Friday, July 22, 2005

OK, I'm trashing the usual format for one day. No, it's not because I didn't do my usual note-taking on the show. As I do just about every night, I took notes on every story (excluding the weather and sports). I was completely prepared to make my usual snotty comments on all the crap KPTV shoveled in the guise of "news."

So, what happened? Well, after I finished my "prep" as they say in the radio biz, I sat down at my computer and did some web surfing. In the course of my cyber-wanderings, I came across information about the administration using a loophole in the Freedom of Information Act to hold up (yet again) the release of "stomach-churning" photos and video of abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib. The government of the United States, supposedly a nation "of, by and for the people," is deliberately withholding information from you for no reason other than to cover the asses of your elected representatives.

That reminded me of other major events happening right now, like Karl Rove, the President's main political advisor and "Scooter" Libby, Dick Cheney's assistant being accused of releasing the identity of an undercover CIA agent to the press, arguably an act of treason.

Then I thought about how KPTV almost completely ignores these vital stories in favor of "reporting" on things like A MONKEY RUNNING LOOSE IN PENNSYLVANIA! What a total waste of an opportunity to inform Americans about what's really happening in their country! What a total abrogation of their responsibilities as a "news" operation. The more I thought about that, the madder I got.

Since starting this blog, I've heard a few times from apologists for the KPTV brand of "journalism" who've told me that what Channel 12 does is just fine by them. After all, it gets ratings, so where's the problem?

Here's the problem: According to polls, the majority of Americans who see or hear any news in the course of their day get most or all of it from TV. A person who gets up early to go to work may well not be able to stay up until 11 PM. Therefore, it is not at all unlikely that the only news they get all day is at 10 PM. It's a disgrace that the only "news" they may see all day obsesses over crap like monkeys running wild, the "World's Oldest Married Couple" and "Stopping the Sludge" in their car's engine in lieu of telling them what's going on with their elected leaders.

No matter where you stand politically, can you say with a straight face that the accusations curently leveled at the White House aren't more important than the nonsense found nightly on KPTV's 10 o'clock "news" show?

I'm sure Shauna Parsons and Wayne Garcia are lovely people but if they write "journalist" where it asks for "profession" on their tax forms, they should be tied to anthills in Pioneer Square and have honey poured on them while a crowd gathers to watch. Point a camera at that! It'll get ratings, right?

The apologists bristle if anyone says that KPTV's audience may not be all that well-educated. They claim that surveys show that their audience is at least as intelligent as anyone else's. If so, why then do they treat their audience like a bunch of hockey helmet-wearing short bus riders? Would the ceiling fall in if KPTV's "news" show took time to tell its viewers about the important things happening in their country? Are they afraid the viewers would rush en masse to change the channel if the Grand Guignol was interrupted for just a moment by REAL news? Why do they disrespect their viewers by trying to distract them with the equivalent of shiny objects?

Some of us out here in Television Land think that BIG THINGS are happening in America at the moment, big things that don't involve missing blondes on vacation, unconstrained simians or geriatric honeymooners, big things that intelligent, thoughtful viewers would benefit from knowing more about. We deserve to hear about those stories.

In the circus, when a high wire artist falls to the ground, the clowns rush out from backstage to distract the audience from the unpleasant reality of death or injury. The high wire act of the Bush administration seems to be a little wobbly at the moment and the KPTV "news" show serves as the baggy pantsed distraction from the unpleasant reality of a government coming apart at the seams. At a moment like this, democracy needs journalists who are not afraid to tell us the truth, even if it's an uncomfortable truth. Instead of that, though, what we're getting is, to quote the old Mary Tyler Moore show, "a little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down the pants." The amusement value of that is growing thin. It's time to send out the clowns!

I apologize for not being all that funny today. I just had to vent. I'll be back Sunday night with the usual snark. Oh, by the way, Hilary Hutcheson has moved her hair part back to the middle.