|
|
 |
|
NEWS 95.7 LOSES CREDIBILITY AND THAT’S KRYSTAL CLEAR |
|
|
|
Written by Alex J. Walling
|
|
Wednesday, 16 May 2007 |
 HRM’S all-news and talk radio station, 95.7 took a big hit in the credibility department on Wednesday May 16.
It seems that 95.7 will give you the news, the breaking news, and Team coverage of news, as long as it doesn’t involve one of their own staff.
As I see it, if you live by the sword then you die by it. CJNI Radio, known as News95.7 in Metro does news. They do tons of news, and do it well. They start at 5:30 in the morning and deliver tons of news for most of the day. They have several key news wheels (5:30-9:00am and 3:30-7pm.)
They claim to give you the news, first, fast and factual and that sounds like a slogan in the 60’s. For most of the time it’s a good claim.
Since they’ve come on air, slightly more than a year and a half ago, they’ve done some very good work. Lots of news, traffic reports, weather updates, breaking news and even Team Coverage of big events like the Commonwealth games meltdown.
I’ve probably listened to them as much as anyone else and enjoy them.
They seem to be in many places with reporters, which in today’s radio climate is rare. If you check the microphone flags in the TV evening news, you see the TV guys but other than CBC (who have a full time legislature reporter in Jean Laroche) private radio such as CHNS (now Hal or something like that), CHFX, C100, Kool, etc, are totally absent.
But the dark green and white flags of News95.7 can be seen in most TV shots.
 On Tuesday a well-known HRM radio personality was in court. He had been in the news for several matters over the past few months. I was surprised a few months ago when News 95.7 didn’t cover what led to the court date and in a way disappointed that nothing was reported on it on Tuesday afternoon, May 15.
You see News 95.7 has no problem in giving us every morsel of news from the Ernie Fage deal. Fage allegedly did this. Fage did that. Fage will be in court on this date, and rightly so.
But what about when one of their own goes to court?
There are three big media names in HRM when it comes to news/talk on radio. The first is Don Connolly who has graced the CBC Info Morning slot for 30 years. (Now, that’s longevity) The other is Rick Howe of CJCH who has been in this market for nearly 29 years and the other is Andrew Krystal.
Krystal doesn’t have the durability of the last two, but is the latest, to hit the airwaves and in a way, he has the potential for a very large audience.
Krystal has been billed as controversial and by the sheer nature of the exposure he gets, which is three hours per weekday, and is available in most of the major centers in Atlantic Canada, he and his station are media players.
I’m of the belief that the media makes it own players. Give someone a platform, be it the Six PM TV news (Steve Murphy/ Norma Lee McLeod) or columns in a major daily paper (Dave Rodenhiser/ Marilla Stephenson), and you will get yourself a high profile.
Murphy, Connolly, and so many others are unknowns until a media source gives them exposure. While 95.7 has not done well in ratings, it has a large potential as it beams its talk shows, (Krystal and Tom Young) to three provinces. That’s called programming and advertising potential.
Andrew Krystal became news a few months ago when the daily papers, which are a major source of credible news, ran his story, his problems, his being taken in by the cops and showed him in one of the worst pictures I’ve ever seen.
He looked like he spent two nights in a drunk tank. I felt sorry for him when I saw that shot. They should have allowed him to clean up. Then following that event, the Daily News ran a big piece with full colour photo on him where he asked to public not to judge him, as he wanted his ‘day in court’. In fact he seemed adamant to set the record straight.
I guess the adamancy wore off as he decided not to have his day. That’s his choice and he exercised it.
A charge of domestic abuse is a serious one and it is heighten by the ‘who you are’ syndrome.
Yes, who you are makes a difference in the kind of media coverage you get. Do you think the media would follow and give coverage to a regular Joe who left the scene of an accident? Of course not, but if you are a cabinet minister, a la Ernie Fage, that is different.
Sure Fage is a public servant but he is also a high profile person. If your name ends in Sobey, Irving or other big name, you might as well consider yourself public property. If there’s a charge or if you are going to court you will be media material. And with radio stations like News95.7 and the papers with space to fill, ‘well known names’ are usually newsworthy. Krystal, low ratings or not, is still high profile.
