Radio-TV Observer

A special USA-365 supplement by Mark Smith

7-17-2005

We are all media observers. We all watch, listen and read and we know what we like.

Media is a business designed to make money off the public by entertaining them. It often does not have redeeming value, logic or a moral base. But it isn't required to. I ask you to accept TV, newspapers and radio as the creative, possibility and mistake-laden free form entities that they are.

Don't make too much of what is said, written or aired. It isn't about you, it's about them.

That also applies to anyone who dares to be a critic.

(7-17-2005) There's a new Chicago radio station taking over the old Magic-104 oldies 104.3 frequency and one of their new tag lines is “We play what we want!!!”

A unique approach. Insult your audience with your arrogance and brow beat them into listening. It'll be interesting to see if they can make that work. There is nothing special about the station except for the fact that they're actually being honest with you. All radio stations play what they want and tell you that it's what YOU want.

Try calling up a 'Real Oldies' Station and asking for some Donna Summer. Or dial an R & B station and requesting a little 'Clay Aiken.' That click you heard was them hanging up on you before they started laughing and ridiculing you.

My experience is that no one in radio, TV or newspapers cares what you want. They have worked hard to get where they are and they are going to do things exactly their way. If you don't like what you're hearing or seeing, don't listen or watch. It's a fair and legitimate argument. I just wish they didn't lie to you about it.

That's why I turned off the cable news networks when a hurricane hits Florida, Louisiana and Alabama in early July. Drunken with the power of their medium, the educated lunatics insist on standing on the shore or street of the town that's being hit and doing a borderline insane live report.

While the technicians back in the studio are rolling around on the floor laughing, the on-site reporter tries to stay upright in 100 mile-an-hour winds while thinking of 16 different ways to tell us its really windy.

Brilliant meteorological analysis like “This is amazing. Unbelievable. have you ever seen anything like this????”

Desperate to get a dramatic clip for their resume tapes, these human crash test dummies stumble through their words and slip and slide in the rain while the anchor desk airheads fake sincerity.

I'm praying for one of these glory hounds to get hit by a flying cow and have the cable news network devote live 'breaking news' caliber continuous coverage to the death of some one who was truly and sincerely asking for it.

It's possible that the on-site weather buffoons and disaster junkies like CNN's Anderson Cooper have been taking some heat from viewers because I have heard a couple of comments along the lines of “People wonder why we're out here. We're standing out here in this weather to show you what it's like. So you don't have to.”

Okay then, why don't you go stand in that 6-alarm fire at the boarding house and let it burn you senseless 'Just so we don't have to.'

Ask yourself why a rotating robot camera, anchored into the side of a concrete structure (as many security cameras are) could not give you the same 'live' action picture of the eye of the hurricane. Ask yourself while drama queens like Cooper, Fox's Geraldo Rivera and CNN's Rick Sanchez (CNN even billed themselves as YOUR HURRICANE HEADQUARTERS) get on a plane and fly into the path of the storm to give you the story 'through their eyes,' shoving local reporters to the pavement and screaming into the microphone.

Then ask yourself why you're watching an absolute media sideshow of freaks and geeks trying to get you to feel sorrow for people in the Sunshine state. (I don't recall seeing live coverage from Jasper County, Indiana when 18 inches of snow falls and the temperatures drop to 10 below zero even though residents have much more chance of getting killed driving their Toyota to work down I-65 in a 30 below zero wind chill than they do at their summer home in Dade County, Florida.

The serious damage that the network hurricane chasers do by standing out in storms is that they do not convey the need to get away from the target area.

The cable channels pour blow-dried sincerity over the audience about evacuations and heavy danger... at the same time that their employees are crawling over each other to get to the center of the hurricane and pick up some camera face time. You cannot expect people to leave their homes in the face of 140 mile-and-hour winds if the cable news crew is still there doing a live shot. The homeowners are emotionally attached to their property and need to be talked into leaving for their own good. The TV people's mere presence convinces the homeowners to stick it out, no matter what's coming out of the talking heads' mouths.

