Caught between a sound bite and a hard place

L.A. media watchdog LA Observed reports of a kerfuffle in San Francisco over the book "No Time to Think: The Menace of Media Speed in the 24-Hour News Cycle." Co-authored by Charles S. Feldman and Howard Rosenberg, former TV critic at the L.A.Times, the book is a critique of our accelerated news cycle, particularly TV news.

The authors, who were scheduled to appear on KRON-TV in San Francisco, received a call from the show's host saying that the format had changed and their interview was off. But they noticed that the format wasn't changing, so they made inquiries; the station's news director sent an e-mail to their publicist:

The format hasn't changed. We still do guests. But I am not all that interested in a book that is going to be critical of what we do as a business. So I am going to pass on this one.

Which is certainly enough to get a couple of media watchdogs riled up. "Do you really think their trust in your station will crumble if they listen to some critical comments about the television news industry?" Rosenberg replied. The authors have managed to appear on KTLA and BBC4 without bringing either outlet to its knees.

KRON later made another interview offer, which the authors declined, saying, "We will pass."

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Comments

[China]

This would have an ideal moment for a major television station to examine their faults and use that criticism to improve. But it was hypocritical to finally allow the inteview only after they realized everyone else was. Even worse was the authors declining the second interview request, which they should have used to their advantage, but they let their pride get in the way. Just goes to show that the networks and their critics are equally moronic.