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What Role Does Race Play?
By SAM JOHNSON *
A number of recent promotions and demotions on Chicago TV News programs leads me to wonder whether local stations-particularly 2, 5 and 32 are pandering to "diversity" interests at the expense of quality, particularly in their choice of lead anchors. I am not aware of anyone-Steve Johnson, Robert Feder, Phil Rosenthal, you in your various commentaries, or the reader's letter as printed by (I think) Feder-who has had anything particularly positive to say about Tracy Townsend. Yet When WBBM choose to revamp its 5 and 10 pm newscasts, it was David Kerley- no Ron Magers but someone who has been received far more favorably and seems far more at ease in the job-who was demoted. Was Townsend retained for any other reason than her race (I don't say gender, because she obviously would have been replaced by another female)? In fact, was this complete non-entity with no Chicago background hired for ANY OTHER reason? Why are far more impressive talents like Carol Marin (I know, I know but her "experiment" at least out rated this latest fiasco) or Bob Sirott kept off the air while mediocrities like Townsend, or Tamron Hall etc are spotlighted? Is there now a rule at BBM, MAQ and Fox 32 that there must be a black co-anchor on EVERY SINGLE newscast-even when there is already a black weatherman or sportscaster? And even- as is the case with both the impending newscast and on the weekends where Katherine Bliss has now been replaced- when there is no WHITE co-anchor? If so, why is this only the case in Chicago whose metro-area black population of 20% is not that much higher than N.Y's where such rules do not appear to be consistently in force (especially on Fox)? Please understand I am not arguing that there SHOULDN'T be black co-anchors, particularly talented ones such as Dianne Burns or in the past Lester Holt nor that there should not be efforts to promote Hispanics. Only that the first group is rather significantly OVER-represented, given both their percentage of the six-county Metro area and the available talent pool. What consideration other than ethnic pandering-or fears of protests by good 'ol Jessie Jackson-explains this unusual situation?
What Role Does Race Play? EDITORIAL REPLY
By JOHN F. KUCZAJ
I received the above e-mail a couple weeks ago and I've been sitting on it, wondering if I should respond to this person directly, or print the comments and respond publicly. Here goes:
Short answer: Yes, race plays into on-air decisions, but not because of pandering to "diversity interests." Because the marketplace dictates it.
This exact issue is brought up in a new book that Milwaukee Journal columnist Eugene Kane recently wrote about (http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jan02/16156.asp). Kane mentions that only 5.3% of newspaper journalists are African-American and that Black journalists have been fleeing the business at an unfettered rate the last few years due to rampant dissatisfaction. Maybe that's right, but when you look at the latest figures from Nielsen, 11.8% of US Households are Black Households. The fact that only 5.3% of newspaper journalists are Black is horrendous. If that were happening an industry other than journalism, you'd expect a searing expose!
It becomes even more scandalous when you realize that a media company survives by giving its customers information they want and can relate to. The best way to do that is to tailor your journalists to your audience so that your staff mirrors your market.
In the Chicago TV market, 17.3% of households are Black households and 12.3% are Hispanic. Do our newscasts represent those figures? Not quite yet. Don't you think that news organizations that occasionally do reports on racial inequities in other businesses should also disclose the racial makeup of their own workplace? I do.
Television news is an even more special case, as their stations strive for the highest ratings possible. Notice anything about Channel 2's recent moves? They're loading up on Hispanic journalists. Could there be a connection to the Hispanic population explosion? You bet! As the last-place news organization in town (I think they're ranked somewhere behind "!Exito!"), they've got nothing to lose and see a segment of the population that's under-represented on-air. Channel 7 and 5, on the other hand, have the highest rated newscasts and in tweaking their newscasts will only make minor changes-adding a new personality only as a last resort. They have no incentive to diversify their newscasts any more than they already have because the marketplace (Chicago TV News viewers) has already voted that they like what they see already.