Do the cable news reporters know this? Of course they do. But keep in mind, it's not real life to them. It's just a segment. They won't admit this but if someone is killed in a hurricane, it's an even bigger story. Cable news does not have a responsibility to the public, only to the 24-hour cycle of stories. Truthfully, a hurricane in Florida is so common it's not really a story in Indiana or California, where the only Miami Hurricanes they see are during the college football season. But, again, they tell you what the news is, you don't tell them.

The bottom line is, they're trying to fool you. To fake drama. To make you care about something you don't need to worry about so you'll watch their station. Probably while something important gets less attention.

For example, a terrorist bombing in New York City in 2001 requires around-the-clock coverage while a similar terrorist bombing in London (don't compare death tolls because when the bad guys pull the trigger, they don't know how many they'll kill) isn't important enough to pre-empt the season finale of 'Beauty and the Geek.'

In response to revenge killings against a country (Britain) that went to war largely because we asked them to, Americans are so into themselves they really couldn't care less about London people getting annihilated.

Cable news quickly ash canned the massive Al Queda (no one seriously questions it was the same Osama bin Laden that Bush has failed to capture in almost four years since the NYC massacre) strike in downtown London for on-site hurricane coverage and the latest milking and rehashing of Alabama teenager Natalie Holloway's summer vacation disappearance in Aruba.

The Holloway case is a perfect example of cable TV news. The 18-year-old who disappeared after she hooked up with some local boys and went for a ride is still missing after over a month. The blue-eyed blond can be seen in dozens of pictures on cable TV every day in an effort to suck every drop of sympathy out of viewers.

Consider that Holloway, like Elizabeth Smart, Chandra Levy and Laci Peterson before her, were young women who disappeared, leaving behind grieving parents and dozens of color photos. Broadcast quality color photos. If all Holloway left was black and whites, Cable news would still be asking Dr. Tom Cruise his opinions on prescription drugs.

Too cynical? Please. Not cynical enough. Dozens of people go missing every day in America under mysterious circumstances. Cable news says that they pick unusual cases. That's true. Most missing people are not attractive sex-hungry young women, little girls or pregnant mothers.

Any police department would tell you that most missing persons are adults and most are never found. Of 47,600 missing person cases tracked by the FBI (as of May 1, 2005) over 50% are black or Hispanic and 53 percent are men. To my knowledge, no nationwide 'case that captured the heart of America' has ever been about an adult male, a woman over 40 or a black or Hispanic person.

I'm not saying that TV doesn't report those people missing (although adult males are almost never reported missing on TV news) but the stories are hit-and-run. They are reported for a day or two and dropped. The national TV networks don't pick up on the non-'hot girl' cases because the folks who run the news bureaus (mostly men) don't find the missing people cute or sexually attractive.

It's not just a racial thing. There's an age quotient, too. News editors deny this, but they've lied to you for decades by telling you that the only people capable of reading news are 20-something bikini models or big-haired, fake-voiced metrosexuals.

Holloway's disappearance during a chaperoned trip is not unusual when compared to dozens of people who disappear from their homes and never return. But she is a young, attractive white girl and most cable news viewers are moms who would be sympathetic, dads who would be protective or secretly lustful, or young men who would probably love to get Holloway drunk and give her a 'ride' home.

What many don't know is that there are groups like the National Center for Missing Adults who try to get media outlets interested in missing persons to help find them. It's a hard sell. The cold truth is that if you look like Brooke Burke, your disappearance will 'rock the nation.' But if you look like Delta Burke, your family better start slapping some fliers on telephone polls because your just not ready for prime time.

That's television. Let's be honest. 'Friends', the hands down worst written and acted long-running TV show of all-time, was (and still is in reruns) a major hit because male viewers want to be more than friends with Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston. Note that the spin off 'Joey' which does not include Aniston and Cox, has less American viewers than Al Jazeera Headline News'

The Sunday night WB show 'Charmed', including the impressively constructed Alyssa Milano and the equally substantial Rose McGowan, has stayed on TV for seven years without any semblance of a plot or character development. The show runs in every part of the civilized world that has electricity because nobody cares what they're saying as long as they say it in shorts and pajamas and without bras.

