2008 Woodie Awards
Death by Telecommunications Act of 1996
David Abbott
Issue date: 1/31/07 Section: Editorial
The world took another sad turn toward stupidity last week when local teevee station KFTY -"News Channel 50" - became "Another-local-asset-to-be-sold-off-in-order-to-improve-the-bottom-line-for-corporate-behemoth-Clear Channel 50."
The action by Clear Channel hit close to home for me, as the faculty advisor for the Star is former local news icon Ed Beebout. I'm sure he'll forgive me someday for calling him an icon, but in fact I know many college-aged people - not the elders like me, but the 20-something crowd - who grew up watching him on the 7 p.m. news broadcast from the time they were old enough to understand what they were watching.
A friend of mine from Santa Rosa Junior College expressed shock at the news when we discussed it over beer on Saturday night. The first words out of her mouth were "I grew up watching Ed Beebout." She's 26 years old, so that means she watched Beebout from the age of three.
Beebout is the third of my own personal acquaintances to receive the ax from Clear Channel. It's kind of funny for me to have so many friends in the teevee news business. I'm one of those people who puts "Kill Your Television" stickers on my bicycles, and until I met a few decent and exceptionally intelligent people in the teevee news business, I considered them to be just a few evolutionary steps above pond scum. You know, the Wolff Blitzers and Candy Crowleys of the world.
This isn't intended to be a column slathering praise on Beebout in order to get a better grade. I pay for my grades with ulcers, high blood pressure, and sleepless nights, thank you, and don't really need to show public displays of affection for a bump in ratings.
This is really about the corporatization of the commons, and our cultural lurch toward free-market fascism. It's also about the increasingly unstable job market that Americans face as the magic of semi-unfettered capitalism is shoved down our throats. The real magic here is the magic of disappearing jobs and uncertain futures for anyone who doesn't already have a big pile of money or a wealthy relative knocking at Death's door.
The action by Clear Channel hit close to home for me, as the faculty advisor for the Star is former local news icon Ed Beebout. I'm sure he'll forgive me someday for calling him an icon, but in fact I know many college-aged people - not the elders like me, but the 20-something crowd - who grew up watching him on the 7 p.m. news broadcast from the time they were old enough to understand what they were watching.
A friend of mine from Santa Rosa Junior College expressed shock at the news when we discussed it over beer on Saturday night. The first words out of her mouth were "I grew up watching Ed Beebout." She's 26 years old, so that means she watched Beebout from the age of three.
Beebout is the third of my own personal acquaintances to receive the ax from Clear Channel. It's kind of funny for me to have so many friends in the teevee news business. I'm one of those people who puts "Kill Your Television" stickers on my bicycles, and until I met a few decent and exceptionally intelligent people in the teevee news business, I considered them to be just a few evolutionary steps above pond scum. You know, the Wolff Blitzers and Candy Crowleys of the world.
This isn't intended to be a column slathering praise on Beebout in order to get a better grade. I pay for my grades with ulcers, high blood pressure, and sleepless nights, thank you, and don't really need to show public displays of affection for a bump in ratings.
This is really about the corporatization of the commons, and our cultural lurch toward free-market fascism. It's also about the increasingly unstable job market that Americans face as the magic of semi-unfettered capitalism is shoved down our throats. The real magic here is the magic of disappearing jobs and uncertain futures for anyone who doesn't already have a big pile of money or a wealthy relative knocking at Death's door.