Tune In Local TV News to Catch the Joke

Thank you for your informative interview with John Beard (“At Channel 11 News, ‘It Just Feels Better,’ ” Jan. 8). We concur absolutely with Beard regarding KNBC-TV local news coverage--frankly, it’s a joke. KNBC, along with KCBS and KABC, delivers news that insults every viewer’s intelligence.

We could care less about the Michael Jackson situation until all the facts are in. (Thanks anyway, KNBC!)

Whereas KABC previously led the pack in sensationalizing the news, KNBC has now taken over that ranking. If blood, gore, porn and trivia are the only platforms on which our newscasts choose to compete, then we should all just face up to the fact that local news has become one of the worst daily soap operas--something along the lines of “As the Stomach Churns.”

CHRIS BUCALO

Studio City

LISA BUTMAN

Woodland Hills

As a board member of Big Brothers of Los Angeles, I met with Beard and then-General Manager John Rohrbeck about the problem we were having recruiting enough qualified men as Big Brothers to the hundreds of needy boys on our waiting lists. The result of that meeting more than four years ago was a series of news inserts, “Friday’s Pal,” which the station produced and telecast weekly until Beard left for KTTV.

“Friday’s Pal” was the best recruitment campaign Big Brothers ever had. It succeeded solely because Beard gave of his time and himself so generously.

EDMUND SMARDAN

Carlsbad

In the last year, the management at KNBC has made judgment calls that have deprived us of valuable reporters and reporting on consumerism, education and the environment, and now we’re losing the guidance we used to get about movies.

Mark Hoffman, KNBC-TV’s news boss, seems to be responsible. Not only has he driven away top KNBC anchors (Beard and Linda Alvarez) but word is that his decisions are causing movie critic David Sheehan to want to leave.

KNBC should at least try to salvage some of the well-liked, established local talent that Hoffman is driving away.

SOFIA BENCE

Woodland Hills