Mark Hass talks about local TV coverage of politics
The fight over whether Portland's TV stations should be denied their FCC broadcast license renewals may have only been aired on KRCW's Outlook Portland with Nick Fish, but that doesn't mean they're ignoring the issue.
Over at KATU.com last week, they posted an in-depth interview about the issue - and political coverage in general - with Mark Hass. Hass was a KATU reporter for sixteen years, before serving six years in the Oregon Legislature. Today, he's a PR consultant with Capelli Miles.
First, Hass points out that Portland stations used to cover hard political news:
In a couple of sessions I covered when I was down there (Salem), we literally had segments in the newscasts every single night where we would sort of have the news from Salem. And we would do maybe one major two-minute story followed by one or two, sometimes more, shorter VO (voice over) versions of stories. And the whole thing would be encompassed within a live shot, maybe five minutes. Today that would be unheard of.
But these days, it's all about scandal:
I think now there is more of a taste for the scandal. I think back to the 2005 legislative session and there were two legislators who got into serious trouble -- Dan Doyle and Kelley Wirth. There was a lot of coverage from the TV stations of those two people. In fact, every time they moved or any of the latest developments, those two stories were covered almost to the point of overkill. I'm not saying they shouldn't have been covered. They should have. But that was essentially the only thing that was covered in that session.
The guy from KATU.com tries to lay the blame at the feet of politicians -- and Hass only gives him partial credit for that answer:
I'm wondering if it's possible that politicians themselves are unable to engage the public. Were they better at it when you were a reporter than they are today?Hass - That's a fair question. I think maybe they were. I think it was easier for them to be honest and lay it all out on the line, and now everything is filtered through consultants and polls. And it's easier for them to be safe. They can say the safe things, and they can hide behind that and not get themselves in trouble....
I also think the media is complicit in covering politics and government like a sporting event. Just listen to the phraseology that you hear. You hear there's a 'showdown' in Congress tonight. Or, 'The Democrats say this, but the Republicans fired back with this'. I understand the need to create conflict, and I understand that it's conflict that makes a good story. But I think it has gotten too far out of hand where every single political debate is covered like a Super Bowl.
There's a lot more over at KATU.com. Discuss.
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Feb. 23, 2007
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connect with blueoregon
Feb 23, '07
He brings up a good point, but it still would be nice to see T.V. stations cover the Legislature a little more, and the radio stations, even if people don't specifically want that or look for that. There's still a subset of the population that will watch the nightly news just to watch the nightly news, no matter which stories are covered, and that subset will be better-informed if there is better political coverage.
Understanding, of course, that the quality of nightly news television political coverage hasn't ever been of a very high quality, even when it did exist on a regular basis. For the higher-quality stuff, you need to read a newspaper or find an alternate (textual?) source of news.
6:40 a.m.
Feb 24, '07
I covered the Oregon legislature during the the 1980's-1990's as a reporter working in Salem radio as well as the Northwest News Network. Those days the capitol press corps had reporters filling the basement capitol press room. This month I brought my students to the Capitol and only the Associated Press and KATU had reporters working.
Political coverage has been missing for years. We need to thank K-2 for at least having a reporter in Salem on a regular basis. There are numerous bills this session that voters need to know about that are not being covered. I hope the next generation of reporters, assignment editors and management realize that if we don't focus on what is really news (who cares about Brittney Spears) we will miss what is truly important in our own personal lives.
Feb 24, '07
I am sort of an old hand at Watching TV news. The Stations like to forget news because there is no profit in it. They won't admit it but the stuff on the news is usually abused animals,promo's for the network,and other Stupid stuff. The real news as far as I am concerned is why Politicians are spending my tax money on the stuff they are spending it on And Why Public safety and Education are not being adequately funded. Or Why The County Sheriff is not qualified to run the dog pound.You know silly stuff like that . these things affect every one.
Feb 24, '07
I am sort of an old hand at Watching TV news. The Stations like to forget news because there is no profit in it. They won't admit it but the stuff on the news is usually abused animals,promo's for the network,and other Stupid stuff. The real news as far as I am concerned is why Politicians are spending my tax money on the stuff they are spending it on And Why Public safety and Education are not being adequately funded. Or Why The County Sheriff is not qualified to run the dog pound.You know silly stuff like that . these things affect every one.
Feb 24, '07
I don't know why you blues around here would be bitching.
The local (Oregon) media peddle every lame policy you folks and your public officials cook up.
But the coverage isn't extensive enough?
"The real news,,is why Politicians are spending my tax money on the stuff they are spending it on"?
Like what, light rail, SoWa, "smart growth"?
No, not that stuff, that's all fine.
"Why Public safety and Education are not being adequately funded"
How can anyone say with a straight face that our media doesn't peddle this load enough.
You don't really want broader political coverage. You simply want to mandate more advocacy of Blue positions while not rocking the boat for any blue boondoggles or lame blue policies or blue officials.
You as a "subset of the population" want to dominate and control the remaining populous.
12:44 p.m.
Feb 24, '07
Wow, Ben, what can we say? You showed us. Is it your misspellings, incorrect punctuation, bad grammar, or sheer inability to even present a cogent argument backed by any sort of verifiable fact that makes us swoon?
You know, keep that up, and you might have a future with Fox "News". Or CNN. Or nearly all of talk radio. Or the hundreds of conservative leaning newspapers and magazines in the country. All of whose GOP bias and spin keep dozens of websites busy just trying to keep track of it all -- www.mediamatters.org, www.talkingpointsmemo.com, www.tpmmuckraker.com, www.presstitutes.com, even the venerable old www.dailyhowler.com, being my favorites.
Yup. You have a bright future ahead of you, Ben. Just try and drool a little more and keep repeating, "Bill Clinton is responsible for us losing in Iraq - and global warming too (which I don't believe)!!!!" The offers should start rolling in.
Feb 24, '07
About 2 weeks ago a law from the 1800's was taken away. The law: it has a name but I forgot...it protects Americans from being attacked from the US millitary. Why would someone want to take that away? I never saw this on the news.
Feb 25, '07