A West Coast invasion of East Coast news gatherers

Typically, it takes something like a major news event, such as the Democratic National Convention in 2000, or something out of this world -- like the Angels in the World Series -- to get prominent figures in East Coast broadcast media to venture west of the Atlantic Seaboard.

And yet, in some sort of harmonic convergence, a few of television’s news all-stars have traveled to Southern California to do live shows in the last several days -- an unofficial World Series of topical news shows. Surprisingly, perhaps, the presence of the Angels in the Series has nothing to do with it.

CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Moneyline” host just completed a multiday visit, with live broadcasts of his show from several locations, including the deck of the Navy destroyer Higgins in San Diego Harbor, UCLA’s Anderson School of business and the rooftop of the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood. His guests included Oscar winner Kevin Spacey and Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael Eisner.

Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, veteran PBS newsmen from the groundbreaking “The MacNeil-Lehrer Report,” were scheduled to make rare public appearances together at the Skirball Cultural Center on Tuesday night and at a fund-raising event tonight at KCET-TV.

MacNeil, who retired from the news program in 1995, was set to interview his former partner, who has written his 13th novel, a Civil War murder mystery titled “No Certain Rest.”

Chris Matthews, host of the Washington, D.C.-based “Hardball,” will host a live telecast of the MSNBC series tonight at Chapman University in Orange. The installment, part of the yearlong Hardball College Tour 2002, will feature actor -- and possible future gubernatorial candidate -- Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Matthews said of the East Coast news invasion: “Yes, it is weird. It’s a strange thing, but all the big news, with the exception of the sniper story, seems to be coming out of Los Angeles and Florida.” He cited the Danielle van Dam kidnapping-murder trial, the O.J. Simpson case and the continuing voting chaos in Florida.

Lehrer, who is host of the PBS program “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,” said that when he travels to the West Coast, “I always get questions I don’t expect. Since I live on the East Coast, I am always talking to people who have the same interests, and they want to know things like about the economy and Iraq.

“But when I come to the West Coast, I am asked things like how I can do a daily news show and write a novel on the side at the same time. The angle is always different. That’s one of the main reasons to make trips like this. It is important to find out what people out here are thinking about.”

Dobbs was blunter when addressing his predominantly student audience during Thursday’s edition of “Moneyline,” which was broadcast live outside UCLA’s Anderson School.

While noting that New York City is “the financial and media capital of the world,” Dobbs added that he still believes there is too much emphasis on perspectives from the East Coast.

“That’s one of the reasons that we are out here on the West Coast, because it is important to us as journalists and those of us who report not only to this country, but indeed to our international audience, to give that kind of perspective,” Dobbs said.

During the show at the business school, Dobbs and his guests, including Bruce Willison, dean of the Anderson School, fielded questions about corporate safeguards and the importance of ethics, even at the college level.

After the show, Dobbs said that California “is on the edge of every major issue in the news -- corporate scandals, ethics, politics. And it’s great to see how the students out here are thinking about ethics and the government.”

Matthews, who also is host of a syndicated news show, “The Chris Matthews Show,” which airs Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. on KNBC-TV, said he had some perspective on the differences between the East and West coasts because of his 13-year-stint as Washington bureau chief for the San Francisco Examiner.

“In the Bay Area, and in California, people get outside and enjoy life,” he said. “On the East Coast, the weather is terrible, and people stay inside and read the paper. In California, life is a lot more kinetic. Life is meant to be lived. The politics aren’t as intense, as tribal, as they are back East.”

MacNeil had a less flattering view of Californians, saying they are “seduced by their culture.”

“It’s very enveloping,” he added. “There’s this aura of self-sufficiency that fights curiosity.”

Still, Dobbs brought another insight as he addressed the students last week right before a commercial break.

“The predominant population is on the eastern part of the country,” he said. “The West Coast is going to get short shrift. But there are some trade-offs here.” He pointed to the blue sky and the sun.

The students laughed appreciatively.