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Friday, January 31, 2003

WPXI's protest coverage pathetic
I am writing to decry WPXI's appalling coverage on their 11 o'clock Sunday evening newscast of Sunday's Peace Rally & March, which I attended.

The most glaring problems with WPXI's pathetic coverage were:

1. WPXI did not address any of the reasons that people of all ages, races, sexes, political affiliations and religions were out in the cold and snow protesting. Some of the reasons we were protesting are: George W. Bush has not produced one shred of evidence to back up his claims that Iraq is a threat to anyone outside of its own borders; many Americans feel this proposed war is about Bush and U.S. oil interests controlling the world's second largest oil reserves as well as providing a distraction from a slipping economy; the failure of the Bush regime to find Osama bin Laden and those responsible for the 9/11 attacks as well as the morally reprehensible doctrine of preemptive strikes that the Bush regime is proposing.

2. WPXI's coverage severely underestimated the attendance at the rally. Both the Pittsburgh Police and KDKA put rally attendance at 5,000 people.

3. WPXI reports the Bush regime's planned use of nuclear weapons without batting an eyelash and then fails to link how such plans might have some relevance to why 5,000 people were protesting.

4. The overall tone of WPXI's coverage painted the peace protesters as dangerous and potentially violent, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Their coverage made it seem that the police were the only reason there was not mass destruction, chaos and violence. In point of fact, the only people who came to the protest who were in any way, shape or form equipped to perform acts of violence were the police, who had guns, riot gear and shields, billy clubs, flak jackets, pepper spray and horses at their disposal. I am not writing to complain about the police presence at this event as I found that the police were reasonable and restrained. However, the police were the only group that came equipped to be violent, not the protesters.

ANNE M. GEEVER
GLENSHAW
THE WRITER IS THE DIRECTOR OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE FOR A-F RECORDS.

No good response from Carnegie
Two weeks ago I called the president of the Carnegie Museum to complain about the elimination of the film and video series. I was doing so at the request of a friend and hadn't really thought through what I was going to say. After a bit of auto complaining from me, the president's assistant mentioned that they had received a lot of angry phone calls about eliminating the program. That is when it occurred to me to ask why they had nothing positive to propose to these people? Why is this a done deal? Why can't the Carnegie launch a fund-raising appeal or propose higher ticket prices to offset costs?

I even mentioned that I was unemployed and would still gladly pay more for tickets to save the series. The assistant seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say and promised to discuss it with the president. Two weeks have passed, there is no positive proposal, and callers are still getting the same old song and dance about how hard the decision was -- so hard that the executives had to reward themselves with raises after the painful process of eliminating regular people's jobs.

I also speculated in my call that the program was eliminated because its director lost a cold-blooded power struggle to other departments that had more wealthy and influential patrons. I think the Carnegie's refusal to consider any kind of positive outreach to the large number of people upset and disappointed by its decision speaks for itself. Let's face it, the 99.9 percent of us who aren't millionaires have no voice in the cultural affairs of Pittsburgh.

The people behind the film and video series worked hard to give everyone in our region the opportunity to see the best the world had to offer in the visual arts. Sadly, it appears that they should have focused their energies on staging gala events that get "the right people" into the SEEN column.

PATRICK YAKLICH
OAKLAND

KDKA's morning drive is worth tuning out
The Post-Gazette recently published the ratings for radio stations during the last ratings period. Note was made that KDKA had lost listeners in the AM market. This is a no-brainer.

When John Cigna retired, Larry Richert became the AM host. This was a big mistake. This AM drive is just boring. The jokes are boring. The imitations he does don't sound anything like the person who is being imitated. The other people in the booth are [cracking up] over the imitations. Obviously, they must be visual.

There are the Rush Limbaugh spots. It's bad enough he's on for three hours every afternoon, but to hear him at 6:10 a.m. is a little too much. The "games" and "contests" they play with the listeners are way too mundane. It's just bad radio.

The information and news provided is still the best in the business. Maybe it's just time to shoot the messenger.

RUSSELL A. KUEHNER
BEN AVON

Too much monkey business
I had the pleasure of waking up on Sunday morning to the blaring television I had left on through the night. The station was tuned to the Channel 11 morning news so I decided to watch. The story they showed was of an orangutan that can pick the Super Bowl winner.

I am a fan of human-interest pieces, but this piece went a little too far. I know that apes are considered the second smartest species next to humans. We do not need to degrade them by having an orangutan decide which color he likes better, putting on that shirt, and then deciding that whichever team is on that shirt will win the Super Bowl.

Even though he has correctly guessed for two years, I call it dumb luck. There are enough heartwarming and happy stories in the city of Pittsburgh that I shouldn't have to waste my time with this fluff.

JONATHAN REINFELD
SQUIRREL HILL

Artist of the year
Kudos to WYEP for bringing the oh-so-talented Patty Griffin back to town on a cold January evening.

Seeing her live confirms her reputation for being such a versatile musician -- from singing a French lullaby on the piano, to doing an acoustic Springsteen tune on her guitar, all the way to a sultry Spanish number with her band. No wonder this tiny lady is up for a Grammy and was voted WYEP Artist of the Year.

Bill Deasy was an extra enjoyment, opening up the show -- I look forward to seeing him again at Club Cafe in February.

FRANCINE PORTER
GLENSHAW

Another waste of WQED money
Last Friday we learned from Rob Owen's report that the executives at WQED paid $300,000 for a new brand identity for the station, not including the additional cost of on-air promotion.

One must question why the only publicly supported television station in Pittsburgh would need a new brand identity. More importantly, one must ask why it was necessary to spend $300,000 of the public's money for a new logo when the station already has financial problems and is continually asking the public for more donations. I thought donations were for programming.

This is just another example of unnecessary wasteful spending that got them in trouble in the first place.

BOB WILLISON
NORTH STRABANE

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