He’s been on National TV, local TV (with Jim Nunn) and like him or not, has name recognition.
The Krystal court date on Tuesday was big news and the result, while not an earth shattering, bulletin type event, it was a story and one that an all-news station could have covered.
The Chronicle Herald had the story on their website very soon after the decision. (And they had that terrible picture) with it. And in the print edition on Wednesday morning they had him slugging (with a better pic) one of their sections. So the top newspaper in Atlantic Canada thought it was news.
But not News 95.7.
The Daily News had him on page 5 and a big pic and story. So they thought it was news. But the news decision maker(s) at News 95.7 didn’t agree.
I know that the CHUM stations (CJ and C100) ran the story and so did Kixx and others such as Q104 and C100. In fact it seemed it was everywhere…other than… (Drum roll) the alleged Metro news leader 95.7.
I know Hal FM didn’t run it. Their newsperson, Mike Cranston, told me that he didn’t think it was that big of a story and maybe more important he said: "we only do two minutes of news on our casts and there were more important stories."
Good point for him. Cranston gets 2 minutes, News 95.7 get over 42 minutes per hour. In fact, at 5pm on Wednesday 95.7 was running stories it had in the morning and yet could not find the time for the Krystal story.
The station that bills itself as ‘the source for news’ didn’t touch it.
I know several in that newsroom and, as solid journalists that they are, they felt it should have been on.
And of course it should have been. It is a blatant case of news suppression. What else could you call it?
Sorry, that’s not the way it works. I listened on Tuesday when the story was fresh and from 4-6pm, on News 95.7 with Scott Simpson and Debra Rent, there was not a word about it.
I called Rent who was polite and she told me I should talk to the news director Mark Campbell. In fact she emailed him and I gave her a few phone numbers.
I emailed him on Wednesday morning. All I got was the title of a Beatles (1965) song, called "No Reply’.
But then Campbell doesn’t return my calls.
If you are going to be a news station, and spend money on staff, and resources and continue to run those TV ads, over and over and over again, telling us how great you are, (regardless of seasons) then you must deliver.
You have to deliver both the good news, and perhaps in this case, the bad news, even if it doesn’t paint you in good light.
You can’t pick and choose. Or you shouldn’t pick and choose.
In fact, the decision to suppress it, and that is what it was, suppression 101, diminishes the hard, diligent work of a good news crew. And from what can see and hear, this crew deserves better.
Is 95.7 saying that the other radio stations, the papers, etc are wrong in their news judgement?
On Wednesday morning from 5:30 to 8:30 on News 95.7 I heard about the Rodney Macdonald decision to introduce legislation preventing strikes by the health care crowd, stories on the man who got beaten up at the gas station, stories on sewage cost, but no mention of Krystal.
They came close twice, or so I thought. Once they promoted a story of a ‘controversial broadcaster" but that turned out to be a piece on Jerry Falwell and other time they talked about…someone pleading guilty in a Nova Scotia court…but that was about a teen in this city.
No stories from the news leader on the talk show host. Why not? Is there immunity for 95.7 staff? Seems so doesn’t it.
Yes, we in the media do follow people like Fage and others and rightly so but we also cannot give ourselves a free pass.
I repeat. We the media and that includes News 95.7 do not get a free pass.
Stephanie Wooden handles the news watch for a few stations in metro such as Kixx Radio and told me "We ran it. It wasn’t the lead as there were more important stories and it wasn’t at the bottom. We didn’t embellish it but stated the facts." And that’s exactly what it was, a news story about a high profile radio personality.
Likewise with Deb Smith on CJCH, and others.
In the early 80’s another high profile broadcaster, Brian Philips, ran into problems and the station that hired him, CJCH, reported the story. A few years ago a paper in PEI reported in big headlines, on the front page, about a person who was convicted of DUI in that area.
That person was the owner and editor of the paper, a Mr. MacNeil, who also wrote an editorial saying what he did was wrong.
