San Diego Spotlight : TV Stations Defend Steady Stories on Returning Troops

Are television news departments going to do a story on every single ship and reserve unit that returns from the Persian Gulf? It is a reasonable question, considering the recent deluge of video of troops rushing into the arms of loved ones.

“Like every news story (the returning troops), are judged in the context of the news of that day,” said KNSD-TV (Channel 39) News Director Irv Kass. “I don’t think we’ve covered every unit returning.”

It must just seem like they’ve done a story on every returning unit.

At the very least, there is the perception that the military is milking the mood of the community for all its worth, bringing the troops back 100 at a time, one ship a day. And local television stations, even more than the newspapers, appear ready and willing to jump on the bandwagon.

Returning troops make a good, highly visual television story, but with little variation from day to day. See the families waiting anxiously on the dock/base/tarmac. See the baby girl looking for her daddy. See the hugging. See the flag-waving.

It’s a one-note story that rarely changes.

“If the story is told properly, it is easy to differentiate it” from other returning troops stories, said KGTV (Channel 10) News Director Paul Sands.

Sands says his station has started backing off the reunion stories, except when there is an intriguing angle. Kass said Channel 39 has done many of the troop stories because the station reported on the units when they left San Diego and updated their progress throughout the conflict.

“Television news is sometimes criticized for its lack of follow-up, and here we’re doing follow-ups,” Kass said.

Sands added that he “doesn’t see anything evil” in doing the stories. And there’s not, although it does seem that the standard criteria for deciding what is a valid news story has been suspended in these cases, in order to capitalize on post-war euphoria.

More than anything, there doesn’t appear to be any consideration that maybe, just maybe, not every outfit is worthy of star treatment. Units that never wandered near the front are being lumped in with battle-scared troops. Soon, the stations will be doing stories on reserve units that didn’t actually serve in the Middle East, but passed over it on the way to Greece. A recent “Saturday Night Live” sketch suggested that every single Middle East veteran was going to be honored with an individual star-studded celebrity tribute. The idea doesn’t seem that far-fetched.

“I don’t get the feeling that people are tired” of the returning troops features, said Jim Holtzman, news director of KFMB-TV (Channel 8), a station that has been particularly zealous in its coverage. “I think they are good human stories. One of the reasons we put so much coverage into the war is that it is a story of separation, and this is the end of the story of separation.”

A valid point, but when does it end? Maybe the stations simply can’t stop. After doing stories on the first 17 ships to arrive, it would be difficult not to do a story on the 18th. It would be insulting for a ship to arrive and not have television camera crews there to greet them.

In other words, it’s far from over. Remember, there still are many parades to follow.

Channel 8 has decided on its new lineup. When Susan Peters arrives on June 24, she will co-anchor the 5 p.m. newscast with Hal Clement, Loren Nancarrow will do weather and Ted Leitner will do sports. Nothing startling there. But at 6:30, which has traditionally featured a different team from the 5 p.m. newscast, the station will now feature the same team, including sports and weather segments. Then at 11 p.m., Mitch Duncan and Andrea Naversen will anchor, with Hank Bauer doing sports and Larry Himmel doing weather. Duncan will move into the 4:30 p.m. program, and he may be joined by a co-anchor, according to news director Holtzman. . . .

Channel 8 scored a major coup last week. It was the only television station to get an interview Thursday with David Warren Malley, the man accused of being the A’s Bandit. One simple reason why Channel 8 got the scoop: It was the only station that bothered to request an interview. . . .

Sweeps ratings periods reveal quite a bit about a television news department. During one particularly representative stretch last week, viewers could turn to Channel 39 and see a feature on child abuse, or they could turn to Channel 10 to see a hard-hitting series on personal auras. . . .

Even before Channel 10 aired its series entitled “Bad Parts of Town,” several angry Southeast San Diego residents called the station to complain about the characterization of their neighborhoods. But the series wasn’t about Southeast San Diego. . . .

KGB-FM disc jockey Jim McInnes celebrated his 17th anniversary at the station last week, while Paul Palmer marked his 20th year as general manager of KFMB. . . .

Tuesday night during a fog delay in the Padres’ game in New York, while the Los Angeles Lakers playoff game aired on another channel, KUSI-TV (Channel 51) provided updates of the score for all those die-hard Laker fans who couldn’t quite bear to miss the rerun of “Head of the Class.” . . .

Former Channel 8 anchorwoman Susan Roesgen, who found herself embroiled in controversy during her tenure in San Diego over such serious topics as her hair color, has hit the big time in New York. Now she is in the middle of a real controversy. The Asian-American community is protesting the firing of longtime WABC anchorwoman Kaity Tong, the woman Roesgen is replacing. “WABC is trying to blonde the news,” one protester said.

CRITIC’S CHOICE

BLACK FILMMAKER BURNETT AT THE KEN

Charles Burnett, director of the critically-acclaimed but little seen “To Sleep With Anger,” will appear at the Ken Cinema tonight to discuss his film career. Starring Danny Glover, “Anger” is the gripping story of a middle-class black family in Los Angeles trying to stay together amid the turmoil of modern times. Burnett will speak after the 7:30 screening. “Killer of Sheep,” an earlier film by Burnett, will screen at 10 p.m.