Bottom line is, if you go missing in America and you're not a young white woman, drop us a line if you find work.

Because you should know that you're just not the kind of person that any of us really cares enough to look for.

Does everyone understand that the Chicago Sun-Times positions themselves as the anti-Chicago Cubs paper because the Cubs are owned by the Sun-Times arch rival, the Chicago Tribune?

When the Cubs visited Atlanta in July, Sun-Times writers ran to former Cub announcer and that tribute to nepotism 'Chip Caray' and primed him to say something negative about the Cubs. Caray, whose incompetence and wildly incorrect calls of Cub games irritated Cub players and WGN viewers for seven years, fortunately didn't take the bait and said nothing that would be a front page headline in Chicago the next day.

Sports writers continue to rewrite the Cubs 2004 history. The Cubs stated they had problems with Chip Caray, not Steve Stone, and they were right to have issues.

Forget Steve Stone, who is suddenly, because of his rift with manager Dusty Baker, a Sun-Times columnist (they had no use for him for the previous 17 years he called Cub games). His only flaw as a color analyst other than an unlistenable voice was that he was not truly critical of the team until the team did something to him (and Stone was never really harshly critical of the Cubs at all).

Caray was a major problem and a sacred cow the print media was afraid to touch. An educated buffoon who thought he was was born to broadcast because of his last name, Caray, the Dan Quayle of baseball announcers, never let what he saw get in the way of a theatrical ESPN-ready call or a play.

Caray constantly talked down to fans (probably because he never truly was one), often whined about how long the games took while talking endlessly about teams other than the two he was watching. When some thing did happen on the field, this unqualified 'Urkel' turned into a tall geeky version of Donald Rumsfeld and rammed more half truths and phony enthusiasm down the viewers throats than Kirstie Alley slams down polish sausages at an all-you-can eat buffet.

When you fake and phony up the call to try to make a sound bite, you are a fake and a phony. Caray never said anything I believe he truly meant. Present Cub broadcasters Len Kasper and Bob Brenly do a superb job of letting the game speak for itself (the ultimate in baseball) without constantly telling us where they went to school and paralyzing us with 'inside' humor that the audience cannot possibly get. When you discuss the 2004 Cub announcers, please separate Stone, an opinionated, well-informed shape-shifter from Chip Caray, the Kato Kaelin of broadcast media.

The Cubs and Chicago baseball fans are much better off in 2005 minus two under performing egomaniacs. And of the two, at least Sammy Sosa was pretty good at one time.

The only complaint I have with Dan McNeil writing a weekly column for the Times newspaper in NW Indiana is that it's another step away from local coverage. The former Highland native is a lively writer but he's not local and the Times seems to be drifting into Chicago coverage as opposed to NW Indiana coverage. Many who go to the Times seem to carry hopes of expanding it to a metro Chicago paper when there are several already.

That's a mistake. The Times does not have the resources to cover Chicago sports well and no one is going to (nor should they) read an Indiana paper for coverage of a Chicago team. That's like reading CIA briefings for the next Al Queda strike. They just don't know a whole lot about it.

I've read a half dozen northwest Indiana Major League Baseball geniuses' (MLBG) attempt to wrap up the major league baseball season before it was half over. Most writers don't understand baseball's one basic premise. It's a long run sport.

You cannot analyze the first two months of the baseball season. That's like trying to predict snowfall before the storm begins.

We've had brilliant published comments by MLBGs for the Post-Tribune and Times in 2005 including:

TRUTH: Maddux has been the Cubs best starting pitcher for two years and led the Cubs in victories in July. To say he's not a quality fourth starter on the Cubs is insane. The writer must have been on drugs.

TRUTH: This was a knee-jerk, comment after the first few weeks. Baseball isn't defined by what you do in April. Ramirez was among the league leaders in home runs and RBIs and was selected an all-star in July.

3.) The White Sox made no major acquisitions in the off-season and it's hard to see where their offense will come from.

TRUTH: This comment was made by someone who looked no further than Scott Posednik's .243 average last season. They didn't have time to note that he stole 70 bases with that .243 average or that he hit .300 the year before. Anybody who was paying attention knew he'd boost the Sox attack. He led all of baseball in steals and the Sox led all of baseball with 60 wins before the end of July in 2005.

