Talkin' TV

Rude, Man, Really Rude

We're used to seeing TV anchors being treated with respect out in the world.

But that's not always how it turns out -- especially in angry, stressed and contentious times like these.

Case in point: Ch. 4's Jacquie Walker was the designated moderator for Gov. David Patterson's town meeting with some angry people in Niagara Falls. The event, therefore, was broadcast live on Ch. 4. When she first tried to ask Gov. Patterson a question, she was callously interrupted by an audience member who insisted everyone say the Pledge of Allegiance.

That done, she was steamrolled into silence yet again by a furious questioner at the microphone who ignored her attempts to talk in the most naked display of disrespect for a local sitting TV anchor I've ever seen. He just asked the governor his angry question and awaited a response.

It was only after the governor asked the crowd to let the event's moderator do her job that she was able to get back on track and do it.

You don't need to be a genius to figure out it means about the heat of emotions common at that Town Meeting. But does it mean anything about current audience relations with TV news anchors?

Frankly, I haven't the foggiest idea. Maybe someone else does -- and can enlighten us all.

--Jeff Simon

TV coverage of standoff hard to understand

It is hard to say what was tougher to explain -- why the man on the 190 Monday night was holding a gun to his head or why the three local news departments carried the standoff live when very little happened for about two hours and 30 minutes before he was captured.

This was easily a story that could have waited for regular coverage on the 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. news and also been covered with a news cut-in when it was resolved.

The man was driving a vehicle with Florida plates and he had nowhere to go after being surrounded by SWAT teams and other police agencies. The television stations also reported that the agencies would be in no hurry to resolve the standoff because their goal was to have it end without violence.

The standoff - which closed the Niagara Thruway on both sides - also seemed to be ideal to be carried entirely on the stations' Web sites rather than pre-empt coverage of the nightly national newscasts and preempt or delay popular entertainment programming.

At around 8:30 p.m., Channel 4 News Director Joe Schlaerth said he planned to stay with the story until police were in control or "God forbid, something else happens."

About then, Channel 4 co-anchor Don Postles was getting impatient, though probably not as impatient as fans of CBS' popular Monday comedies. He thought it was time for the man to come to his senses "and realize he's not going anywhere."

Undoubtedly, by then many viewers were hoping that the stations would come to their senses and shift the story entirely to the web.

After the man was charged, subdued and captured and the law enforcement agencies justifiably praised for resolving the situation without serious injury, Channel 2 was the first to quickly head to regular network programming and Channel 4 (which showed a replay of the capture) was the last.

What did you think of the stations' decision to carry the standoff live for so long?

--- Alan Pergament

When Anchors Begin to Weigh You Down.....

Everybody knows we have a tradition in our neck of the woods of jocks trading on their instant recognizability to run for political office.

Whatever you think about it, it's an established fact of life in Western New York--Jack Kemp, Ed Rutkowski and now, apparently, with his hat in the ring along with his trunks, "Baby Joe" Mesi.

So why, then, not a veteran Buffalo anchorman, whose name recognition would whip any miscellaneous boxing contender or even backup Bills quarterback (a starting Bills quarterback like Kemp is another story entirely. There is no local celebrity quite like that one.)

Which leaves all those pols wondering what might happen if the likes of Don Postles or Scott Levin might run for office (at the moment, that would require a 180-degree change of plans for both. They've opted out). That's why I wrote today's TV column about Postles in TV Topics.
So what about that?
Not to mention the future of the excellent and terminally embattled Katie Couric--and Larry King besides?
Feel free to have your say here.
--Jeff Simon

That's news?

J.P Losman or Trent Edwards? Panhandlers on Elmwood Avenue. Believe it or not, those stories actually were at the top of local TV newscasts this week.

The potential for a Buffalo Bills quarterback controversy after Edwards led the Bills to their first victory in place of an injured Losman was the big story on a Channel 2 newscast.

Channel 7 led a newscast with a report on people's views on the panhandlers, which isn't exactly a new issue.

If this is what stations consider the most important news, it is a pretty safe bet you can skip the rest of the half hour.

-- Alan Pergament