‘Cross-Pollination’ a Blight on TV News

It is one of television’s most blatant trends, and it is everywhere.

An NBC source calls it the “cross-pollination” of news and entertainment departments. It is deflowering some once-proud bastions of TV news.

Sample: On KNBC-TV Channel 4, the 11 p.m. news shamelessly compromises itself by shilling for the upcoming shows of Jay Leno and David Letterman.

Sample: NBC cut back its political convention coverage this summer but had Tom Brokaw file witty news reports back to Leno on “The Tonight Show.”

“There’s a lot of cross-pollination going on,” says the NBC source.

Right--at all the traditional networks as they grab at straws to stay alive.

And that is why a strong statement by a lawyer for Arthur Kent, a Gulf War reporting star who was fired Friday by NBC, has raised eyebrows.

Kent, more recently assigned to the news division’s prime-time series “Dateline NBC,” had trouble getting his tough-minded reports on the air because the network’s entertainment department preferred other kinds of stories, the lawyer suggested.

What’s going on here?

NBC denies flatly that its entertainment division has any say-so in the content of news programs. But the network acknowledges that the Burbank-based promotion department determines which segments of “Dateline NBC” are most attractive to plug.

And the head of the promotion department “reports directly to Warren Littlefield, President, NBC Entertainment,” the network says in its press kit.

Like the news series on all networks that are influenced by reality shows--which are closer to entertainment-style drama--”Dateline NBC” is trying to keep up in the ratings.

For instance, it has scheduled a report for Tuesday called “Damsel of Death,” about “the first female serial killer . . . a hitch-hiking prostitute who worked the roads and highways of Central Florida” and fatally shot “seven of the men who picked her up.”

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In an interview last year, Brandon Tartikoff, then head of NBC Entertainment, spoke of his interest in the promotion of prime-time, news division series, pointing to the now-defunct “Real Life With Jane Pauley” program:

“There should be an element in the shows each week that you at least have something to point to promotionally. It’s not dictating story lines because we would never do that.

“It’s just saying to them (the news division), ‘Look at what’s going on out there in the world: There’s exorcisms on “20/20.” ’ I’m not saying let’s follow them into the alleyway they’re heading into--but they’re doing exorcisms. ’48 Hours’ is doing bikinis on spring break, getting a 28 share (28% of the audience).”

The way that Tartikoff, the absolute master of NBC’s prime time, saw it--citing a big program rivalry at the time: “Shouldn’t we have the same sense of showmanship--and the jugular--as ‘The Cosby Show’ saying, ‘Shouldn’t we this week do a provocative story because we’re fighting a battle with “The Simpsons”?’ ”

That was then, and Tartikoff is now at Paramount, but the meeting of minds in news and entertainment continues, NBC sources said this week. Asked about “Dateline NBC,” which is anchored by Pauley and Stone Phillips, a Burbank-based executive said: “We certainly have suggestions and ideas, but ‘Dateline NBC’ is a production of NBC News.”

The executive said there is also regular “interfacing” among the heads of divisions, including news and entertainment.

In New York, meanwhile, an NBC source said: “ ‘Dateline NBC’ is produced by the news department. Entertainment’s role in this is that after the segments are selected, they are sent to the promotion department in Burbank, and they decide which one is used to promote.

“To the extent that the entertainment division is expert in promotion, we’re happy to listen to their advice.”

Very cozy. Very civilized. Lots of teamwork as NBC brass suddenly find themselves bonding. CBS is also touting new teamwork among its divisions as a reason for its bolt from last place to first in the past season. It was CBS Entertainment that suggested the news division program “Street Stories” become a series after seeing it as a special on “48 Hours.”

Cross-pollination.

You can’t argue, I guess, that teamwork is a bad thing, especially if TV’s news and entertainment departments keep their editorial distance.

But the temptations for a news series that wants to provide highly promotable segments in order to boost its ratings--and the network’s--are all too obvious. The infotainment of just a decade ago now seems almost quaintly puritanical compared to the hard-edged, nasty, Fox-type reality shows that have polluted the entire TV environment.

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Can “Studs”-type segments on prime-time network news series be far away?

They’d be promotable.

The dam broke long ago when it comes to separating news from entertainment on TV. It is now one big blur, and the frequent inability to tell one from the other is a massive contributor to the dumbing down of America.

Cross-pollination now is standard, unprincipled fare on local TV as stations work up bogus news features to tie in with network movies that have just been broadcast. And anchors smilingly introduce them with all the sincerity and believability of carnival barkers.

The barbarians are at the gates. But, hey, it’s all promotable. And that’s what counts, isn’t it? News and entertainment--bosom buddies.

TV was never perfect. Ed Murrow used to speak tellingly of the inherent nightmare in a medium combining an unholy alliance of news, show business and advertising. He knew who would get the short end.

But can you imagine “CBS Reports” or “NBC White Paper” consulting with the entertainment division about which segments might be most promotable?

There was a time when network news departments prided themselves on keeping corporate management out of the newsroom. And anchors such as Walter Cronkite helped set a network standard in which there was not even the slightest hint of connection with upcoming commercials during the evening news.

TV news organizations are not supposed to be corporately cozy and cooperative. They are supposed to be flinty and independent. Yet now we have all this wonderful teamwork and cross-pollination. But of what?