Tuned In: Sweeps month turkeys arrive in time for Thanksgiving
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A week ago when I started writing this annual turkeys column, I expected to go a little easier on local stations. Overall, November sweeps reports hadn't been that egregious. Many sweeps features were relatively restrained; some were even worthwhile.
But then there was the WPXI promo for its report on swingers and sex clubs -- "Target 11 investigates a lifestyle. Some say it's increasing in popularity ..." -- which followed on the heels of WTAE's "letters from Ronald Taylor" non-report. All goodwill went out the window.
As is often the case, Karen Welles' swingers report on Channel 11 was not as salacious as that promo and even tried to distance itself from the promotion ("We're not here to condemn or condone the practice," Welles said, contrary to the promo's scary vibe). But the report failed to really answer a question raised in its introduction ("How much swinging is actually going on in Western Pennsylvania?" news anchor David Johnson said).
When Welles asked one swinger about the prevalence of swinging, his response was, "You'd be surprised." Beyond that, the only evidence for the local popularity of swinging was a Web site with 16,000 people registered locally. Anyone with minimal Internet knowledge knows that just because a person registers at a site doesn't mean he or she's necessarily an active participant. And there was no context for that potentially meaningless number: Compared to other places, is 16,000 a lot or a little? This report (and especially its promotion) was the quintessential sweeps month turkey.
But it could be worse. A station in Hartford, Conn., reported on trace amounts of drugs found on dollar bills that were essentially meaningless -- but could give viewers a good scare.
And at KTLA in Los Angeles, a report titled "Done Up Down There" was about women's grooming habits "in a body area only a precious few will see," per the reporter. Yowza.
A few of the positive highlights from local sweeps: WPXI's Rick Earle reported on a new state police dispatch center that has been sitting empty in Hempfield for years; WTAE's always-reliable Bob Mayo offered a thorough, well-sourced story on TV recycling; KDKA's Yvonne Zanos had the most useful, thorough consumer reports (as usual), and WTAE's Sally Wiggin took viewers back in time to revisit old station promos, a harmless and enjoyable trip down memory lane.
Despite a larger-than-usual number of decent sweeps reports, there have been other turkeys ...
KDKA sent Alison Morris to the townhome of injured Steelers punter Daniel Sepulveda so viewers could see ... his unmade bed. And his ability to crack an egg and make pancakes. These are truly newsworthy achievements, of course.
KDKA also invited Hines Ward to offer a weather forecast. To his credit, the charismatic Ward did a pretty good job for a first-timer, but the slobbering over Ward by KDKA meteorologist Jeff Verszyla was a sight to behold. He guffawed and preened and tried to make sports metaphors, charging Ward with "illegal use of hands to weathercast." At the end of it, news anchor Kristine Sorensen chirped, "I'd like to see more of that. You're welcome anytime, Hines!"
How much lower can the Steelers inanity go? Place your bets! E-mail me with theories on what the bottom of the Steelers' barrel possibly could be on local newscasts. Let your imagination run wild. I'll include your theories in a future column.
It's going to be a looooong winter judging by the coverage of the area's first snowfall last month. On Oct. 29 at 6 p.m., all three stations led with reports about minor snowfall in the region.
"Anyone wanting an early Halloween scare just had to look out the window," said WPXI anchor Peggy Finnegan. Really? Snow flurries must only be scary in the minds of the people who write for local TV news. (And let's be clear: Often reporters and anchors abhor this hype as much as viewers; they're just following orders.)
On WTAE, anchors Andrew Stockey and Michelle Wright narrated viewer pictures of the minuscule snowfall, including the incongruent comment by Stockey, agreeing with a viewer that "the snow is beautiful." Wait, you're trying to scare us with something beautiful? How does that work?
KDKA reporter John Shumway, perhaps ashamed at the reporting he was forced to do, blamed a superior for barging onto some guy's driveway near Uniontown.
"Our boss sent us down here," Shumway said.
"Well, this is just a little frost," the man said.
Nooooooo! That's not the narrative KDKA, WTAE and WPXI wanted to follow! They want us scared, cowering in fear of flurries, our only recourse to retreat into the warm, glowing embrace of local TV news.
WPXI has claimed to be the no-fluff local news outlet, and they've reasserted that stance in newer promos. So how can they justify a report in October about Elvis as the top earner among dead celebrities? How is that not fluff?
I'm not opposed to a little fluff, and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with the Elvis story. People are interested in pop culture. But it's hypocritical to promote your news one way and report it another.
TV Q&A takes this week off for the holiday, but there's a Tuned In Podcast that features Post-Gazette columnist Tony Norman and me talking about the "24" TV movie and the end of "The Shield." Listen or subscribe at post-gazette.com/podcast.
Tuned In Journal includes a review of the "Shield" and "Sons of Anarchy" finales, a second look at "Gary Unmarried" and a reaction to FearNet's on demand vampire show, "The Dark Path Chronicles." Read it at post-gazette.com/tv/tunedin.
First Published November 28, 2008 12:00 am
