MEDIA / KEVIN BRASS : Emmys Represent Essence of TV News--Unfortunately

Well, Channel 10 anchorwoman and fashion model Kimberly Hunt won an Emmy on Saturday night for best investigative report, and doesn’t that put it all in perspective?

In fact, Hunt won two local Emmys at the ceremony at the Town and Country Convention Center, an annual opportunity for the local television community to schmooze with their own.

The only real excitement came near the end of the interminable ceremony when Sagon Penn appeared on stage with producers Charles Landon and Bill Scott. They accepted Emmys for their half-hour documentary, “I Claim Myself: The Sagon Penn Incident,” a poignant half-hour look at the racially charged cause, effect and aftermath of the 1985 incident in which Penn, who was acquitted, shot two police officers and a civilian ride-along, killing one of the officers. The show was rejected by every broadcast entity in town except cable.

It seemed a little strange that winners in such serious categories were lumped in with “P.M. Magazine’s” Pat Brown, a multiple winner, Channel 8 anchor Stan (The Tan Man) Miller (that’s what hostess Laura Buxton called him) and Hunt. But those are the Emmys, which seem, in many ways, to represent the essence of TV news.

To her credit, Hunt admitted she was “just lucky to be part of the crew” for the story on maquiladoras that won the investigative Emmy. As it turned out, she was one of the lone bright spots for KGTV (Channel 10), last year’s big winner in the awards, which are presented by the San Diego chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

For no apparent reason--the 8 and 10 newscasts have changed little in the past 12 months--this year it was Channel 8’s turn to walk away with the top prizes, including outstanding news station and outstanding achievement in early evening news (hour), late evening news and weekend news.

If the ratings for the KNSD-TV (Channel 39) news shows were akin to a heartbeat, they would be wheeling the station in for open heart surgery about now. But the station sponsored 12 tables at the ceremony (Channel 10 sponsored six, Channel 8 zero), including the only table that seemed to be having any fun, where a group blew noisemakers every time someone mentioned the station. Maybe nobody watches Channel 39, but the news shows, as usual, were recognized as quality programs, garnering several awards, particularly for technical achievement.

Channel 39 ended up with a total of 18 Emmys, tying with Channel 8 in quantity of honors.

As host Marty Levin pointed out, the Emmys mainly seem geared for the station’s promotions departments, desperate for any excuse to pump their station.

Beyond the awards for talking heads and the promotional value of the Emmys, they serve a real purpose in honoring the television producers, photographers, lighting technicians, sound men and video artists in town who rarely receive recognition. People such as Steve Lawrence, who won two Emmys for his behind-the-scenes work at Channel 39; director Robert Gardner, a multiple winner for his commercial for Fat City restaurant, and the numerous community and student producers who were nominated but didn’t win are really the key to the local video scene.

The most honored program was “First Tuesday,” a futuristic look at voting rights, produced by Stuart Craig Smith and Associates for ITV, the instructional TV channel. Like the Sagon Penn documentary, it was a show that nobody wanted to make, except the producers.

It’s official: After a decade as one of the station’s main anchors, Allison Ross is leaving Channel 8. Her last day on the air is expected to be June 30; her contract expires July 16. Channel 8 News Director Jim Holtzman declined to detail the reasons for the move. Ross said Thursday that the move caught her completely by surprise. She expected the station to at least attempt to negotiate for another year. “Maybe I was being blind,” she said. Describing herself as “upset” and “very hurt,” she took Thursday off as a “mental health” day. . . .

Former XTRA-AM (690) morning talk host Mark Williams is heading to Guam for a two week fill-in stint. He may have a more permanent gig lined up in Portland. . . . For a June 15 article on talk show hosts, Williams, replaced by Steve Garvey, told the Wall Street Journal he lost his job to “a baseball player with a high sperm count.” . . .

Larry Roberts, the ex-Channel 10 reporter filling in at XTRA until The Garv starts June 26, was finishing up last Tuesday’s show when pain shot through his leg. He could barely sit down, but he finished the show. One doctor diagnosed a pinched nerve. Roberts’ on-air guest, a Lakers fan, suspected a pulled hamstring. . . .

Although few listeners may have been alert enough to notice, the tunes in San Diego elevators have been altered recently, as KJQY-FM (103.7) officially phased in Group W’s new “Adult Spectrum Radio,” a “new, instrumental-based popular music format for adults 35 to 54.” In a press release, KJQY General Manager Bert Whalen, in a blurring burst of radio-ese, described the new elevator music format this way: “ASR signals a fundamental shift in narrowcast programming philosophy by embracing the full spectrum of musical tastes of today’s adult radio listeners--light jazz, soft rock, mainstream New Age, oldies and modern country--ASR’s mass appeal, research-driven music library also includes custom contemporary music recorded and produced exclusively for Group W Radio.” . . .

In a move designed to consolidate its circulation numbers, the Oceanside-based South Coast Newspapers on June 30 will change the names of the daily Blade Tribune and the twice weekly Citizen and La Costan, redubbing all of the editions the Blade Citizen. Each of the papers will continue to have its separate identity, which means that on days the Citizen publishes, readers in Encinitas will be able to choose from a daily and a twice-weekly with the same name. . . .

Several ex-reporters at the Escondido Times Advocate have been contacted by the U. S. Department of Labor, which is investigating the paper’s overtime policy. Federal labor officials declined to provide specifics of the investigation. Times Advocate Publisher John Armstrong said the investigation is based on the complaints of one former reporter. . . .

Longtime KSDO-AM (1130) operations manager and morning news host Jack Merker didn’t return to work last Monday. That was the date General Manager Mike Shields said Merker would return, although most newsroom personnel doubted it. Merker has been out for almost two months due to “personal reasons.” Shields said last week that he has talked to Merker and now expects him to return in July. . . .

After three years as a reporter, Marilyn Hyder has been laid off by KFMB-AM (760) as part of a “budget tightening” move.