The Impression of KNBC Channel 4 - Essay Example

Lindsey Lohan was mentioned as celebrating her 21st birthday at the restaurant/nightclub known for its erotic dancers. Although there was no specific charge of arson, according to the anchors, because of earlier suspicious fires that might be arson, an investigation was underway to determine if the fire was accidental. KNBC does have a Web site and the story was presented in far more detail with video and photographs (Crews Investigate). The name of the restaurant was given on the Web site—Basque Restaurant and Nightclub.

            The second story to be presented was the May 1 protest at McArthur Park at which it was thought 25,000 to 100,000 people might attend. Because of clashes between police, demonstrators, and journalists the year before, a low profile was planned by the police. The previous use of force by police in 2007 embarrassed both police and city officials, and the officers were retrained for the present protest. The protest was against federal immigration laws, which the Latino population felt were dividing families and were unfair. This was followed by the border protest “Stop the Mexican Government,” which was quickly noted on the broadcast but not discussed in detail. The coverage of the protest continued on Moyer and Williams' evening broadcast on May 1 and dominated the news hour, even though only 10,000 protestors showed up, not the expected 100,000, and there were no major disturbances. Again, the story brought to mind a fizzled firecracker.

            The team announced the death of a San Francisco surfer killed on Monday, the 28th of April by a grey shark when he bled to death from a thigh injury. The fact that the incident occurred in Mexico was stressed. The federal interest rate was the next topic of discussion, cut by .25%, which, it was noted,  weakens the dollar once again. The broadcasters further discussed the fact that the government says there is no recession, even though the rising price of food and gas and the plummeting housing market does not confirm this. Except for obvious but unspoken criticism of President Bush, Moyer, and Williams' political coverage was balanced with McCain offering tax credits regarding health costs, Hillary Clinton credited with appealing to blue-collar workers, and Michelle Obama does not comment on Rev. Wright. Obama claims 10 super delegates and Hillary only 6. The final story presented was on the firefight across 580 acres of the Sierra Madre foothills, which was under control at broadcast time.

            The major networks have long been criticized for showing bias in their stories, rather than just announcing the news. However, it is human nature to show personal bias because experience necessarily affects how stories are presented. If KNBC has a fault, it could be, according to the stories presented on April 30, the hesitation on the part of the anchors to present information that might be controversial. This might be due to constrictions placed on them by the network, but it seems that Moyers and Williams presented stories for this particular broadcast that were already for the most part old news.

            Paul Moyer co-anchors weekday editions of “Channel 4 News” at 5 and 11 p.m. with Colleen Williams. They have been broadcast journalists for many years, and the two have a professional demeanor and smooth style of delivery. It could be the April 30, 2008, broadcast was unusually lacking in real news, but it was unfortunate that it was not very interesting to watch.