In the May 17 issue of the Shepherd Express, a reader who identified himself as a "Disgruntled Blogger" stated that he was booted off the site and banned from posting here again. The crime (according to the letter): Agreeing with a Shepherd article by Dennis A. Shook about the shortcomings of local TV news (not just Fox6). I'm sure there's more to this than meets the eye, but maybe not.
I didn't read his posting and it had been removed--along with, apparently all replies--from the site, so I don't know if Disgruntled Blogger (DB) disobeyed any of the rules that I read before I started my own blog. DB may have used obscene language or made ad hominem attacks, both of which are forbidden in the rules (assuming the ad hominem statements are false).
I must admit, I agree with Mr. Shook's article. I don't watch local news (or network national news, for that matter, and for similar reasons). I don't like:
- Cute banter. "How about it ______, did you really think Yau Man was going to get kicked off last night?" "I sure was wrong about that one, ______. You got me there!"
- Filler stories about a Wal-Mart roof collapsing in Timbuktu when there are things we need to know about Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
- Scare stories. "There's something in your house right now that could kill you. We'll let you know in our ten o'clock report (or nine)."
- Turnover of female anchors when they start looking a little long in the tooth when male anchors just keep going, and going, and going.
- Hyperebole. "Shocking secrets about what's in your bratwurst."
- Editorials that are not clearly labeled as such. The Journal-Sentinel and, yes, the Shepherd are good at this, too. I'll say in the Shepherd's defense that no one reads it without expecting strong opinions and many of us are disappointed in its more watered-down new look. The J-S, however, sprinkles opinions into news reporting which, whether one agrees or not, is shoddy journalism. The news networks do this as well, and so do the local programs. A good example of this was a story that appeared on (I think) Channel 12 about the instructional lab unit at the Medical College of Wisconsin known as "dog lab." This activity is a central part of cardiopulmonary physiology education for all medical students. Every year, there is a story that centers on the people who protest this activity. This year, the story featured a medical student and his dog. The student stated that he didn't see the "relevance" of this lab to his chosen specialty area (I believe it was Family Medicine). There was little or no face time for anyone in the Physiology Department to give the other side of the story. No matter what one thinks about this lab activity, the local news story showed a clear bias against it. This editorial, disguised as news, promulgates ignorance because it doesn't show both sides of the story.
- Glurge. I've borrowed this term from the New Urban Legends website. It means stories that are sappily heartwarming--beyond "human interest." "Rex may only have three legs, but to a little boy living in his fourth foster home, this puppy is absolutely perfect." This is OK occasionally, but we are fed a steady diet of this sort of thing by local news affiliates and it makes it hard to take these broadcasts or the people who put them on seriously.
- The list goes on. Many of these were covered very well in Mr. Shook's article.
It's not just Milwaukee affiliates. Wherever I go in the country, local news is the same. Attractive, chatty, female anchors cracking up over bons mots from guys old enough to be their fathers or young enough to have just come from the prom. There are the something-you-just-ate-can-make-you-sterile stories
, as well as the guy who built a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge from popsicle sticks. There are constant complaints about the weather, be it hot or cold, wet or dry, and hope springing eternal for "that cold to get outta here anytime soon, _____?" It's the murder(s)/robbery(ies) du jour, accompanied by grainy security footage and the request, "If anyone knows who this may be, contact the Milwaukee Police Department." There are satellite cameras that can read a license plate from outer space. Why doesn't anyone have security video that actually shows what a perp looks like? This isn't TV news' fault. Just something else that bugs me about these stories.
I believe a good model for news broadcasts is The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. The anchor is dignified and does not editorialize himself. The reporters are well-informed and businesslike. They ask questions that are both broad and deep and they stay close to the middle of the road, irrespective of the story. Pundits are identfied as pundits, experts as experts. There are very few sound bites in The News Hour. Interviewees are not routinely interrupted, nor are their remarks edited to death for the purpose of spin. I believe that a local news organization can approach that format within the constraints of a thirty minute broadcast and still have plenty of time to editorialize and for the occasional three-legged puppy story.
