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A media critique... and then some!
Coming Monday Inside LA TV - a KCBS/KCAL memo which one insider says has been the talk of the station. Check out Recent Issues 6-14-04 Monday's OTR 6-11-04 Friday's OTR
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ROGGIN WINS POLL AS BEST SPORTS ANCHOR
Congratulations to Fred Roggin, winner of the OTR poll as best LA TV sports anchor. The final vote between Roggin and Rob Fukuzaki was 40-32.
Roggin began as weekend anchor in 1980, and became the main guy in 86. He's won a truckload of awards, but I believe none as prestigious as this one.
I see from Fukuzaki's bio that when he started at KABC in 1994, he was LA's first male Japanese-American TV anchor. He became the main sports anchor when Bill Weir left. I also see that his birthday is on the 4th of July. So happy B-day to Rob....2nd place isn't bad.
LACK OF BALANCE FROM THE RIGHT
Whenever I talk about bias or lack of balance from the right, you can usually correctly guess where it is coming from, and this is no exception. In this case, my complaint is the way the Fox News Channel handled Wednesday's report from the 911 Commission staff. For starters, they devoted one or two sentences to the story in their first segment at 9am; not much for this sort of story. CNN gave it much more attention.
There seemed to be two key elements to the revelations on Wednesday...one is the details of the bigger plan that Al Qaeda had been considering, and the other is the conclusion that there was no collaborative relationship between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.
On Brit Hume's Special Report News Hour at 3pm, they played the story at about ten minutes past the hour to start their second segment. Hume's lead-in was "The Commission investigating the 911 attacks reported today that Usama Bin Laden tried but apparently failed to obtain weapons and locations to train terrorists in Iraq. It also revealed that Al Qaeda originally planned to hijack more planes and murder more Americans than it did that day in 2001."
The fact about the lack of cooperation between Bin Laden and Hussein didn't coming until two minutes into the story! You don't suppose that's because that makes the Bush Administration look bad, do you?
But more blatant evidence of the Fox bias can be found on their web site. On Wednesday Night, I read two lengthy articles about the 9/11 Commission staff report and neither one even mentioned the conclusion of no collaborative relationship between Al Qaeda and Hussein. Can you believe this? One article did however manage to state that Bush and Cheney say there were ties between the two. In fact Cheney says Hussein did give training to Al Qaeda, something which contradicts the report's findings - again findings which the article managed to avoid telling the reader about.
But that article did say that the 911 report said there was no connection between Hussein and Al Qaeda on the 911 attacks. That gave Fox a chance to quote Bush saying, despite some news reports, that he never claimed such a connection.
I also have never heard Bush say there was such a connection. However, there was a quote I read from Dick Cheney which was ambiguous enough so that it could be taken that way. Nevertheless, I think anyone who reports the Bush Administration made that connection would be incorrect.
As for the bias from Fox News - I feel sorry for anyone who uses FNC as their main source of information. It is a genuine shame that people who dislike bias from the left, don't realize they're getting a different brand of bias from Fox. Fair and balanced - what a joke.
LACK OF BALANCE FROM KCAL'S JOEL CONNABLE
The report from Joel Connable this week on illegal immigration is a reminder of the usual left-leaning bias you see from the mainstream media. This was a meeting of Latinos who are upset about the Border Patrol picking up illegal aliens too far from the border. They claim that Hispanics are being unfairly targeted. Connable said some say that is based on the way they talk or the way they dress.
If you ask me, if there is a common pattern of the way illegals talk and dress, those could be factors that lead to a reasonable probable cause for federal agents to at least ask some questions. However, Connable never even dared raise the question. Further, one man he interviewed said now it's the Hispanics, next it will be the blacks, the Jews and then the Asians. This is of course absurd! But did Connable question him? Nope.
What you saw from Connable is what you typically see from members of LA TV when covering those who are sympathetic to illegal immigration - accept everything, challenge nothing. In fact, Connable didn't even talk to anyone from the Federal Government to get their side on this. Just a one sided story. Fair and balanced? Not here either.
BILLY PRESTON ON RAY CHARLES
When I interviewed Billy Preston in 1984, I asked about the best moments in his career. That's when Ray Charles came up......
A LITTLE LATE ON THE WARNINGAs KCAL reporter Michele Gile said "a warning now that the police photos are graphic," we saw the following video....
Maybe it was an editor who wasn't paying attention. But I would you should give your warnings before the objectionable video, not while it is on the screen.
LOOKING BACK
While in Michigan for the NBA Finals, Fred Roggin decided to show some of his work from Beverly Hills, Michigan in 1988, when the Lakers beat the Pistons. In the piece, Roggin asked people where Rodeo Drive is. He also found a guy named Eddie Murphy. I liked it. Reminds me of some of the stuff I used to do...like one story where I compared Bakersfield to Hollywood. And the fact that it was so old, it gave us a chance to see how young Roggin once was. And it does remind viewers just how long Roggin has been around Los Angeles, which is certainly a plus for KNBC.
MIC FLAGS - THEN AND NOW
The old story also reminded me how big mic flags have becomes in LA over the
years.
Here's a shot I took of Nerissa Witherspoon holding the current mic flag. Though if my memory is correct, both KNBC and KABC had even bigger ones about five years ago.
THE STORY NOT REALLY MATCHING THE LEAD
Anchor Lynette Romero said that reporter Jaime Chambers had "tips on how to beat those long lines at the airport and stay safe in the process." But I never saw anything in the story that would tell me how to beat any long lines. In fact the focus of the story was on people coming back to the US from another country, which I imagine eliminates the majority of travelers. Chambers showed us a new gizmo which takes your finger print and picture and sends it back to a data base where it can be checked out. The story went through some basic procedures that you must go through when you come back to LAX. It also featured a sound bite from US Customers Commissioner Robert Bonner, which didn't add much to the story. But he was speaking from a microphone and so I suspect some sort of meeting or news conference is what brought Chambers there.
Maybe the most interesting part of the story was a dog which checks luggage for fruits or other things not allowed to brought back. Chambers said a steep fine is possible for smuggling. He also saved this part to near the end of his story. I imagine a more experienced reporter would've handled it differently.
INTERESTING SIDEBAR
KNBC's Doug Kriegel had a feature on those who were working on the guest list for Ronald Reagan's funeral in Washington. He said Nancy Reagan can only invite about a thousand and "many more than that are clamoring to get this red hot ticket to a funeral." He said many old Reagan staffers were helping out, and he told us that many met their spouses while working for him. Kriegel also told viewers that some who contributed a lot of money to Ronald Reagan still couldn't get in.
MANY CAN PROBABLY RELATE
What is Rick Garcia doing in front of Maria Quiban's 5-day forecast? He was complaining that the 79 degrees he was pointing to was 20 degrees warmer than what it was in the studio. "I want to file a complaint, I'm suin' somebody. Somebody get my lawyer on the phone."
How many of us have been stuck in a cold office, newsroom, studio, video rental store....you name it. I know, I know...I've already heard that studio equipment needs to be kept cool. But how about us human beings? I think we need a certain temperature too.
GOOD QUOTE FROM GARCIA
Garcia said the NBA tag line for the playoffs is "Let's Get It Started." And so "If the Lakers want to start something, they're going to need a defibrillator."
HE'S BACK...SORT OF
I happened to catch a local TV commercial today, and there was Mike Boguslawski as the pitchman. You won't be surprised to know that he's in "your corner." Remembering his brand of 'journalism,' I'd say he is much better suited for this sort of work. Good luck to Bogey.
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