What’s still, perhaps for a lack of a more accurate and lesser term, called broadcast journalism has surpassed the absurd stage. It’s now in free-for-all.
Two Fridays ago, a Chicago jury convicted William Balfour, former brother-in-law of singer Jennifer Hudson, of triple homicide. In 2008 Balfour murdered Hudson’s mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew.
The next morning, ABC’s national news telecast began its report on the verdict with publicity photos of Hudson.
Then ABC News sent it to Chicago for a live stand-up from correspondent Alex Perez, who reminded viewers that there was no pop-culture angle in this horror story; this was about the murder of three innocent humans.
“Good morning,” said Perez, heard in a somber voice and seen in an unsmiling face, “Jurors insist that this case was not about Jennifer Hudson; it was about a man whose jealous rage became deadly.”
Got that? Got it.
Yet, the moment Perez finished that sentence — and that most significant message — ABC News cut to music videos performed by Hudson. Good grief.
At least, in this case, ABC News wasn’t able to add that Hudson will soon be appearing on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.”
What’s now presented and passes as news from ABC and its local affiliates is similar to confusing credit card come-ons and mortgage refinance flyers with mail.
Last week, WABC’s lead New York anchor, Bill Ritter, solidified his position as the city’s top ABC shill when he reported that Nik Wallenda, of the Flying Wallenda Family, has been cleared for an attempt next month to tightrope walk over Niagara Falls.
And then Ritter, to the surprise of no one who has been watching WABC News plummet, got to the meat of the matter: Wallenda’s attempt is scheduled to be seen live in prime time on ABC.
WABC News, with Ritter assigned to steer, is also the local leader in helping viewers understand stories right after they’re reported. A report on a fire that leaves victims homeless, for example, is followed by an anchor making tsk, tsk, then, for those who wouldn’t know better, adding that this is “a sad story.”
Last week, with Liz Cho anchoring, WABC aired street surveillance video of a man brandishing a knife toward a young mother and her 4-year-old daughter in Springfield, Mass.
The mother ran, leaving her daughter with the assailant. The mother eventually returned and the man eventually fled, leaving mother and child uninjured.
And then Cho, as if the video didn’t speak for itself, helped us out: “A very disturbing story,” she said.
But Cho soon brightened to report that the latest on “Dancing With the Stars” was just ahead on WABC News!
Although last week was a particularly busy one in sports — NBA and NHL playoffs, baseball, Roger Clemens perjury trial, et. al., ESPN, ABC’s Disney sibling and “The Worldwide Leader in Sports,” devoted its morning drive-time radio broadcast to — ta-da! — “Dancing With the Stars. “
In an ongoing, forced and mostly unfunny cross-promotion, morning co-anchor Mike Greenberg “auditioned” — and that was enough to stop everything, and over several days, to build up and act out.
Apparently it didn’t much matter that drive-time radio audiences have a difficult time watching someone dance. What mattered was that ESPN again was primarily serving ABC, not its audiences.
While Greenberg’s “DWTS” inclusion was unofficial, it’s worth noting that three previous ESPNers — Kenny Mayne, Emmitt Smith and Erin Andrews — had appeared as official contestants.
And on at least two occasions, Disney Channel programming stars were selected as contestants for the show, which is a steady WABC News newsmaker!
What a relief, last week, for those who switched to Ch. 4, WNBC News — just in time to learn who won, the night before, on NBC’s “The Voice.”