Thinly Veiled Promotions Cheapen News, Integrity

Some standard elements of television news go beyond annoying, moving into the realm inhabited by the sound of fingernails scraping across a blackboard. In this category are sports guys who tell viewers the scores without saying which team played at home and Herb Cawthorne’s KGTV (Channel 10) commentaries.

Yet these are little pin pricks compared to the piercing needle-through-the-eyes annoyance caused by the constant use of news programs to plug network television shows.

The most recent prime-time example occurred Thursday night on KNSD-TV (Channel 39). During commercial breaks in “L.A. Law,” Channel 39 titillated viewers with a teaser about an upcoming interview with one of the stars of the series on the 11 p.m. newscast.

Those who stayed awake through Bob Dale’s weather report were rewarded with a snippet of an interview with Amanda Donohoe, one of the show’s minor stars. She discussed her character’s bisexuality.

“You can’t predict what C. J. will do,” she said.

Exciting news. Channel 39 has been running other similar insightful “features” for the past few weeks, which, few will be surprised to learn, were part of a sweeps ratings period. The interviews with “L. A. Law” stars were packaged by NBC and sent out to its affiliates.

Now, this practice is hardly new. KGTV (Channel 10) is famous for it. But that doesn’t prevent some viewers from screaming at the top of their lungs every time a hard- working, independent news force like Channel 39 does a little cross- promotion with the network, simultaneously giving up a little of its news hole--and its integrity--to lure “L. A. Law” fans into the newscast.

“We do it because viewers are interested (in ‘L. A. Law’),” said Channel 39 News Director Irv Kass. “I believe entertainment news is legitimate news and it has a place in the newscast.”

In the area of hard-hitting entertainment reporting, Channel 39 did do a piece on the demise of “Dallas” last week, even though the show aired on another network, Kass pointed out. Of course, it didn’t do the daily reporting onslaught the news team for KFMB-TV (Channel 8)--the channel that airs “Dallas”--devoted to the program, but there are limits to a station’s willingness to promote the competition. And since “Dallas” qualified, at least briefly, as a national phenomenon, it was news.

But it’s hard to imagine how a little-known actress such as Amanda Donohoe discussing the “bisexuality of her character” classifies as news.

It’s no secret why stations like Channel 39 run such inane pieces.

It also doesn’t make them any less annoying.

The “L. A. Law” promo was a gut-wrenching piece, but the award for the best television news story of the week goes to Channel 10. Last Tuesday, the station wove the tale of a Navy jet plane that was damaged in a carrier landing. Instead of just throwing the plane away or donating it to Goodwill, the Navy--get this--used parts from other aircraft to repair the multimillion-dollar fighter. Fascinating! Let’s get this straight: Parts from one aircraft were used to repair another. Stunning! What a display of ingenuity, and well deserving of Channel 10’s coverage.

Honorable mention goes to the heartwarming story of the “Hairdresser to the Stars” showing up at Camp Pendleton, which received the type of coverage from both television and newspapers that is usually reserved for visits from heads of state.

The Sincerity Stroll, Hal Clement’s fabled walking monologue that served as a segue between the end of the Channel 8 4:30 p.m. newscast and the beginning of the 5 p.m. newscast has gone the way of the Hula Hoop. “I was doing it one day and I found I was conscious of not tripping over a cable, and I decided that it wasn’t working,” Clement said. . . .

A recent newsletter from Stock/Alper & Associates, a local public relations firm, includes a list of sure signs that a media marketing strategy is not working. Things have definitely gone bad when “your company logo turns out to be a graffiti symbol commonly used by the Crips.” . . .

Greg Dennis is out at the Blade-Citizen in Oceanside. He was unceremoniously dispatched from the newspaper after seven years, most recently serving as managing editor. Budget considerations were cited. . . .

First KSDO-AM (1130) staffers were upset because they felt they couldn’t get an interview with Peter Arnett. Then they thought they had an interview with the hot media star, so they announced it on the air. Then they were upset again. It turns out they never had a confirmed interview, due to a misunderstanding with officials at UC San Diego, hosts for Arnett’s San Diego appearance last week. “You win some, you lose some,” KSDO general manager Mike Shields said. . . .

A week before last Thursday night’s bizarre and apparently random shooting in the Channel 10 parking lot, someone had smeared feces on the security lock for the parking lot gate. . . .

Free-lance writers are complaining about slow or non-existent payments from Ranch and Coast, the San Diego-based slick magazine that has seen many incarnations over the past 10 years. “Ranch and Coast is under as much pressure as all publications,” said Publisher and Editor Jan Loomis, who bought the magazine with her husband, Robert, two years ago. “We are paying the free-lancers, but not as quickly as I would like. Unfortunately, some advertisers in the community are not paying their bills.” Ranch and Coast has decided to stop using free-lancers, Loomis said. . . .

Channel 39 has hired Keith Esparros from the CBS affiliate in New Orleans as managing editor, filling the job vacated when Irv Kass was elevated to news director.

Reporter Anna Martinez will leave Channel 10 within two months to take a job in Dallas. Channel 10 is also losing Brenda Jennings, the producer of the 6:30 p.m. newscast, who is moving to the Bay Area.