WAS HESTON  STORY TREATED FAIRLY?

First, kudos to KABC-TV, the only station which I saw which led with Charlton Heston on Friday. It was am umbrella lead at 4pm, first  briefly talking about Chick Hearn's funeral, but Heston's disclosure of having Alzheimer's was their lead.

Obviously I can never catch every newscast, but everyone I saw had Chick's funeral as the lead. Let me explain why I think that was the wrong call. And bear in mind that personally, Chick Hearn meant a lot more to me than Charlton Heston does. But of course that's not the point.  As beloved as Chick was to Laker fans, the real news was on Monday when he died.  (I have long maintained that funeral coverage is overdone). 

On the other hand, Heston's announcement was news on Friday. Who knew that he had Alzehimer's disease? Certainly that came as a surprise.  And of course we're not just talking about one of America's most respected actors, but the president of the National Rifle Association.  In fact Heston is given credit for turning around the slide in NRA membership.  I realize that most local news people are probably not a big fan of the NRA any more than I am, but again, that shouldn't matter.  

I don't know that his politics kept him from being the lead on most stations, but I have to wonder if that was a factor in how LOW some TV stations played the story. KTTV played the Heston story, calling it a "stunning announcement"  at about 10:20, well into their second segment.  At  5pm, KCBS had Heston in their second segment. Hard to believe that someone's politics didn't influence those judgments.  On the other hand, KNBC, calling it a "shocking"  announcement. had Heston as their third story at 6pm, with a late breaking story taking the second spot behind the Hearn funeral.  So I guess stunning = 2nd segment, while shocking = 1st segment.

For another real contrast, consider this:  The LA Daily News had Heston on their front page, while the LA Times put the story on the front page of their Calendar section.  Tell me that wasn't a political decision.

And while you can't discount Chick Hearn's vast popularity with Laker fans, I'm not convinced that he's any more popular with the public overall than Charlton Heston. Yet, I also realize that radio is a much more intimate medium than film, and fans of Chick really feel like they knew him.  And being a fellow broadcaster, I think possibly some TV news decision makers may have let that get in the way of their news judgment.  But so that no one misunderstands me. Yes, I think Chick's funeral was a story, and a pretty moving one too. However, I think the news managers should have tried taking a step back, and looked at the bigger picture.

NOW THAT'S EMBARRASSING!

Just before 60 Minutes last night, KCBS ran a promo which promised to update the audience at 11pm  on the condition of Chick Hearn.  No doubt we're looking at a technical snafu, but who is it that LOOKS STUPID? The news department.

LAYING IN ON TOO THICK

When Chick Hearn died last week, I said how lucky he was to have worked until he was 85 years old, and was enjoying it.  I heard Magic Johnson make the same point. Who could disagree? Most people are dead before they can even reach 80.  So I think it was a little much when KABC's Marc Brown read the tease which said "a voice silenced long before its time."  As they say in baseball when a batter takes a good swing at ball (and misses) "he didn't get cheated." Neither did Chick. And using the baseball analogy, Chick hit the ball over the wall, many times.

DOING THE SUBTRACTION

KABC's John Gregory noted that Chick was "the voice of the Lakers before some Lakers were even born." Some Lakers? Chick started 42 years ago. Are there any 42 year old Lakers?

YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN

Last weekend, on Saturday when Chick Hearn was in the hospital, KABC's Steve Alvarez got an interview with NBA referee Leon Wood, who said that Chick was a good ambassador for basketball. Right out that sound bite, Alvarez repeated that Wood thinks Hearn is a good ambassador for basketball.

They fixed it the next day. But they sure did get some mileage of the Wood sound bite, also using it on Monday.

SOUNDING LIKE A NEWCOMER

On Friday, Staples Center was open, so fans could come by and have a look at the broadcast booth where Chick called the games. KTTV's Jennifer Gould, who's doing her first sports gig, commented that it was the booth where he sat for more than 33 hundred games. Well, unless they actually moved it from The Forum, Chick had only been in that booth since Staples opened a couple of years ago.

On the other hand, I'm glad she mentioned that people were being asked to bring children's books as the price of admission. I don't recall hearing about that in the other stories I saw.

ABOUT THAT FINGER SNAP

I played audio a couple of weeks ago of a finger snap which was used to get the attention of Hal Fishman, to let him know that a live shot had just ended, and that he was on camera. I then got an email from a former KTLA worker who told me that Fishman doesn't wear an IFB (an earphone which allows people in the booth to talk to the anchor).

 According to this former worker:  "The producer does not talk in Hal's ear because he has always steadfastly refused to wear an ifb. He is afraid people will think he uses a hearing aid." They also added "He refused to when I was there. That was 1991-1997. It was a major bone of contention during breaking coverage. I remember trying to do the LA riots without one."

Hal responded "That is undoubtedly one for the "utterly absurd" file.  I wear an
ifb every night and have for years.". I wrote back and asked if he could remember when he started wearing one.   According to Hal, "Actually, I did not note
the date when I first started using an IFB.  Probably, it was when it first
became available. It would have been virtually impossible to anchor our riot
coverage without IFB. It's also possible in the early days I might have made
a joke about a hearing aid impression.  That's just my sense of humour, not
a profound declaration regarding cosmetics. Too bad that "KTLA worker"
doesn't  also have sense of humour. Incidentally, speaking of the past, you
might be interested to know that many years ago the director was on the
floor and directed the news from the set.  At that time, obviously, there
was no need for an IFB. Thought you might find that interesting."

And about the finger snapping incident, Hal says "You're quite accurate about the finger snapping episode.  It was done by a substitute floor manager and I knew it must have been heard over the air.  I told him next time "fire a cannon - it would be less obtrusive." The IFB was in my left ear, but I presume the producer in the booth was also distracted.  Thus, are the erraticisms of live TV!"

My thanks to Hal Fishman for taking the time to respond for the OTR audience.

RUBIN AND JOYNER IN RUNOFF