came a few days after the Limbaugh announcement, this was still old news.  I don't know how many years this has gone on, or how many KNBC news directors have blessed this policy.  Kim Godwin would be wise to have a look and determine what sort of shelf life hard news has at KNBC.

JUST CALL HER MEESHA

The other day, KNBC was taking a live report from the east coast. Apparently the east coast reporter didn't quite understand the name of the anchor she'd be dealing with. So after Michele Ruiz tossed to the live reporter, the reporter said, "Well, Meesha." Maybe it is understandable, since the reporter who made the mistake is named Michelle, but uses the Tuzee pronunciation, as opposed to the Paul McCartney one.

WHAT TO MAKE OF IT?

Just where this anthrax is coming from is one of the biggest guessing games we're taking part in right now.  At first it made sense to me that Al-Qaeda would be behind it. Why not go after the American news media? But now we have one of these Anthrax letters sent to Tom Daschle...the highest ranking Democrat in the United States. So suddenly I'm thinking, maybe this is the work of American right wing wackos. Certainly they also don't like the mainstream news media in this country.  And coming on the heels of September 11th, they might assume we would naturally suspect Islamic terrorists. This just a theory of course.  But whatever the motivation, it certainly has people jumpy. After the NBC case in New York, Burbank police tell me they had a number of calls from NBC in Burbank last Friday. That includes the situation I told you about last Friday, which turned out to be a false alarm.

 In the latest, it is reported that a child at ABC in New York has tested positive for anthrax.  I can understand the fear. This has to make you uneasy. But really, we need to get a grip.  Not every bit of white powdery substance is really suspicious, is it?  If it comes in an envelope, of course you want to check it out ASAP.  But last Friday night, the LA Times building was closed off for a while because of something found on the floor somewhere. Maybe we need a new law...spill the sugar, go to jail.  Last night, a terminal at LAX was evacuated simply because some woman left some bag unattended. Believe me, I support reasonable precautions.  But we can't be running around like scared rabbits either.  Based on what has been happening lately, terrorists no longer need to kill us to disrupt our lives. They only need to drop some sugar or coffee creamer, and leave a bag alone at an airport. We'll get through this, but we can't lose our heads.

LAST WEEK'S POLL RESULTS

Do you think The Emmy Awards SHOULD have been held on Sunday?
			votes	percent
1.) Yes			42	45%
2.) No			21	23%
3.) I don't care			30	32%

For this week, I'd like to continue the question from Friday, which is whether you think Bin Laden has been sending coded messages through his video news releases. I would also like your opinion on whether you believe he is responsible for the Anthrax outbreak. Please head to the poll section on the menu.

GOOD FOR RUDY

Kudos to Mayor Giuliani for turning down ten million dollars from a Saudi prince, after a news release accompanying his check referred to Israelis slaughtering Palestinians while the world looked the other way. The release also suggested the United States should rethink it's support of Israel. Putting the Arab propaganda aside, shame of this prince for implying that we should drop support for the middle east's only democracy, in order to lessen the chance of further attacks. Somehow, I don't believe the prince mentioned the last time Saudi Arabia's King ran for re-election. I also don't think he said anything about those honor killings, where women in the Arab world are killed by family members for having sex (including rape) outside of marriage. In other words, perhaps he should work on cleaning up the mess in his own world, before telling the US how to run its foreign policy.  Here's what Giuliani said:  "There is no moral equivalent for this act. The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification for it when they slaughtered 4,000 or 5,000 innocent people. And to suggest that there's a justification for it only invites this happening in the future. It is highly irresponsible and very, very dangerous."

SHALL WE BUY JOE BUCK SOME GLASSES?

After Tony Womack drove in the winning run for the Arizona Diamondbacks to beat St Louis, he was interviewed while still on the field, by Joe Buck who was in the broadcast booth. Just before the interview, a woman came up to Womack and gave him a big hug.  Buck then asked Womack "Was that your mother giving you a hug?" "No," Womack answered, "it was my wife."  Buck explained that he was too far away to see very well.  Nevertheless, if Buck gets a Christmas card from Mrs Womack, you can be sure it will be from Womack's mother, NOT his wife.

WHAT'S WITH CNN AND FOOTBALL SCORES?

I was trying to find a final NFL score yesterday while watching TV. The one game on CBS didn't seem to be showing them, so I figured I'd check CNN Headline News. At the bottom of the screen, where it says "Sportswatch"....all they showed was a current baseball score, and the matchups of later baseball games and the night NFL game.  They just kept running that over and over. No NFL scores, even though there were many final scores to report.  Anyone know why they do that?

GILLIGAN - A BETTER DOCUMOVIE THAN TV SHOW

Even when it was one in the 60s, I wasn't a big fan of Gilligan's Island. I watched it sometimes, and have occasionally in reruns.  To me, the best part always involved Thurston Howell and Lovie. That Jim Backus rich man character, which he took from one of his old radio characters, was pretty good. By and large, the show was just too silly for me. Nevertheless, a  sitcom which lasted just three seasons has had quite a long run in syndication and has become a part of our pop culture.

I really liked the the documovie that CBS ran last night about the show. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. There were of course actors playing all of the original characters. But that was interrupted by Dawn Wells, Bob Denver and Russell Johnson talking to the viewer about their experiences. At one point, the Tina Louise character was telling the Dawn Wells character that she had to change her hairstyle, because only Ginger could have bangs. As the Wells character stands there in puzzlement, the real Dawn Wells pops into the scene, telling the woman playing her that this is only a two-hour TV movie and there isn't much time to deal with this problem. So, in fast motion, the real Dawn Wells re-arranges the hair style of the Dawn Wells character, into the one which everyone has become familiar with over all these years. Obviously this was a movie which had a sense of humor about itself.  Yet, they didn't mind letting us some of the behind the scenes stuff, including the fact that Tina Louise was extremely self-centered, and actually took the role, believing that she was THE star. We also came to learn that Bob Denver, who was the star, was very unselfish...demanding that Wells and Johnson be given credit on the open of the show, which they didn't get in the first season.  So, even if you're not a big fan of the sitcom, you might want to check it out when it comes back as a rerun.

LITERAL VIOLATION OF THE WEEK

Who: Chris Schauble

Where:  KNBC

What: In reporting that a package in Reno had tested positive for anthrax, he said that it was "found literally minutes ago, according to MSNBC." Now if it was found "minutes ago", how could we know that quickly that it tested positive for anthrax?

Put your hand on the monitor and count to three...one, two, three....HEAL!!

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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.