And you thought all that orca whale coverage was just a fluke

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And you thought all that orca whale coverage was just a fluke

Friday, June 7, 2002

By JOHN LEVESQUE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER TELEVISION CRITIC

IT’S BEEN TWO years since we basked in the aura of Dr. T.V. Skreen, celebrated consultant to the broadcast industry and part-time base-running coach for the Seattle Mariners.

We caught up with him at a fund-raiser for the Rampant Fescue Project, which is working to restore prairie grass to my back yard and other sensitive ecosystems. Skreen was the guest speaker, and after his illuminating talk – “An Orca in Every Newscast” – he was gracious enough to sit down for a few minutes and talk TV with me.

Here is an excerpt of that conversation.

TV GUY: Love your necktie, Dr. Skreen. Is that a “Free Willy” motif?

DR. SKREEN: Thanks. Yes, it is. Thought it would be appropriate to the topic of my remarks today.

TV GUY: Indeed. But I was surprised to hear you say it’s more important for TV news organizations to cover homeless whales than, say, homeless people.

DR. SKREEN: What’s so surprising? Everyone knows homeless people don’t photograph well. A lot of them dress badly. But whales are extremely telegenic, even the ones with bad skin and bad breath. The camera loves them almost as much as it loves the first snowfall, the high-speed chase, the aerial shot of ...

TV GUY: I see where you're going.

DR. SKREEN: Don't interrupt me. Who do you think you are? Charlie Rose?

TV GUY: Sorry. It's just that sometimes we see the same story about the same whale day after day.

DR. SKREEN: What's your point?

TV GUY: Well, it seems the story really isn't being advanced, that stations keep doing whale stories because other stations keep doing whale stories and they all seem to think it's what the public wants.

DR. SKREEN: That is what the public wants.

TV GUY: How do you know?


	Breaching news: It seems local TV news organizations have never met a blowhole they didn't like. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DR. SKREEN: The local stations get their research from focus groups, even the ones we don't do any consulting for.

TV GUY: And the people who take part in these focus groups say they want more whale coverage?

DR. SKREEN: It's number three on the list, right after "more scary weather forecasts that don't pan out" and "more lame tie-ins to network programming."

TV GUY: Fascinating. Where do you find these people?

DR. SKREEN: Beats me. We just tell the station to find 10 people to fill up a room. It's not up to me to round 'em up.

TV GUY: And exactly how are the questions phrased?

DR. SKREEN: We usually give them a choice, such as, "Would you rather see coverage of whales or coverage of Alan Greenspan?" The whales win every time.

TV GUY: But has it ever occurred to you that news organizations aren't supposed to pander to their patrons' desires?

DR. SKREEN: Why not? Pandas get better ratings than whales. And if you can work a panda and a whale into the same story, boffo!

TV GUY: What I meant to say is that stations should be holding themselves to higher journalistic standards.

DR. SKREEN: What does journalism have to do with it? I'm in the marketing business.

TV GUY: Beg your pardon?

DR. SKREEN: Marketing. We're trying to sell a product here. And whales help move the product, especially among younger viewers. You wouldn't believe how many kids have been watching the news since that orphaned orca showed up in Puget Sound.

TV GUY: What happens if she is returned to her pod in Canada?

DR. SKREEN: Well, I'm sure the local stations will still do the occasional whale story, but they'll have to be careful about spending too much on travel.

TV GUY: So they might turn to stories of a more pressing nature?

DR. SKREEN: Possibly. Number four on the focus-group list is "more coverage of tearful crime victims." And number five is "more coverage of stories that make us afraid to go out at night."

TV GUY: Now that I think about it, that whale coverage doesn't seem so repetitious after all.IT'S BEEN TWO years since we basked in the aura of Dr. T.V. Skreen, celebrated consultant to the broadcast industry and part-time base-running coach for the Seattle Mariners. We caught up with him at a fund-raiser for the Rampant Fescue Project, which is working to restore prairie grass to my back yard and other sensitive ecosystems. Skreen was the guest speaker, and after his illuminating talk -- "An Orca in Every Newscast" -- he was gracious enough to sit down for a few minutes and talk TV with me.

Here is an excerpt of that conversation.

TV GUY: Love your necktie, Dr. Skreen. Is that a "Free Willy" motif?

DR. SKREEN: Thanks. Yes, it is. Thought it would be appropriate to the topic of my remarks today.

TV GUY: Indeed. But I was surprised to hear you say it's more important for TV news organizations to cover homeless whales than, say, homeless people.

DR. SKREEN: What's so surprising? Everyone knows homeless people don't photograph well. A lot of them dress badly. But whales are extremely telegenic, even the ones with bad skin and

John Levesque is the P-I's television critic. Call him at 206-448-8330 or send e-mail to tvguy@seattlepi.com

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