4.) The White Sox can't count on Jon Garland. He just doesn't have what it takes to win in the major leagues.

TRUTH: Garland led the American League in wins. If he quit baseball today, he gave the Sox enough out of the No. 3 starting position to win the pennant in 2005.

5.) Dusty Baker just does not know what he's doing, handling major league ballplayers. Ozzie Guillen is the kind of manager you need.

TRUTH: The next team Guillen takes to the playoffs will be the first while Baker is well on his way to leading the Cubs to a third consecutive winning season, something they have not accomplished for almost half a century. The team was contending for a playoff spot in late July despite crippling injuries to four key players, something no sane person would blame the manager (or general manager for). Baker's team have always won. Guillen is a beginner.

6.) The Cubs will miss Sammy Sosa's power and they were foolish to give him away without getting anything in return.

TRUTH: These MLBGs (there were several) did not note how Sosa tailed off dramatically late in each of the last two seasons. They also don't know how old he truly is (no one does). Sosa was batting .225, had been benched and about to be released in July of 2005, what certainly will be his only season in Baltimore. The Cubs were among the major league leaders in home runs and extra base hits (for what that's worth) in late July.

The Bottom line is... baseball is not football. You cannot Knee-jerk it. You cannot ESPN-it. You cannot analyze baseball on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis, no matter who else does it. To attempt to do it makes you appear foolish. Northwest Indiana writers need to avoid comment on a sport they obviously, do not have time to analyze. To stop once in a while and shoot from the hip on a sport which is defined by the long run is to stop every once and a while just to embarrass yourself with your lack of understanding.

I have no inside knowledge of this, but in NW Indiana, the Times and Post-Tribune are quietly reevaluating coverage of the Gary SouthShore RailCats baseball team, it would appear. There is less about the summer baseball team in the papers than there was in 2004 and 2003. It's unfortunate but the Gary team cannot reach beyond its limited audience.

The loss of AM station WJOB and familiar voice Tommy Williams on the air (hopefully only for the summer) plugging the franchise has hurt, but simply winning games and talking about them is not enough.

The Railcats must investigate becoming affiliated. They must be part of a major league organization, hopefully the White Sox, Cubs or Cincinnati Reds. The truth about minor league baseball is that you want to see players who could make it to the major leagues. Independent clubs work in areas where there is little else, but Chicago is a major metro area. As honorable as it is, few care about the on-field success or failure of an ever-changing roster of guys who have been cut loose, playing for the love of the game.

Be honest, if you're a Sox fans, would you go to Gary to see independent players that you've never heard of? Not unless you just have nothing else to do. There's no emotional attachment that brings you to the park night after night.

Now, would you go to Gary to see high school or college boys the Sox just drafted last year playing every night? If you're a Sox fan you would. Let me be clear. No one at the Railcats is saying this. They profess to be quite happy with their independent status which is exactly what they have to say right now. But the word out of South Bend is that the Silver Hawks have been sold and will probably be moved because of low attendance. When they were an affiliate of the White Sox, they had no problem. Now, they are a Phoenix affiliate and the fans don't come. The truth is, Gary's 6,700-seat 5^th Street ballpark would be sold out almost every night if the RailCats were the Class A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and both the Railcats and the White Sox know it.

Most people who listen to the radio listen in their cars. I know I do. I drive all day Sunday and, as much as I love political debates and Sunday morning preachers, I'm always on the lookout for some music radio. Truthfully, there is little music radio left.

Most AM radio is talk-radio and that's fine. It stands or falls on its own merits. But there are few stylized music shows left and many have been relegated to weekends. Here's a few that you may not know are on:

You can hear this Lafayette station fairly clearly south of Route 30 and that's what you have to do because I don't think this syndicated show is on in the Chicago metro area.

America's 'Oldest teenager' plays the hits of the 50s, 60s and 70s and tell stories about the songs. You want to hear what he has to say because you know he was there as host of 'American Bandstand'. This isn't somebody who researched the 50s, 60s and 70s. This is someone who lived them. To hear him on AM radio still feels good. This show is the perfect driving companion if you're headed for Indianapolis on Sunday morning.

