Ron Fineman's ON THE RECORD

It's always seemed to be like the west is just an afterthought for network television. Everything is east coast oriented. To some degree that can't be helped. For example, I realize you can't have Saturday Night Live actually be live on the west coast, since that would put it on at 2:30am in the east. Start Monday Night Football at 9pm Pacific Time, and how many people on the east coast would be watching at midnight? So I do understand the east coast tilt on things has some logic to it, not to mention the large chunk of population which still lives there. However, Fox went above and beyond last night, in poking a finger in the eye of the west.

While the Series and the Emmys ran simultaneously in the east and central time zone, that was not the case for us in the west. So I was sure surprised that while I was watching Game 7, suddenly the lower third of the screen was telling me who had just won an Emmy! Did it ever occur to Fox that some people in the west might plan on watching the Emmys after the ballgame? And just maybe they'd like to not know the winners ahead of time? Giving out the winners as they happen is quite legitimate for an all news radio station. We always do that at KNX, and certainly listeners who don't want to know, can change the station as soon as a report begins. But a ballgame is not a newscast. And if you're quick enough to look away when Fox played their sounder a split second before the winner appeared on the screen, you'd have to look away from the ballgame, which obviously detracts from enjoyment of watching the game.

If people in the east cared that much about the Emmys, they were probably watching them. Otherwise, they could catch the winners on the news, or on the internet. They could even flip back and forth between the two. But to spoil the excitement of the Emmys for those in the west who planned to watch them is really inexcusable. It's as if Fox had forgotten that not everyone lives in the eastern and central time zones. Funny thing; when Emmy host Ellen DeGeneres did her opening monologue she said that they would update their viewers on the World Series. She got some good laughs when she joked that the World Series wouldn't be updating their audience on the Emmys.

So now, how about an apology from Fox,? And I would suggest someone over there should be required to get some West Coast sensitivity training.

Can anyone point to one LA TV station that did NOT say with this Emmy ceremony that "the third time is the charm?" Yes the old saying made sense. But once you start to hear it on every news broadcast, you have to wonder, is there another way to say it? Can this story be done without the obligatory "third time is the charm?" It just makes everyone look like they have no creativity, no independent thought. Granted, if you don't watch much news, you wouldn't notice. But for some of us, the line became quite predictable, which is usually not a good thing in news writing.

When Sam Rubin did his report this morning on the Emmys, he referred to some controversy caused by Barbra Streisand's comments backstage. Then when we heard Streisand's comments, there was nothing objectionable. After Sam finished the story, Giselle Fernandez asked him where the controversy was, which is the same thing I was wondering. He explained that Streisand had made some comments about President Bush and the right to dissent, but they had not used them in his piece. Once again, this points out the importance of the lead-in matching the content of the story. Fernandez may be new to the KTLA Morning News, but she's obviously not shy about jumping right in.

GOING TO FAR?

Is this the picture of a TV journalist? Okay, I know she's not going to make anyone forget about Edward R Murrow. And yes, her beat is entertainment. But still, she is a reporter on a newscast. Is it proper to have a reporter pose like that? Assuming she has any credibility, does this hurt it? As we've pointed out here before, it is obvious that Mindy Burbano wants an acting career. This cover may be a boost for that. But what does that do for the credibility of KTLA News at Ten? And with this cover, I'm afraid more than ever, Burbano will be convinced that she is the story. If you have an opinion your feedback is welcome, and please fill out the poll. Btw, yes I agree, she looks good.

It was quite a deal last week in California, when Governor Davis announced he had credible evidence that California bridges were the target of a possible terrorist attack. After his announcement, we learned that the FBI had NOT determined that the threat was credible. So then, the story evolved into whether the Governor spoke out of turn. Did he frighten people for no good reason? I know Gray Davis was concerned about public reaction, since he had one of his aids call to let me know he heard my story on the radio, and didn't feel it treated him fairly. A poll taken by KABC TV the next day showed that 70 percent of the people thought he did the right thing by going public. But I was surprised to see some people misunderstand what President Bush said about this.

Carlos Granda on KABC TV as well as KABC radio, and maybe others, reported that Bush supported Davis' decision to make the public warning. I would argue they've misread the President. What Bush said was that as governor, he didn't want outsiders telling him how to run his state, and he thinks Davis has the right to do what he sees fit. In other words, Bush was supporting Davis' right to give the warning, without saying whether or not he felt it was a good idea. It may be a subtlety, but it is a significant one. You did not hear Bush say "it's a good thing Governor Davis gave the warning," or "he did the right thing by giving the warning." Bush's public reaction was really just another version of "whether I agree with what you say, I will defend your right to say it."

On KNBC recently, Michele Ruiz said "West Covina Police are looking for two suspects who allegedly attempted to assault three girls this week." So if some guy tried assault Ruiz, would she call police and say "Help. A man is allegedly trying to assault me!" Once again, since no particular person is being accused in the story, it is pointless to say it "allegedly" happened, unless you believe the girls are making it up. If that were the case, than you've got a lot more explaining to do.

Now let's see....who was it who predicted that the D'backs would win in 7? I know it was some cyber columnist around here. I can't tell you how much satisfaction I got out of it when Luis Gonzalez singled to give Arizona the winning run. Loved it! I liked seeing those sad Yankee faces in the dugout. Finally, the Yankees have fallen. They sure didn't go easily. I thought it was questionable when Bob Brenly kept in Schilling after the Yanks tied the game. After all, he did have Randy Johnson in the bullpen. Johnson finally did come in, and he sure took care of business. It is very tough to beat Mariano Rivera in the post season, so you have to give the D'Back hitters a world of credit. Once the Yankees took the 2-1 lead, I figured they'd pulled off another one. In fact I saw Arizona earlier this year when they beat the Angels in Anaheim. They looked very good, but who I knew I was look at this year's world champs? I took a poll starting last Friday to see how many of you thought Arizona would come back. I was surprised they had so much support, being down three games to two.

A couple of wise guys voted for Arizona after the game. I didn't count those.

I've gone back and forth on whether we our security screeners should be private or federal employees. I can see the arguments on both sides. The latest screw up in Chicago pushes me to the federal side. Hopefully that will be the incident that gets our government to do something. That's not to say that government employees can't make mistakes too. But when we are talking about a security issue, and given the less than stellar track record of the current system, I think we just may be better off with federal employees. I know Republicans don't want to add to the rolls of federal union employees, but in this case, it seems like the better way to go. Please head to the poll section on the menu, and let us know how you feel about it.

Merv Griffin was being honored by the Young Musicians Foundation, and this ceremony happened to be at the Beverly Hilton, a hotel owned by Griffin. I asked Griffin if he was giving them a discount on room rental since they were honoring him. He commented "Being honored and making a profit in the same night...that doesn't happen (often)." I was impressed with how nice he was to interview. He said he was going to sing during the ceremony, so I asked Griffin if he's sing a little for me, which he did. There are people less rich and less famous who aren't nearly so easy going. The next time I go to his Coconut Club at the Hilton for dinner, I'll feel better about shelling out the money.

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.