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A media critique... and then some!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Thursday Letters are UP Inside LA TV - the local station which is so "poor", they've dropped Thanksgiving dinner for their workers...and much more! Coming Friday - Part 3 with Carlos Amezcua Links to Recent Issues 11-19-01 Monday's OTR 11-14-01 Wednesday's OTR 11-16-01 Friday's OTR If you'd like to send a contribution to help keep OTR going, you can send 10 dollars to Ron Fineman, PO Box 42364, Bakersfield, CA 93384 Or you can send $ on-line. Just click on the PayPal Logo. Your help is appreciated! |
To get on the OTR email reminder list, email me at BRUIN74@aol.com. |
KCAL'S SPLIT PERSONALITY
Unlike the recent past, KCAL isn't relying on a diet of sex for this sweeps period. At least that would describe the KCAL news we see most of the time. Yeah, most of the time, compared to past rating periods, KCAL is something like Clark Kent these days. But then, when it comes to their newscasts which follow Laker games, they turn into... SuperSleaze. Yes, SuperSleaze! They came to the TV dial with hours of prime time news commitment far beyond those of mortal stations. Supersleaze.... suddenly able to leap past important stories in a single newscast, change the course of mighty reality and bend news judgment in their bare hands as they type in the news story rundown. After each Laker game... fighting a battle to keep young men watching with babes, fluff, and pure crap. (If you'd like to re-read all of this with the Superman theme music in your mind, it might work better.)
Actually, when I watched KCAL news after a Laker game last week, I didn't think of Superman. I thought of "You Bet Your Life" with Groucho Marx, because it sounded like there must've been a secret word in the newscast. That word was "sexy." (You didn't think it would be Taliban, did you?). For example the lead story it this newscast was a new hotel in Las Vegas. It wasn't just any new hotel, mind you. According to Leyna Nguyen it was a "sexy new hot spot." What made it sexy, I don't know. Maybe each room comes with a cocktail waitress. After that story(?), anchor Kerry Kilbride told us about a "sexy singles party." This was a party in conjunction with some KCAL TV show called "Fifth Wheel." Talk about a twofer....the KCAL sales department must've been in hog heaven. Make that sexy hog heaven. The interviews by some guy named Chris McWatt, were certainly inspiring. Especially the one where the young woman said she was looking for a guy with a lot of money so he could buy her a lot of alcohol. Who cares about the war in Afghanistan when we've got wild women to hear from? Women in bars...YES. Women in burkas...who cares?
The next night, after another Laker game, the lead story was Yasmine Bleeth being arraigned in Ohio on a cocaine charge. Good thing they had file video of Bleeth in her Baywatch swimsuit. Remember, this is their lead story, on a day when the #2 man in Al-Qaeda was apparently killed. What's Al-Qaeda you say? Good point. Apparently the post-Laker audience isn't interested in such far away events. The only way you'd know there was a war in Afghanistan is if you caught the tease for the Clark Kent news at nine o'clock. As I recall, Sylvia Lopez said there was some major news to tell about it. Nothing that you'd put ahead of a former Baywatch babe in trouble, but possibly important to those who think with the head which sits on their neck. Last night, the first two stories of their 10pm newscast were Britney Spears in concert and then Jennifer Lopez in concert. No kidding.
It isn't easy to make the KCOP news look like the Jim Leher News Hour, but KCAL has managed it. I don't know how much extra money KCAL makes on commercials, which come in the post-Laker viewer-inflated newscast. The way they conveniently forget about truly important news has to be an embarrassment for the entire news department. If the powers that be don't care, that's pretty sad. But if they insist on continuing this tradition, even in time of war, why not use a couple Star98 disc jockeys as the news anchors. Even better, turn the anchor desk over to a couple of Hooters girls. That would save real news anchors the embarrassment of having to pretend they're delivering a real newscast. And it might bring in even more young male viewers. That is all that matters, isn't it?
A BAD JOB OF COVERING YOUR ANCHOR
You don't have to convince me that public appearances by news anchors don't equal a news event. But sometimes, TV stations can't resist covering themselves. But if a station is going to do that, they should at least do it well. KTLA folk, please take note.
Last week Morning News anchor Giselle Fernandez was a speaker at the Latino Business Expo. Here is the soundbite we heard from the podium, "(unintelligible), ever expanding group of Latino business owners. On January first, 2000, the Latino Business Association began the millennium with new leadership as Ruth Lopez Williams took the helm of the Latino Business Association as chairman of the board of directors."
