Santa Ana Planning to Air Cable-TV News Program

A cable-TV news show produced by Santa Ana and patterned after commercial-TV news is expected to make its debut in February as another arm of the city’s public information network.

City officials stressed that the show will be objective even though it will be produced, written and broadcast by city employees. No other city in Orange County has a similar show, although several produce programs about specific city issues, or TV magazines such as “A Slice of Orange,” which features Orange Mayor James H. Beam in a talk-show format.

Santa Ana already has begun an extensive effort to market itself. A city-sponsored magazine designed to accentuate the positive aspects of city policies and actions began publishing in November. Also, the city’s cable channel, which airs City Council meetings live, has featured programs about the proposed Westdome sports arena, the Police Department’s anti-narcotics task force and the opening of the new Transportation Center, among other city issues.

The five-minute newscast will be taped on Tuesday and Friday mornings in English and Spanish and rebroadcast several times each day.

“If it’s put together by the city, I would wonder if it’s going to be a real news show or just an informational kind of thing,” said a cable-TV program director who asked not to be identified.

But Santa Ana officials said they intend to give an accurate presentation of the issues. Public information officer Mike Bush, who will anchor the English newscasts, said a “mock script” will include segments on City Council actions, a police narcotics raid, the status of discussions between the city administration and the firefighters’ association over alleged problems in the department, and a preview of plans for February’s Black History Month parade and other activities.

“We do not see this as a propaganda tool,” said Laurie Cottrell, executive director of marketing and communications. She said the broadcasts will be short but will include interviews with council members, city staff and the public.

Cottrell also disputed allegations by a group opposed to plans to demolish Santa Ana Stadium to make way for the proposed Westdome that the city’s productions are slanted. “It (the newscast) will be as objective as all of our programming,” she said.

Spokesmen for the group asked the City Council in November to allow them equal time to air their opinions and were told that the city’s access channel (26) is available at no charge to the public, along with free use of a studio and equipment.

Interviews are being held for a Hispanic anchor person to translate and read the Spanish portion of the show, Cottrell said. “We’d like to use someone from within the city,” she said, adding that the person would have to be knowledgeable about the city and Hispanic issues and have a good command of the language.

The city will use Group W Cablesystems’ staff to film and air the show on Channel 3.

Some officials in other cities said they would like to have the resources to produce a newscast.

“We’ve talked about doing that sort of thing,” said Huntington Beach spokesman Bill Reed, who produces a cable interview show that features council members on city issues.

But most other cities do not have the same resources as Santa Ana for a cable-TV newscast. “It’s very rare because it’s hard to come up with the cash to pay for a real news show,” said Craig Heinting, director of marketing and programming for Cablevision of Orange.

Bush said Santa Ana’s show will cost about $500 a week and that the money is available in the cable-TV budget. The city’s total cable-TV allocation--about $686,000 a year--eclipses that of most other cities. Huntington Beach, which also has its own city channel, spends about $163,000 and Anaheim spends about $65,000 a year.

Although Santa Ana will be the only Orange County city with such a program, Cupertino, Lakewood and Santa Barbara also produce their own news shows, according to Joani Culp, a researcher with the League of California Cities.