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Published weekly...or so--usually on Friday.
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Media Elite?
By JOHN F. KUCZAJ
Over the past week, I've been thinking about the concept of the "elite media". Last weekend I happened to catch a Fox News Channel show where the host was talking with former "Inside Edition" anchor Bill O'Reilly, host of "The O'Reilly Factor". O'Reilly explained his support/criticism of Dan Rather & CBS's stance on the Chandra Levy story. Basically, O'Reilly praised Rather for the restraint on reporting the angle of Condit's relationship with levy but he also condemned CBS & every other national news organization for ignoring the crux of the Condit / Levy relationship story. O'Reilly calls it "a tale about class, power and apathy. Congressman Condit chose not to help an American family in anguish...The elite media considers the Levys part of the "masses." Their pain and concerns are not as important as families who have power and influence." "Elite media," has been a term that I've had a hard time wrapping my arms around until he spelled it out so succinctly.
"This is so wrong it is painful. A congressman has callously and calculatingly abused an American family and some powerful editors don't see it as an important story? If that isn't classism, I don't know what is. Unfortunately, alert Americans are used to seeing this kind of stuff, " O'Reilly writes, "The power brokers that control much of the media are simply not interested in the little guy or the little family." The more I thought about it, the more I realized that O'Reilly was right and everyone was missing the big picture. There were two stories here - a girl is missing, and an elected official has severely betrayed the public trust.
Why doesn't the media report on every angle? Laziness? Whether you like Bill O'Reilly or not, you have to admit his point has some merit--even if it's not THAT clear-cut.
So, I was wrestling with the elite media idea and since this is the CHICAGO Media Examiner, I was trying to figure out how to talk about it with a local angle. Does anyone in the Chicago Media demonstrate elitism?
I had a few general examples:
Why didn't the media care to report on political outsider Peter Fitzgerald's allegedly shady banking history before he spent his way to Congress?
Why didn't the media jump all over George Ryan when Glen Poshard's campaign brought up the license-for-bribes allegations that were subsequently proved true despite Ryan's vehement denials?
Why has coverage of the missing Bradley kids evaporated?
Is it because the "victims" in there cases are average people from the masses? Does that explain why I'm still hearing about model Nikki Taylor recovering from a car accident? Does that explain the extensive coverage on William Kennedy Smith's preliminary research into maybe running for some kind of political office? Maybe the Chicago media, like the National media, considers all of its viewers equal, but the famous and powerful are just a little more equal.
Hmmm. I still wasn't convinced. I needed something to happen where I could analyze the coverage in real time and make my decision.
Something like an "L" train ramming another "L" train.
By 11am on Friday, all stations were live from the scene with breathtaking video of two trains sitting on the tracks. News helicopters supplied the first video, but eventually they all got a reporter to the scene for even more spine-tingling coverage of the two trains sitting on the tracks. A CTA train rammed another...happened a few weeks ago and no one went live...Why this warranted live commercial-free coverage is beyond me. Oh, we also heard that a woman in a mini van was KILLED by a Metra train in Norwood Park. Video on that MORE SERIOUS and horrific accident might be on the early newscast as we go back to the scene where...nothing is happening...but we have to fill time...so let's get the anchors and reporters talking. Overheard / commuter common knowledge:
For some reason, the Purple line train was stopped on the tracks-we don't know why because it wasn't a station! Anyone who rides the CTA regularly knows that trains routinely stop on the tracks for seemingly no reason.
These tracks also service the Red line trains! No. Red line trains do not run on Brown/Purple line tracks.
You can see a couple of cars are derailed! "L" cars tilt as they take corners. Zoom in to the wheels and notice there was no derailment.
We don't know why all the doors are open and people are looking out of the cars! Maybe because when the power was cut off, the Air Conditioning was turned off?
That's when it hit me--these people talking about the "L" accident hadn't a clue about how the "L" works! They probably have never taken an "L" ride! Information that is common knowledge to an everyday CTA rider was news to the TV newsies.
Listening to these anchor people and reporters--most of who probably live in the suburbs or the north shore--trying to make heads or tails of this incident made me ill. Was this my proof of the "elite media" in Chicago? Not one person who covered this incident live--and I was flipping around in search of--seemed to have anything more than the basic rudimentary knowledge that the CTA runs trains!
Why did the TV journalists seem so out of touch? Maybe because they ARE? I didn't get the impression that any of them took the CTA regularly. Why not? Wouldn't you think that a reporter would want to stay connected to the city? How better than to rub elbows with the regular folk on a packed "L" car everyday?
Picture it: Joel Daly taking the Purple line to Clark/Lake every day. Allison Rosati coming to work via the 151 Sheridan Bus. Allison Payne taking the Red Line to the Addison station, transferring to the 152 Addison bus and getting off at Western. Robin Robinson hopping the Blue Line to the Washington stop every afternoon.
No. You can't picture it. How many anchors and reporters can you picture driving into work from Wilmette? Winnetka? Palatine? A lot.
Maybe there is an "elite media" because once high-profile journalists hit the jackpot they move into an insular, upper-class community disconnected from the "average folk" that make up the bulk of their audience and they can no longer relate.
I don't want to paint all the TV journalists as "elite"--I've met a few who are very connected to the average person. I do, however, think I'm on to something here and this idea does need more scrutiny. What do you think?
Channel 2 Picks a Local Boy
By JOHN F. KUCZAJ
In a very safe decision, Channel 2 picked Channel 5's Mike Adamle as their new Sports Director.
I guess no one from Kansas City was available.
Friday on the Buzz & Wendy show on WCKG-FM, they repeatedly played a "bleeped" version of the classic Adamle slip up where he means to say "Slam Dunking" but ends up saying "Slam Cunting".
Makes me laugh every time I think of it.
Taking Suggestions
I hope the links on the left of the page are useful.
If I've missed any good web pages, I'm open to suggestions so let me know. Also, I've only included links to my favorite columnists so far. Again, I'm open to suggestions on adding others.
Take a look at the previous issue: Friday, July 27
Take a look at the previous issue: Friday, July 20
* 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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