'Survivor' perks: making it in local news (Breasts win over brains or talent in local TV news)

Electronic Media ^ | November 18, 2002 | Lee Hall

[Timesink]

'Survivor' perks: making it in local news

By LEE HALL
Special to Electronic Media

One might think that after Andrea Thompson’s flameout on CNN Headline News, news directors would shy away from hiring TV personalities in the newsroom.

One would be wrong.

Two news directors in big markets have gone out on a hiring limb recently, taking on former contestants from CBS’s popular “Survivor” franchise and trying to turn them into television news reporters.

The early verdict: so far, so good.

"She is the only person I have ever seen on one of those reality shows who didn’t come across as a jerk," said KUTV, Salt Lake City, News Director Steve Charlier of his most recent hire, Neleh Dennis.

Mr. Charlier plucked Ms. Dennis, who was a castaway on "Survivor: Marquesas," from her job at a Salt Lake City department store and after two weeks of on-the-job training placed the 22-year-old college student on the station’s top-rated morning news show.

"She is not a journalist, but for this job I didn't want a journalist," Mr. Charlier said. "I wanted a hometown person who knew the area, relates to the audience, and wants to go out and have fun every morning."

From all appearances, Ms. Dennis fits the bill well. In her first month as a feature reporter, she has driven a NASCAR racer, sat astride a wild bull at a local rodeo, skied an Olympic downhill run and reached new heights explaining to viewers how outdoor advertisers construct those big signs along Utah's Interstate highways.

"We want to give people something to look forward to in the morning, instead of all the sad, depressing stuff," Ms. Dennis said. "We give them fun, live stuff that they don't get by watching another station."

The experiment appears to be working. KUTV's "2News This Morning" saw its average household rating in July increase 16 percent (2.4 to 2.8) over last year. Its audience share grew by 20 percent (12.5 to 15).

"Utah does not have a lot of celebrities," Mr. Charlier said. "We have the Osmonds and we have Neleh."

Another "Survivor: Marquesas" survivor who can now be found in front of a TV news camera is Tammy Leitner.

"Neleh is probably in a very overwhelming situation, not having the journalism background. It must be very frustrating," Ms. Leitner said.

Ms. Leitner knows what she’s talking about—she brought a strong background in local print journalism to her new job as the crime reporter at KPHO-TV in Phoenix.

"I never considered TV news as a career, but an incredible opportunity fell into my lap, and I felt that I had to take advantage of it," she said.

While Ms. Leitner leap-frogged over the usual route to big-market TV, she paid her dues as a respected reporter for the Mesa Tribune, a large suburban Phoenix newspaper. She holds a master's degree from Boston University and is writing a book on serial rapists.

"She is very much a bulldog reporter," said Mitch Jacob, KPHO-TV news director. "She wants the story, and she will work to get it."

Both Ms. Dennis and Ms. Leitner said they have been well received in their newsrooms. And feedback by local TV critics generally has been favorable.

KUTV has positioned Ms. Dennis as a morning audience magnet, but KPHO's Mr. Jacob shuns offers by other media in the market to highlight Ms. Leitner as a celebrity.

"That's not what we hired her to do," he said. "If we had brought her on just to be a 'Survivor' reporter, then, yeah, we would have said let's share the wealth and go for the exposure, but that's not what we wanted."

Ms. Leitner remains circumspect about her situation. "I am under no false pretenses as to why I am here," she said. "I know that the show contributed to my getting this job. These are special circumstances, and I feel very lucky."#

[Timesink]

Just one - well, two - more reasons why the intelligent public is abandoning the "mainstream" news media in droves for outlets such as FR.

[EBUCK]

"We want to give people something to look forward to in the morning, instead of all the sad, depressing stuff,(i.e. NEWS)" Ms. Dennis said. "We give them fun, live stuff that they don't get by watching another station." (i.e. FLUFF)

What a joke. I stopped watching the "real" news long ago but happened across one of their broadcasts last night after MNF and caught the next nights feature story......20 ways to prepare for the holidays....or some such fluff. What a joke....let the exodus continue.

EBUCK

[zingzang]

Agreed. This is why you don't see John McLaughlin on the major netowrks. He's opinionated, fond of debate, and looks like 40 miles of bad road. The mainstream liberal media is all about style and no substance, a la Katie Couric, Stone Phillips, Dan Rather, etc, etc, etc.

[hobbes1]

and after two weeks of on-the-job training placed the 22-year-old college student on the station’s top-rated morning news show.

Sopmeone ping Katie Couric, and show her how easy it is to replace her 16 mil. dollar ass. (and someone else call the president of NBC on the carpet, and ask him why Katie is worht about 15.9 mil more than this broad....)

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Neleh Dennis:

Tammy Leitner:

[Tall_Texan]

morning news show

Oxymoron alert!

Actually, I think the "breast-brains" comment is a little harsh. One has a Masters degree and the other appears to be clearly acknowledged as not a journalist.

And it is faces that sell on television. No other appendages need apply. Fox Sports has a former Playmate of the Month doing football highlights. Phyllis George did the same thing as a former Miss America.

And even the guys have to look good on camera. So, why the surprise?

[Blood of Tyrants]

Reminds me of a riddle: You have two equally women applying for a job. They are equally qualified of the job in every way. Who do you hire?
.
.
.
.
.
.
The one with the biggest-- well, you get the picture.

[Tall_Texan]

The biggest teeth?

Oh, sorry. That's Britain...

[motexva]

Leitner also won a national journalism award for feature writing. Anyway, it's never been brains over beauty, or beauty over brains. It's how well you read the teleprompter, and how symetrical your face is. You can weigh 300 pounds, if you fulfill those two qualifications you can make it in broadcast journalism.

[Mr. Bird]

Anyone who thinks local news programming is worth anything to begin with should refrain from criticizing this. Local news blows, and if they are adding some T & A to get viewers, who can blame them?

[BurbankKarl]

Time for a Mike's Hard Lemonade...




>>Reminds me of a riddle: You have two equally women applying for a job. They are equally qualified of the job in every way. Who do you hire?

[lepton]

What happened with Andrea Thompson?

[Loyalist]

The only thing I learned from my journalism degree program was how to kill the desire to be a professional journalist, or write anything for publication.

[boomop1]

Which would you rather have a handful of?

[Tall_Texan]

It just so happens, I have a degree in journalism - although broadcast journalism is something of a bastardization of print (or text) journalism.

Journalism school is roughly three equal parts - technical skills, do's and don'ts of the trade and liberal indoctrination. Believe it or not, there is a particular way to write a good news story and the way a story is written is different for print than it is for broadcast (I can always tell when Rush is reading newsprint copy). It's the difference between how well details are retained if presented in print as opposed to how well details are retained if your are watching or listening.

Unfortunately, a lot of newsprint journalism has become quite sloppy and hardly distinguishable from broadcast journalism. If you were to read a newspaper from 40 years ago, you would note how the typical news article contains far more raw details and far less speculation and nuance.