by Hugh Forrest
Is
a television news-
cast that doesn’t insult the intelligence of Austin viewers really too terribly
much to ask for? We’re a sophisticated city; our populous is one of the highest
educated in the country, we maintain a keen awareness of current social and
political issues and pride ourselves on our independent and iconoclastic
patterns of thought. So how come every local news broadcast offers the same
insipid menu of blue collar crime, grizzly auto wrecks, risqu� celebrity
gossip, unexplained business headlines, and ongoing weather oddities? Sure, the
various channels and the faces are a little bit different. But the message is
all pretty much the same.
The most recent addition to this look-alike derby of the low-brow is KNVA-TV,
whose inaugural half-hour newscast was Monday, October 16 at 5:30pm. Channel 54
becomes the fifth Austin station to offer a local newscast and, without the
benefit of a high-dollar marketing campaign, it will have a hard time moving
out of fifth place in terms of viewership numbers. Then again, this station
faces a number of sizable challenges in building a credible audience. As
opposed to the current trend towards opulence and glitz, the KNVA news set is
easily the most basic in town, consisting of gold trim and a simple blue podium
and backdrop for co-anchors Leslie Cook and Ron Oliveira.
This low-tech feel is, in fact, very representative of KNVA’s entire
bare-bones news operation, which operates out of the studios of KXAN-TV. Not
only does Channel 54 share this studio space, it also utilizes the services of
various personnel from the Channel 36 on-air news team. Thus Robert Hadlock
(whom KXAN has moved from behind the news desk to a roving reporter spot)
generally files the lead story for the new station. Other Channel 36 staffers
also contribute stories for KNVA, as do KXAN weatherman Jim Spencer and sports
anchor Roger Wallace. Separating the two stations is almost as confusing as
last summer’s switcheroo between our local Fox and CBS affiliates.
But what really matters is the content of the newscast, and whether Channel 54
is adding anything of intellectual substance and value to the local market.
Believe it or not, there are a few glimmers of hope, signs that the station may
ever-so-marginally improve the sad state of TV journalism in Central Texas. For
one, KNVA looks to be tackling fewer stories in order to offer an extended
amount of coverage to each. The station has made a point of airing live
interviews with representatives of opposing groups after reports on an
allegedly controversial topic. Texas Republican Party Chairman Tom Pauken, for
instance, was invited to the studio to rebut President Clinton’s Austin
remarks.
Also of interest is Channel 54’s very concerted effort to group news items
primarily along thematic lines — a report about security measures at Robert
Mueller Airport segues to a story about the progress of construction at
Bergstrom; an analysis of efforts to control handgun violence is immediately
followed by an update from the Selena trial. Unfortunately, this strategy of
forcing connections between each news item often produces an embarrassing and
comical outcome. After an October 20 story about political turmoil in Russia,
KNVA co-anchor Cook chimed in, “The political climate may not be too good for
Mikhail Gorbachov, but our Central Texas climate couldn’t be more perfect.”
Yikes!
Furthermore, a closer examination reveals that KNVA’s supposed in-depth
coverage is as predictably shallow as we have come to expect from Austin news.
Consider, the October 18 announcement from Columbia HCA that this huge company
was taking over the St. David’s Hospital Corporation. Columbia HCA, which owns
more than 300 hospitals around the nation, says the move will result in lower
costs
for Austin consumers. While KNVA devoted a live shot at both the
beginning and end of its broadcast to this buyout, no independent insight is
provided as to price increases or decreases after the firm moved into these
other markets. It wouldn’t have been that difficult to uncover those figures.
While inviting guests to offer rebuttals to current stories is a good idea,
why not move beyond the obvious in the selection of these respondees. After
all, the Republican party has stated their philosophical disagreements with the
policies of the current administration hundreds of times. So instead of
choosing an angry middle-aged white male for feedback about President Clinton’s
University of Texas speech on race, why not solicit the opinions of an
opinionated local black leader? Does this person feel that the message of
racial harmony gains any new momentum when offered by the leader of the free
world? Or, unable to offer real solutions, is Clinton simply pontificating once
again?
Yes, the KNVA newscast has some new ideas, but they are few and far between.
Too often the station relies on the same clich�s we’ve already
experienced ad nauseam — urban violence, amazing animal stories, the world’s
oldest woman. And until it improves significantly on this mix, it’s hard to see
why anyone would really bother switching to this presentation. You’d think that
eventually someone would tap into this discontent and offer a newscast that
covers issues of local and national importance in an intelligent and
thought-provoking manner. They would spend the money to hire experienced
journalists who are motivated to take the time to investigate the various
angles and implications of each story, not simply the spoon-fed version of
events provided in the conveniently provided press release.
Meanwhile, Austin viewers are once again the big loser in this
ever-predictable mix. One also wonders what’s in it for the station itself,
especially when the end result is so numbingly similar to what is already
offered on four other channels. With the heavy reliance on KXAN personnel, the
KNVA broadcast often seems little more than a 30-minute promotional spot for
the Channel 36 6pm newscast. Go figure. n
This article appears in October 27 • 1995 and October 27 • 1995 (Cover).