Point of order. 'Dusties' are 'Oldies', or old records for black folks, for those of you who are not in your 50s. 'Dusty' in a radio sense, is short for dusty records (Records, kids, are what came before CDs) with the theory that old records that you sit on the shelf and haven't played for a long time, get, 'dusty'. Cute, huh?.

Nobody has a better collection of old records than 76-year old Herb Kent, 'The Cool Gent' who spans five decades on the radio in the Chicago area. You will almost certainly hear songs you do not hear anyplace else because Herb Kent has some recordings that no one else still has.

Herb Kent also is still a goof ball who can horse around on the air and be a weekend ambassador the hits of years gone by. What you're not supposed to know about Herb Kent from a WVAZ standpoint is that he also does a 7-12 midnight shift (I'm sure it's taped) on WRLL (1690), the 'Real Oldies' station every Saturday night where he also empties out the 'Dusties;' closet.

It's hard to hear WRLL after dark south of Chicago so the V-103 shows are a better bet.

Delilah is a broadcast miracle. By her own story, she went on a field trip to a radio station when she was 11-years-old and was inspired. In 7^th grade she won a speech contest and the judges were owners of the radio station who gave her a job giving a kids' news broadcast in her home town.

She's been on the air somewhere ever since and three decades later, she's on in every major market in America, over 300 stations. You almost certainly have heard Delilah and did not know it was her. But after listening for a couple of years, it's hard to exactly explain what this 40-something (I believe) single mom does that is unique..

She plays MOR soft rock and talks to listeners about their experiences and problems. This is a music show but she mixes in a little Dr. Laura (advice counseling), a little Kathy Lee Gifford family talk and a singular slant on the old school FM radio tradition of the sweet-voiced lady taking you up to the midnight hour.

Delilah has a gift for talking directly to the audience that you cant teach. Even very good broadcasters sound like they're doing a radio show. Delilah, probably sitting in an empty room, sounds like she's talking right at you, the basis of all radio.

This show also works because Delilah has a perfect Southern Belle (Dial up Delilah.com and you'll see she looks like she sounds) voice and a good mommy spirit.

In a time where you can debate your head off 24-7 on talk and sports radio, its soothing sometimes to just let a soft voiced lady talk you home at night.

Oldies stations need help (note the demise of Magic 104 in Chicago) because, obviously, they have limited play lists that aren't ever going to change. This show on the 10,000-watt Chicago metro station is an inventive idea. In the early days of rock music, there was, obviously, a top-40 weekly list of hit songs nationwide. But, there were no 24-hour music networks. 50,000-watt AM powers WLS and WCFL broadcast from Chicago and their domain was as far as their signal went. There are towns in Michigan and Indiana, for example, where kids grew up listening to WLS in Chicago because they had the latest hits. So a song that was popular in Chicago could be unknown on the east or west coast and there were top-40 list of songs for Chicago only based on the old WJJD-AM radio play lists in the 1950s and the WLS “Silver Dollar Survey' weekly countdown in the 1960s.

What Ron Smith, a longtime Chicago area disc jockey (and I believe, the WRLL program director, does each week is, he simply plays the top-20 songs from what he calls the 'Real Oldies era, loosely from 1954 to 1965 when folks made songs in their garages and basements and they were hits.

You will be surprised by songs you have never heard and groups you did not know. Smith also researches the individuals and tells you a slice of their life story, more things you certainly will not have known.

It's not a totally original idea. There are other syndicated shows that do a similar rundown of national retro hits of the 1970s and 80s. That's easier to do because the national hit lists are well documented and there are more major artists. But I don't know if there is anything like this show that deals only with the Chicago market. The Chicago Top-20 takes a lot of effort because some of the songs and singers are very obscure. The music is old but the history of music is fresh and vintage.

WRLL should package entire years of this show into a keepsake that could be sold to adults who were teenagers in those years. It's great music history and a very good local show. It fits perfectly into the station's 'Uncle Lar and Little Tommy' format.