In the five years I spent at MITV we had several stories involving charges and problems with Irving Oil. To the credit of the news director at the time, Bruce Graham, he dealt with them head on. Irving, owned MITV. In fact in most cases, Graham led his Evening news with the Irving story.
Does News 95.7 believe in journalism, or is that just a catch phrase? I believe their anchors and reporters do, but I question the news director and station manager.
I’ve never been big on the ‘protecting my ass’ mentality and really believe that either the news director Campbell or manager Hamn blew it. They ran and hid and covered their heads like an ostrich, not exactly being an ‘News leader’ as they proclaim to be.
In fact, from this perspective they threw away a golden opportunity. For you see, the really serious charge against Krystal was an alleged ‘domestic abuse’. I don’t think too many listeners want to hear the views from a host who may be known to beat his partner around. It’s not exactly good PR.
But the fact is, the court dismissed charge! That is what I would have led with.
Can’t you hear the lead lines?
Krystal is ‘cleared’ of the charge.
Or, The Crown does NOT lay charges on the talk show host.
Or… It’s a no go…and no charges…vs Krystal.
Or Mischief Yes, Abuse No.
Or, Domestic abuse, no way Jose…
I think the fact he wasn’t charged was a positive story for News95.7.
I would have publicized the fact that the host of a network was NOT charged. Can’t you see the Maury Povich bit. ("In the case of domestic abuse, you Andrew Krystal, are NOT, going to trail.)
But no, on Wednesday morning between 5:30 and 9am (the morning news wheel) we heard about Lindsay Lohan. We get a "breaking news" story on Yolanda King! (Like, how many even know her?)…And nary a word about a guy who has been in the news for months.
I really don’t know Andrew Krystal. I met him for 15 seconds (if that) when the GM Hamm introduced me to him at 95.7 when I went in to take a picture of their sport guy Scott MacIntosh for this website. That was around a year ago.
I also talked to Krystal on the phone once when I was trying to line up an interview for Russ Howard, the curler, on his show. He called and said he would call the next day but then must have gone to the Mark Campbell school of not returning calls. That has been my association with Mr. Krystal.
I make no comment on his program, as it would be unfair. I have done open line shows at 8 radio/TV stations and as the replacement for the Rick Howe CJCH Hotline in the summer, I don’t think it is fair to comment on his work.
But there is one, small exception.
I did email his producer, Sarah Mann, about a possible interview last fall when I had published a book last year. The book turned out very well and it was about the curlers from Newfoundland who took home Canada’s first men’s Gold Medal at the Torino Olympics. The book is called Golden Gushue. It was good enough for TSN and the Globe and Mail but not for Maritime Morning.
I sent M’s Mann two emails. She too must take courses in how ‘not to return emails’. I didn’t mind getting the interview but a reply would have been nice. Note to M’s Mann, we in the Maritimes are nicer and politer than those in Toronto. It wouldn’t kill her to say, ‘not interested’.
Forget me, I can muster up my own PR and did, but Maritime Morning interviews a lot of authors and I think that is a good thing. But why do all the author interviews seem to be with people from Ontario or non-Maritimers?
Why didn’t Steve Murphy who had a great book out last fall get an interview? Who is better known then the Murph? Why didn’t ATV/TSN sports guy Paul Hollingsworth get an interview for his book, it was a best seller? I could name many more.
I really believe the producer, M’s Mann and Krystal should realize their audience is in Nova Scotia and the Maritimes and Murphy and Hollingsworth aimed at that market.
Maybe they need a Toronto agent.
That’s my one and only comment on the Krystal show.
In conclusion I really do believe that if Steve Murphy, Rick Howe, Brian Philips or any other media person with a high profile had a court date like Krystal had, News95.7, the allegedly news leader, would have covered it, big time.
Maybe, it would be breaking news.
But it seems that Lindsay Lohan and Yolanda King deserve more airtime than the Krystal story.
As I said News 95.7 dropped the ball on this one, big time.
Alex J. Walling can be reached at:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
