The News Is Not the Anchors

No sooner does KNBC reel in KABC’s star anchor Paul Moyer with an $8-million hook than The Times television writers take the bait, quickly casting out Calendar columns illuminating this latest episode in the star wars of local news (“KNBC’s $8-Million Anchor” by Steve Weinstein, July 8; “Anchors, Salaries and the Moyer Deal” by Rick Du Brow, July 11; “Solid-Gold Anchors, Fool’s Gold News” by Howard Rosenberg, July 13, and “For KNBC Anchor Paul Moyer, Talk Is Not Cheap” by Rosenberg, July 22).

Somewhat lost in the glow of these reports is the criticism that maybe Moyer’s millions could be better spent actually covering the news. Well, if the Ricks and Rosenbergs really oppose the star focus of local TV news, they should put their influence where their ideals are.

Yet when did you last see a column on the top local TV reporters ? Not lately and not likely. But just let Moyer grab millions, let Lampley get lopped, let Jerry jump ship, let Tritia even tremble, Keith quiver or Marlow murmur, and out comes The Big Column. The accidental message is clear: Anchors matter, reporters don’t.

Granted, KNBC’s John Marshall got a column (for getting fired), as did KCBS’ Harvey Levin (for getting fired up). But aside from getting canned or panned, forget it.

The result is a disturbing trend where the experienced (and, all right, more expensive) veteran reporters are gradually being phased out. The Saul Halperts vanish, replaced by Beginners From Boise because inexperience is inexpensive.

And before you can dial 911 to report the crime, the tube is hijacked by unfamiliar faces who don’t know if the Thomas Brothers make muffins or maps, wouldn’t know Cal Worthington from Caltrans, think ACLU is a typo for UCLA.

This is not to knock the Boise Bunch (we’ve all been members). But L.A. is the big leagues, and Tommy will tell you a few good seasons in the minors isn’t a ticket to the starting lineup in the majors, as evidenced by these recent rookie errors:

The wrong Hahn (the son, not the dad, is city attorney); the wrong Gates (Brad, not Daryl, is the Orange County sheriff), and for gambling, it’s Gardena, not Garden Grove.

By recruiting Fledglings From Fargo, stations forgo all those little accumulated things that give a seasoned local TV reporter an edge, and as long as The Big Columns ignore the established reporters, stations will feel free to plop more Rookies From Reno into the simmering alphabet soup of local news.

It takes a while to know JPL from the JDL (clue: one is not a bunch of rocket scientists); CAA from the CIA (clue: one has ruthless agents who fear nothing, the other is the Central Intelligence Agency); to know just who to call at the DWP, or is the MWD? The INS or the IRS?

But hey, what can a long-cultivated source tell you that a well-typed press release can’t? And no, LAFCO is not a new comedy club out on Sunset.

So what about the veterans of L.A. news? Does it matter that we can still find the Manson murder house and the original L.A. subway; still find where Wrigley Field and Angels Flight used to be? Or that we really can pronounce Sepulveda, Pacoima and Cahuenga? Let’s see the Newcomer From New Hampshire try saying Port Hueneme!

Does it matter that we know the town better than the cabbies? That we know Upland from Downey, Industry from Commerce, Huntington Beach from Huntington Park and the Big A from the El Toro Y? That only time teaches how to catch the rich, sick and famous at the Cedars ambulance dock, how to slip a minicam past security at Disneyland if somebody falls off Dumbo, how to get into Spago on Oscar night (listen, it’s only a pizza joint, how hard can it be?).

You bet your beeper it matters.

While I’m clearly guilty of Frivolous in the First Degree with these examples, they still make the case for established reporters. Of course new blood is always needed, just not at the expense of experience, experience we gladly pass on to the Novices From Nebraska as they earn their roles on “L.A. News, the Series.” Such as:

Don’t bother rolling tape on Ira Reiner until he’s been gathering momentum for at least 20 minutes. Don’t leave your satellite truck in the white zone at LAX. And don’t even dream of beating Stan Chambers to a nighttime fire.

Reporters are the front line of the TV news wars. During the heat of battle, most of us have had an angry judge or exhausted cop threaten to throw us in jail. Sometimes we even deserved it.

So how come, when it comes to a Rosenberg or Du Brow column, we can’t get arrested!

Counterpunch is a weekly Calendar feature of commentary and opinion. Leaders in arts and entertainment and related fields offer their perspectives on vital issues of the day and their responses to columns and reviews.