Channel 2: The Pit Bull of Watchdogs

In blunt, vituperative terms, two June KCBS Channel 2 editorials accused Los Angeles Department of Water and Power General Manager Norm Nichols of engaging in “profligate waste” of taxpayers’ money. Nichols resigned last week.

Three weeks before W. Ann Reynolds resigned as chancellor of the California State University system last April, another KCBS editorial blasted her for secretly engineering her own 43% pay raise.

While Channel 2’s management won’t go so far as to brag that its on-air denunciations of these public officials contributed to their downfalls, it does take pride in the fact that KCBS is the only local TV station that still sees editorials as a responsibility.

Because of financial belt tightening, the relaxation of the Federal Communications Commission’s standards for license renewal or simply a belief that they are ineffective, no other VHF station in this market that serves about 5 million households does editorials any more.

“The tragedy is that you have all these competing stations in this town who do news and do it seriously, but they don’t do editorials,” said Robert Hyland, KCBS general manager. “The politicians know how powerful television is, and if more stations did editorials, you would see these people more on their toes. If you had five stations holding them up to account and judging what they’re doing, you would see much more action in city hall or in Sacramento, because then the public officials would not be able to hide as easily. I think it would force them to be more effective.”

Only one local station manager reacted favorably to Hyland’s challenge. Rick Feldman, station manager of KCOP Channel 13, agreed that television stations have an obligation to their viewers to air editorials.

Feldman did prepare and deliver KCOP editorials several years ago, including a 1986 opinion supporting the re-election of former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Bird that brought the station a great deal of flak. But because of budget cutbacks, Feldman said, the station ceased airing editorials because he didn’t have the time or staff needed to research, write and produce them properly.

Nonetheless, Feldman said that as the station reinvigorates its news operation over the coming years, he is looking to resurrect the editorial process as well.

“I think television stations have a lot of power in terms of being able to relay messages,” he said. “There are so many things here that need to be dealt with. We have a city government that is essentially immobile; no one wants to take the lead on dealing with critical problems. Newspapers are involved in this and I think television stations should do the same thing.”

The majority of local station chiefs, however, don’t hold TV editorials in such high regard.

Steve Bell, KTLA Channel 5’s general manager, who said his station has never done editorials, said that he was hardly aware that editorials on local television had become an endangered species.

“I don’t miss them,” he said. “They have not left a void in my life as a viewer. Most of them were so bland and uncontroversial as to be almost a joke, or they were so obscure as to be of no interest to anyone. That helped to kill them.”

“I think for the most part, the editorials I have seen given by station general managers are superfluous and deal with apple pie issues,” said John Rohrbeck, general manager of KNBC Channel 4, which has not presented editorials since shortly after he came to the station in the summer of 1984. “I don’t think for that reason that there is a place for them.”

Both KABC Channel 7 under former general manager John Severino and KCAL Channel 9 (formerly KHJ) under former boss Chuck Velona aired frequent editorials. But when Severino left to oversee the Prime Ticket cable network two years ago and Velona was forced out in May, 1989 after Disney assumed control of his station, their replacements--Terry Crofoot at KABC and Blake Byrne at KCAL--discontinued the practice.

Crofoot was not available for comment, but Byrne said editorials are a newspaper staple that has never translated well to television.

“For newspapers it’s terrific, but editorials need a lot of careful thought and analysis which requires close attention and thought from the reader,” he said. “Television editorials have a tendency to be rather flippant and are very hard to make interesting.

“Another thing is (that) many newspapers traditionally have done editorials to promote the philosophy of the newspaper’s owner. Television, in accordance with our license requirements, is supposed to present both sides. We don’t have a political philosophy to emphasize.”

Some TV managers suggest that the money and time devoted to editorials--which KCBS takes out of the tail end of its newscasts--is better spent on other sorts of public-affairs activities, such as station-sponsored educational programs, health fairs and public-service announcements.

Greg Nathanson, general manager of Fox-owned KTTV Channel 11, which has not aired editorials for several years, cited Ted Turner’s use of entertainment programs that push forward his particular beliefs as a more effective form of television advocacy today. With the Goodwill Games four years ago in Moscow, Turner tried to bring countries together, Nathanson said, and with the animated children’s show, “Captain Planet,” he will be seeking to raise environmental consciousness.

“Our station feels that we should be going more in that direction,” said Nathanson, who purchased the rights to air “Captain Planet” locally and said that KTTV will be looking to advocate strong opinions on crucial issues through public-affairs shows and documentaries.

Despite these detractors, KCBS perseveres, offering up three different editorials that are aired multiple times over the course of each week. The three-man editorial team--Hyland, editorial director Gene Fuzon and community relations director Joseph Dyer--consider themselves a kind of “community watchdog,” always looking for what they see as society’s inequities, always keeping a keen eye trained on the “fat cats.”

For three years, they have attacked the State Resources Board and the Air Quality Management District for exempting diesel truckers and bus companies from smog control devices. They recently criticized the massive ballot pamphlet sent to registered voters before each election and suggested that this huge, “unreadable” book is one reason so many people do not vote. They have blasted the Department of Motor Vehicles for not staying open on Saturdays. And they recently ridiculed the Los Angeles City school board for battling Donald Trump over the Ambassador Hotel when other properties in the same area are available as a site for a new school at millions of dollars less.

They have both backed and severely chastised Mayor Tom Bradley, and two months ago, Bradley appeared in a rebuttal to an editorial that checked off a host of “Bradley insiders” who it said have gotten rich off city-related deals. “A sure-fire cure for poverty,” the editorial said, “is to join that group.”

(Fuzon said that while he actively solicits rebuttals whenever the station advocates a strong point of view, he gets takers only about 33% of the time.)

Some of the editorials do not advocate a specific position, but are designed simply to illuminate the pros and cons of some upcoming legislative battle. And when the station sees a public figure or agency doing something positive for the community, it won’t hesitate to lavish a bit of praise. Hyland said that no topic, save for broadcast industry issues that directly affect the station, is taboo.

“Our mission is not to control thought, but to stimulate some,” said Fuzon, who writes most of the station’s opinions. “What we want to do is poke the viewer with a little needle and say, ‘Hey, citizen, did you ever stop to think about this? This is going to affect your pocketbook.’ We’re talking to a lot of people who don’t ever read a newspaper. They rely solely on TV and TV doesn’t have the capability to give people the load of information they need, much less help them interpret that load.”

The Channel 2 trio disagrees with other station managers who insist that their regular newscasts provide viewers with a comprehensive picture of the world. Interpretation of issues or events is severly lacking on television, they contend. And since newspaper readership is declining, especially among younger adults, the need to provide some analysis or clarification of events through the TV editorial process is even more acute today than in the years before.

What will it take for the other six VHF stations to see the light as Hyland sees it?

“If other stations look at those who do it and see them effectively involved in positive legislative change that affects the area in which they broadcast, that may be the impetus to get others to do this,” Hyland said. “Or maybe they will just get a conscience one day and feel they should be more involved in issues that affect their community.”