Come on! That's like covering a city council meeting and running a soundbite of the pledge of allegiance. I don't know what Fernandez had to say at this meeting, but there had to be something more interesting than that! It's as if someone said, "just get me a soundbite...I don't care what it says." And don't overlook the unintelligible part either. It sounded as if maybe part of one soundbite merged with another unrelated one. The outcome was a couple of seconds of gibberish.
Obviously, this was a must-cover for the news department. Fine. But how about covering it like you care?
SO WHO ARE YOU?
Once again, I am taking a poll to find out a little more about you, the OTR reader. It not only gives me a better idea of who is out there, but this can also help me in selling ad space, for those who may be targeting a particular audience. So, even if you usually don't mess with the weekly poll questions, I would appreciate it if you could take part in this one. I'd like to know if you work in the news media, public relations, public safety or are simply a person who's is interest in what is going in with TV news. So PLEASE head to the Poll section on the menu above. Thanks!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The Project for Excellence in Journalism checks out TV newscast around the country and rates their quality. In judging the 11pm newscasts in LA, KNBC was given a "C", while KABC and KCBS were each given a "D", though KABC had a higher D than KCBS. Out of 42 stations judged, KNBC came in 20th....KABC was 32nd and KCBS was 39th.
REPORTERS SHOULD GET IT RIGHT
On KCBS last week, Paul Dandridge reported "..also ground crew will become federal employees who can be fired, not having civil service protection." In other words, if you have civil service protection, you cannot ever be fired? Obviously, it is more difficult to fire someone with civil service protection. But to imply that it is not possible is wrong. It is an important distinction that folks in the news media should not forget. After all, some viewers might actually be listening.
LET'S BLOW OUR OWN HORN
After Dandridge's report, anchor Harold Greene praised him for being one of the first reporters to raise questions about airport screeners. Greene added "we commend you for that." Somehow one member of a news department commending another member for doing his job well, doesn't sit well with me. If the intro to Dandridge said something like, "Paul Dandridge was among the first reporters to looking into airport screeners, and he joins us now with the latest...etc"...that would be okay. But "we commend you?" Save it for a proof-of -performance promo.
THEN AGAIN...
If you have your own web site, self-promotion is fine. It just so happens Electronic Media asked for my comments in last week's issue. So just in case you missed it....
MORE ON STAGING
The word I hear from KCOP is that their photog says he did not take part in the staging an OTR reader told us about in a letter we published on Friday. Ken Koller said KCOP was among the stations involved. I wrote back to him yesterday to see if he had any specific memory of a KCOP photog asking protestors to do something. He wrote back in part "I can't remember if KCOP had us do anything specific, but most if not all had us "play it up" for the camera in some way or another." He also said "Usually someone who was picketing would walk over to the crew, then come back to the line and tell us what the reporter or photographer wanted us to do. There were times where I witnessed the conversation and our guy would ask the reporter what they wanted us to do, and they would tell us what would be the best thing to do for them."
For those not in the new biz...let me add that if someone says "what do you want me to do?"...the correct answer is "whatever you would normally do." Obviously, few if any people can ever forget they're in front of a camera. But making suggestions is an ethical line which should not be crossed.
AN ONGOING SANCHEZISM
On Monday Night, KCOP's Lauren Sanchez did a story about what she called "tampon tear." No, you wouldn't think that even KCOP would do a story about a torn tampon. Well, they didn't. Turns out she was really saying "tampon terror." It was all about "toxic tampons and poison pads."
Isn't it time that someone sit down with her and teach her how to say "terror"? Really, you say "tear" and "er". Now put them together....terror. See, that wasn't so difficult, was it?
KUDOS TO CAREY
You've got to give Drew Carey credit for last week's live episode. Not just because they did a live one for all time zones, but the way they did it. Several times during the show, a bell would ring, which required the actor who said the last punch line to ad-lib a new one. How many shows have the comedic courage to do that? The first one that came up for Carey had him stumped too. He finally came up with something that he knew didn't make sense...but the show kept moving. It had to. Overall there were some pretty good ad-libs. In fact I wondered if the actors had some in the back of their mind, just in case the bell tolled for them. Regardless, you have to like someone who is willing stray from the same-old same-old. Pushing the envelope, as the cliché goes. Good job Drew!
DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING VIOLATION
Despite the warning by an OTR reader, and even though much of the media have been getting it right the last year or two, Giselle Fernandez mistakenly said that the day after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year.
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. Remember to include your first and last name.
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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