NBC’s West Coast Chief Scolds KNBC, Sources Say

News directors and executives from more than 200 NBC-affiliated TV stations attending a network-sponsored gathering last week heard an unexpected and harsh critique of KNBC-TV Channel 4 and the news media by Don Ohlmeyer, president of NBC West Coast, sources said.

The remarks from Ohlmeyer came after the executives, who were in the middle of a closed-door session at the Sheraton Grande Hotel during the opening day of the annual Radio-Television News Directors Assn. convention, had seen a rousing videotape detailing the rich history of NBC News and the prospect of a bright future for the top-rated network with its newly launched MSNBC all-news cable channel.

But when Ohlmeyer took the podium minutes later, the excitement in the room soon dropped. Several people in attendance said the outspoken executive, who was invited to make some welcoming remarks, lashed out at what he called irresponsible and racially volatile news coverage by network-owned KNBC, while also taking the media to task for what he called inaccurate reporting of the aftermath of the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

The brief address was delivered in a tone of anger and disappointment, some of the attendees said, adding that Ohlmeyer became emotional at one point and wiped tears from his eyes when talking of the news accounts about Simpson, who is a close friend of his.

At the end of the remarks, there was some polite applause but mostly stunned silence, said one California-based news director who asked not to be identified. “It just seemed that the remarks were a general attack and came at an inappropriate time,” the news director said.

Ohlmeyer said in an interview Tuesday that the accounts by the news directors were erroneous, and that the leaking of his off-the-record remarks “is exactly what’s wrong with journalism today. Everybody can’t wait to be the unnamed source. This speaks more eloquently about the lack of integrity of TV news than anything I said.”

Several people at the session said Ohlmeyer specifically criticized KNBC for a recent story about racial tension within the Los Angeles County Fire Department after an African American battalion chief removed a portrait of John Wayne from the wall of a Carson station after reportedly calling the picture offensive.

One news director said Ohlmeyer proclaimed that KNBC was irresponsible to have broadcast the story, given the racially charged climate of Los Angeles. Several others said Ohlmeyer expressed concern that the story could have further escalated those tensions.

Ohlmeyer denied Tuesday that he had said KNBC was irresponsible. “I wasn’t telling people what they should and shouldn’t do,” he said. “I was making remarks as a broadcaster and as a viewer. I was saying that, in a racially divided city, especially after O.J. Simpson, after Rodney King, after the riots, this, to me, was a non-story. But it was presented as a story of racial significance. I just raised the issue of whether it was the right decision.”

KNBC vice president and news director Bill Lord, who was at the session, said Tuesday: “Don Ohlmeyer was making a passionate plea for responsible journalism, which we agree with. He mentioned a story we had done. We reviewed that story and feel we reported that story in a responsible manner.”

Although several news directors felt Ohlmeyer’s remarks were inappropriate and ill-timed, Ohlmeyer said he received compliments on his statements from several others in attendance.