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Published weekly...or so--usually on Friday.
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WBBM Swallows Baloney from Restaurant Assoc
By CHUCK NOVAK *
A neighborhood-based news reporter in Chicago
TV news "coverage" of the Taste of Chicago is plenty fluffy and fatuous, typically serving as little more than an ad for the Taste-which may not be surprising since some of these same TV and radio stations are corporate sponsors of the annual event.
Casual viewers see TV news reporters oooohing and aaaahing as they sample exotic dishes on camera (alligator on a stick is big this year). But discerning viewers can sometimes see those same reporters sampling baloney.
Such appears to be the case with a pre-Taste story by Vince Gerasole of WBBM-TV. On the 10 p.m. newscast on Thursday, June 28, Gerasole reported on efforts to ensure food safety at the Taste.
To hear Gerasole tell it in his report, just seven "food inspectors" from the Illinois Restaurant Association guarantee food safety at the Taste, for the hundreds of thousands (or more) of people who eat there every year. Illinois Restaurant Association chief Colleen McShane fed his information to him. She said that these seven "food inspectors" make sure that "cold food stays cold and the hot food stays hot" and that they inspect each and every booth three to four times a day.
Why all this effort by the Restaurant Association and its magnificent seven? "When you have an event such as-as large as Taste of Chicago, there's a great risk," McShane said ominously on camera near the end of Gerasole's report.
But wait. Before you drop your elephant ears, dry your tears of joyous gratitude and call the Restaurant Association to thank them for being the only thing standing between you and salmonella, do something that young Mr. Gerasole failed to do: the math.
Could just seven people from a trade association provide adequate public health protection for one of America's largest food festivals?
Look at the hours. The Taste is a 10-day event; each day, 70 restaurants prepare, cook and serve food to the public from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.. Add at least one hour on either end for set-up and break-down, which directly involves food safety issues, and now you're at 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
But is that all that is needed? What happens to unsold food? The answer is that it goes into refrigerated trailers that are on-site 24 hours a day. Those trailers are monitored, as Gerasole reported, by the Restaurant Association's magnificent seven. Call the Mayor's Office of Special Events and you'll find that the trailers are monitored overnight, every night, by the Restaurant Association crew-a fact cheerfully and proudly confirmed by staff answering the phones at the IRA executive offices in the Loop.
So now we're at a situation where just seven people are providing 24-hour coverage for 10 days in a row. Either these seven are truly magnificent, or you're starting to see the baloney sandwich that the Illinois Restaurant Association served to WBBM-TV on June 28.
Had young Gerasole checked in with Taste officials (the Mayor's Office of Special Events), he would have found that the IRA seven are, in fact, a small part of a much larger effort led by a team of more than 60 licensed food sanitarians from the City Department of Health. This was all revealed the following night by WMAQ-TV reporter Sharon Wright, a veteran of health and safety issues. At least some Chicagoans got it straight.
Pass the mustard, Vince.
Research Key to Good Reporting
By: JOHN F. KUCZAJ
Did you see "Tampering With Nature" last Friday at 9pm on Channel 7?
Regardless of whether you like John Stossel or not, his ABC specials are filling a huge, gaping hole in television news right now. Any strong organization with an agenda knows how to play the press-it is done day in and day out and news organizations across the country allow it to happen. As long as you have a well-written press release, a tightly organized event and spokespeople who can sound convincing-you too can fool the press and advance your agenda.
I like John Stossel-his consumer pieces for 20/20 were incredible and harkened back to another mustache-wearing rebel from the same show 20 years earlier - Geraldo Rivera. Like Geraldo, Stossel finally reached a high enough profile to negotiate his work assignments on his own terms. He put in his contract that he produce six specials ala "Tampering with Nature" every year. While Stossel readily admits that he can no longer relate to the average consumer now that he's been in a higher income bracket, he still has an itch to scratch: Conventional wisdom and political agendas that just don't hold up once you research into them.
On "Tampering with Nature," Stossel presented many opposing viewpoints and research that we rarely hear about. Among the interesting tidbits:
- 99.99% of the arctic wildlife refuge would be left untouched by the Bush oil drilling plan.
- In Alaska's biggest oilfield, the Caribou coexist and their population has quadrupled since drilling began.
- 1/3 of the U.S. is covered with forest - the same as in 1920.
- 1,600 scientists signed a petition to congress that global warming was happening...17,000 scientists signed another petition saying there was no evidence.
- BT (spliced into genetically engineered BT Corn) is an "organic" pesticide that has been sprayed on crops for over 30 years and continues to be.
- Most processed foods contain genetic pesticides, which mean that fewer pesticides are sprayed on them as they grow.
Maybe you don't care for Stossel and you don't care about his opinions but one thing is for sure - he's one of a shrinking minority of journalists who does his research for a story. Just because "environmental activists" catch the ear of the press does NOT mean their facts are correct. One activist delighted in spouting how the U.S. was the ONLY country in the industrialized world that allowed RGBH in cows (to make them produce more milk). Stossel pointed out that over 20 countries allow it and the AMA was among many health organizations that cleared the hormone. Other journalists doing the story might just take the activist at her words. Stossel couldn't because his research showed she was lying.
Was Stossel taking a stand? Not necessarily. Journalists easily retreat into the "I'm impartial" argument, but that doesn't clear them to report lies. When a reporter does a story about a group who denies the holocaust took place, you can be sure that reporter will do their research and set the record straight. It always happens in those extreme cases, but it SHOULD happen all the time. It doesn't and that begets lazy reporting.
What does this have to do with Chicago?
Stossel appeals to an underserved news audience - the audience that likes to hear the facts of both sides of an argument. That audience doesn't get served much in Chicago. Reporters rarely delve deeper into issues, researching the facts given them by their subjects. They too-rarely report the flipside of an argument.
We see that Chicago's airport saga gets full coverage-with both sides of the argument well fleshed out. Last week, Paul Meincke visited the Mid-America Airport in southern Illinois, which is St. Louis' Peotone. For more info on that White Elephant, take a look at This AP Article or take a look at the STAND web site . What Meincke did was great because it showed one possible fate of the Peotone airport.
Alas, too few news organizations allow both sides of a story to be told. I'm not suggesting a conspiracy, but rather that time and budgetary pressures force news organizations to forgo rudimentary research and comprehensive follow-ups.
That's a shame.
Or...it's an opportunity.
Channel 7 is clearly #1 and doing a fine job...channel 5 is a close #2. That leaves three other TV news organizations with an opportunity to present a different kind of news - smart news (Don't EVEN attempt to characterize Carol Marin's weak attempt at Channel 2 as smart news - it was insulting).
The Tribune is, and will always be, the paper of the establishment. The Sun-Times does have an opportunity to out-report the Trib-if only they would stop shedding talent and importing unprofessional Canadians. I will give the Sun-Times credit for their June 28th editorial about a group against genetically modified rice with added vitamin A. The paper argued that starving people in the world have vitamin A deficiency and would benefit greatly. Too bad the editorial was one paragraph and their columnists never followed up.
I don't know what WBBM-AM is doing news-wise, but I suspect that without any competition, they are safely coasting.
Maybe WBBM's old competitor had the key that journalists should keep in mind. On every story reporters should remember: We Must Ask Questions!
Take a look at the previous issue: Friday, June 22
Take a look at the issue before that: Monday, June 18
* Pseudonym
Published weekly...or so--usually on Friday.
If you'd like to contribute, e-mail your article to the editor
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