So the answer is yes, News Directors are making concerted efforts to diversify their newsrooms, but only when it may help them-not to pander to anyone else's interest. Should there be a Black anchor on every newscast? Why not? Who cares as long as they are good? If stations thought they could get good ratings with midget Eskimos on every newscast, they'd put them on in a heartbeat. Chicago is an interesting news town. We've seen more than one misguided news director come to town and try to replicate slick style-heavy newscasts from other markets only to see their efforts torpedo the credibility and the audience of their stations. What works in Miami or Philadelphia has been proved to not work in Chicago, where news viewers turn their noses away from trash and toward hard-nosed, blue collar reporting. The successful news directors in town have built their teams based on the merits of hard-working, experienced professionals. Channel 5 figured it out over the past few years but Channel 7 has known this for a long time. There's not one weak journalist at Channel 7, which means their standards for new hires is much higher than Channel 2. You can see this dynamic when a bench players on a strong station moves to a leading role on a weaker station - Mike Adamle moving from Channel 5 to Channel 2 is the most recent example.
Keep in mind that no TV journalist starts their career in Chicago-they have to pay their dues in smaller markets and work their way up. There are exceptions to the rule-like if you're a former beauty queen, or your dad works in the executive offices at ABC...errrr...a network. These exceptions usually end up pulling down the quality and reputation of a news organization and in some cases, end up on Headline News or at WCBS...um...I mean a place where few people will see them. Hiring a journalist from another market who was originally from the Chicago area is the ideal thing to do. Another ideal is to hire a "bench player" from a top station in New York, Los Angeles or a Network. The most recent example is Channel 2's hiring of Antonio Mora from ABC to become their new lead anchor. A more risky and generally less-successful thing to do is hire someone from a much smaller TV market to be the lead late news anchor. Like promoting a Pitcher from AA to the majors too soon, you risk damaging their career and hurting the team if that person doesn't have their skills fully developed for the job.
Channel 2 is making some very logical moves in their attempt to rise from the dead. Race may play into it, but talent is the #1 consideration. I really can't blame them for standing behind Tracy Townsend and giving her a chance to grow on people. Although, now that I think of it, there's no way in hell that she'd be demoted anyway because she's radioactive. Had she been demoted during her pregnancy, Channel 2 would have been risking a massive lawsuit! It doesn't matter what the circumstances, stations have been successfully sued for those grounds before.
Funding Reinstated, Credit Due
By JOHN F. KUCZAJ
Governor Ryan, this past week, reversed his decision to cut $2 million from the budget by closing down a home for the disabled. According to some reports it was a column by Bob Greene which detailed how some of the displaced disabled were being transferred to facilities hundreds of miles away that caused Ryan to do something sane for a change and reverse the decision.
No one mentioned that Walter Jacobsen was the first to expose & champion the story way back in December.
As is all-too-common, none of the competing news media gave Walter any credit, instead the credit went to a guy who picked up on it more than a month later.
Pathetic.
One question remains: will the Morton Arboretum still get $2 million for that 6th entranceway that George Ryan so desperately wants it to have?
Credibility Shaken, Not Stirred
By JOHN F. KUCZAJ
Anyone who thinks calling Paula Zahn "sexy" in a promo spot diminishes her credibility, I've got one for you.
In an effort to promote their slate of James Bond movies airing on Saturday nights, ABC's Good Morning America had "James Bond Day" on Friday January 4th. The show featured James Bond trivia, gadgets and actors as well as highlights galore. Good Morning America is produced by ABC News.
Does that blatant program-length commercial negatively affect the credibility of Charles Gibson & Diane Sawyer? Maybe. Which is worse? A promo pointing out that Paula Zahn is "sexy" or Charles and Diane talking about "Pussy Galore."
Next time Diane Sawyer has a hard-hitting interview, I'll be hoping one of the questions is "Who played "Octopussy."
NOTE: Due to space limitations, my Guidebook For News Babe Appreciation will appear in the next issue.
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