Tuesday, December 7, 1999

Car reviews hurt KIII credibility

Newscasts during sweeps weeks resort to a lot of gimmicks viewers aren't subjected to the rest of the year. In the November sweeps, which ended last week, "watch and win" contests popped up as ratings come-ons on KRIS and KZTV. And KRIS and KIII both hyped silly Y2K worst-case scenarios on their newscasts. This stuff is supposed to boost ratings, which means the stations can raise their local advertising rates.
   But something I saw on KIII struck me as a much subtler form of pandering - not to viewers, but directly to advertisers. In a series of reports by 5 p.m. anchorman Lee Sausley, the ABC affiliate featured, individually, almost every major car dealership in town.
   Under the guise of "reviewing" new, sporty, high-end vehicles, Sausley and KIII gave what amounted to a minute or two of free commercial airtime to local car dealers on the evening newscasts. The dealership signs were prominently featured in each report. The only "interviews" on the segments were with salespeople from the dealerships, identified by name and with the name of the business displayed brightly on the onscreen chyron. The camera even zoomed in on the car's trunk, where - surprise! - the name of the dealer was affixed in big, bold letters.
   On the reports I saw, Sausley never uttered a negative word about the cars he test-drove.
   Fluff, fluff, fluff. And a big waste of time in the already limited segment allotted for local news.
   The big question is, why did KIII do this series? And why in November, not traditionally the time of year for new car rollouts? Did it have anything to do with KIII's sponsorship of the Coastal Bend Auto Show? Was time on the newscast nothing more than a gift to these loyal, longtime advertisers?
   "Absolutely not," says KIII's general manager, Billy Brotherton Sr. "It had nothing to do with commercialism. They were simply stories introducing different types of cars. In no way was it commercial."
   Not technically, perhaps. But car dealerships do hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of advertising on the station each year. A little massaging during high-rated sweeps weeks couldn't hurt business.
   But it does hurt the credibility of the newscasts.
   Media ethicist Don Tomlinson, who teaches media law and ethics at Texas A&M University, says the creeping commercialism of local TV news is increasingly common. KIII could have avoided any appearance of impropriety by simply disclosing the fact that the station is a sponsor (as was the Caller-Times) of the auto show and that the dealerships participate in that show.
   "The standards of television are becoming lesser and lesser all the time as commercial influences are greater and greater. But it's one thing to do it and another thing to do it without disclosing what you're doing. At least then your viewing audience would be able to consider the source. When you make no disclosure, that's a problem," says Tomlinson, who is a lawyer and former television news reporter.
   Tomlinson says he thinks viewers have become so inured to seeing promos disguised as news that they barely notice it anymore. "This generation of TV viewer is less likely to be disturbed. That in itself is disturbing," he says. "The fact that TV stations have lessened their standards on their own is because they realized the viewing public doesn't care."
   Sounding the alarm
   It's wrong to shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater, but how about during a crowded hour of prime time? That's what NBC station KRIS did last Thursday night. On a spot promoting their upcoming newcast, anchorman Carlos Vergara made this alarming announcement: "Dozens feared dead in apartment house explosion! More details on '6 News at 10.' "
   Wow! An explosion? Dozens feared dead?
   I live in a part of Corpus Christi where I'm surrounded by blocks of large apartment complexes. I knew I hadn't heard an explosion, but I stepped outside anyway to listen for sirens or see if there was any commotion going on.
   Nada.
   But this was serious. Like many viewers must have been, I was worried. So I stayed tuned in for the channel 6 news. About four or five items into the 10 p.m. newscast, following stories about the raging grass fire out on Padre Island and a local baby suspected of being a victim of "shaken baby syndrome," I finally heard the details I'd been waiting for.
   There had been an apartment explosion . . . IN AUSTRIA!
   Three people had died half a world away. A terrible thing, for sure. But it certainly didn't warrant that disturbing news bulletin during NBC's top-rated programs.
   All the stations are guilty of this tactic, blaring shocking "headlines" about accidents and murders that turn out to have happened hundreds or thousands of miles away.
   It's a bait-and-switch tabloid tactic. It scares viewers needlessly. It's crying wolf.
   More local media notes
   Michele Silva has re-upped at KIII for another stint as anchor on "Good Morning South Texas" . . . . KIII hopes to be in its new glass-atriumed headquarters on South Padre Island Drive by the end of January. . . . KMXR-FM morning DJ Nicole Valencia will be off the air midmonth to have her tonsils removed. Radio is not a biz that's good on sore throats. . . . The UPN affiliate switch has lots of viewers confused. Tejano video station KTMV is still on AT&T cable, but now carries no UPN programming. You have to watch UPN's new affiliate, KTOV, over-the-air on a non-cable-connected TV set. Tune to broadcast channel 7 to see "WWF Smackdown!," "Star Trek: Voyager" and other UPN faves.
  
  
  

 
Index of Elaine's columns | Arts & Entertainment | Restaurant Reviews | Best Bets: Today - The Week | Columns | Home Page

---

  © 1999 Corpus Christi Caller Times, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.