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Contents on this page were published in the April/May, 1996 edition of the Washington Free Press.
WFP, 1463 E. Republican #178, Seattle, WA -USA, 98112. -- WAfreepress@gmail.com
Copyright © 1996 WFP Collective, Inc.
THE RABID
MEDIA
WATCHDOG
"For our analogy with local newscasts, substitute news for food, emotion for salivation and dramatic video for the bell. The viewing public, of course, is the dog," explains the group's report on its findings.
Media Watch broke the content into major categories, including crime, disaster, mayhem and fluff.
And yes, you guessed it folks, our very own KOMO-TV ranked first in the nation with a very soft 88.8 percent "fluff" index.
And we're not talking Dan's blow-dry. "Fluff is the comic relief to the diet of terror presented by mayhem. It calls forth fuzzy feelings, humor, expectation, and the excitement of voyeurism," says Media Watch. The fluff category includes soft news, anchor chatter, previews/promos, and celebrity stories. Overall, 39 percent of the airtime for the 100 newscasts was fluff. As you can see, KOMO outdid itself.
Soft news items that informed the nation on September 20 included: Miss Bald USA contest, Meat Loaf Week in Florida, 95 shopping days left until Christmas, ladies smoke cigars, beauty contest for cows, etc. According to the analysis, 27 shows ran a story on a 14-pound, 13-ounce "Sumo Baby" born in Mississippi.
Media Watch concludes, "One hundred news departments play variations on a theme, but it is the same old song, the same old dog, the same old tricks. In mesmerized obedience, millions of Americans swallow without chewing."
Back to you Dan and Kathy!
For the complete report, write Rocky Mountain Media Watch, Box 18858, Denver CO 80218, or call (303) 832-7558.
KUOW had aired the Saturday morning show and coordinated its satellite distribution since 1984. This past summer, however, Bradley and KUOW chief Wayne Roth disagreed over who actually owned the show. Apparently, nothing was ever put down on paper. The disagreement never reached the courts, but Bradley said "it cost me a bunch of legal fees to avoid going through the legal battles to prove that I owned it." Roth maintains that the show belonged to the station, which he said subsidized Potluck to the tune of about $50,000 a year. KUOW ran the last new Potluck show last summer and the last re-run in November.
Bradley has since founded a non-profit organization called Interaction Arts Foundation and is busy seeking financial support for the Potluck project. The show is now heard on 13 stations throughout the country, down from a peak 35 when it was broadcast on KUOW. But Bradlay isn't worried. "It will find a spot. We haven't even done any marketing yet. People are contacting us." Now that she has complete control of the show, Bradley said, "we can really be responsive to the community."
For now, the show can be heard on KSER, 91.3-FM out of Lynnwood. Just like always, it's performed live Saturday mornings at 10am at the Museum of Science and Industry, located near the Montlake Bridge off of Lake Washington Boulevard. Bradley can be reached at 619 N. 35th St., #103, Seattle, 98103, or by e-mail at sandy@potluck.com.
One recent show featured an interveiw with Trevor Fitzgibbon of the Washington Wilderness Coalition, who discussed the clearcutting of old growth timber. The program also aired "Logs, Lies and Videotape," a documentary about controversial "salvage" logging efforts in U.S. National Forests. The program prompted calls and questions from viewers, who were urged to contact their legislators and President Bill Clinton about the issue. "We encourage this kind of participation from our viewing audience," said Earthtalk producer and host Diana Tener. "Earthtalk is a forum for discussion of environmental issues that affect us all."
Earthtalk is produced by Educational Communications Inc. and airs on Fridays at 5 p.m. on Channel 29. For more information on the show, call 525-5987.
The Seattle Independent Media Coalition, which formed just prior to the Congress, is working to build these ties and to help amplify the voices of independent Northwest media outlets, in the face of increasing corporate domination of all forms of news media.
"Such a coalition could provide larger-scale dialogue with the community," says Liz White, who works on KCMU's "Mind Over Matters" program. "Merging efforts we can better promote ourselves and our missions... share resources, ideas, and solutions, and support and inspire ourselves."
The Coalition plans to produce a newsletter and/or Web page to help its members promote each other's publications and programs, and has discussed the possibility of members who are working in different media -print, radio, public access television, online-teaming up to work on joint investigative projects that would appear in print, be posted on the Web, and be broadcast on radio and TV. For more information about the Coalition, call (206) 344-6434.
Some reporters and editors have long since crossed the line and have returned to work. However, most members of six striking unions have stood firm and word from Detroit is that the strike cost Knight-Ridder upwards of $50 million last year alone. (Knight-Ridder is also 49 percent owner of the "locally-owned" Seattle Times.)
Issues are the same as most workplaces. Both companies wanted to cut jobs, impose "merit pay" wage increases instead of across-the-board raises, and bust the unions.
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