TV Turns a Blind Eye to State Politics

SACRAMENTO —  Let’s face it: Anybody who depends solely on television for their news of California government and politics is uninformed or misinformed, which means--and there’s no polite way to put this--they’re living in ignorance.

And if they vote in elections, they probably think the most important issues involve 7-Eleven holdups, truck jackknifes, brush fires and who gets the latest star on the Walk of Fame. Holdups, jackknifes, fires--and drive-by shootings and street vice--are important, of course. But they are symptoms of deeper problems whose complex solutions rarely are discussed seriously on local TV’s so-called news.

This is not just the opinion of some newspaper reporter, but that of many broadcast journalists who have become disgusted with their profession.

“If it bleeds, it leads (the newscast). And they like flames, too--flames and blood,” says Ruth Ashton Taylor, who spent four decades as a Los Angeles TV reporter, mostly covering government and politics. “It’s too bad, because we give a distorted picture of what the world is really like.”

Taylor retired in 1989 and moved to the Sierra foothills near Sacramento, still on retainer for KCBS Channel 2 to do occasional reports from the state Capitol. She did so until last year, when the station lost all interest in Sacramento news, Taylor says, even during the state’s worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression.

Now, Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature are facing hard decisions that will affect the lifestyles of every Californian--their tax burdens, education, crime protection, health care, benefit checks, parks facilities. . . . These decisions likely will be made in the next few weeks. But, with a couple of exceptions, don’t expect to learn much about them from television.

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“L.A. politics gets some attention. State politics gets practically none,” notes Warren Olney, who during 20 years on Los Angeles television reported for all three network-affiliated stations. Olney left television last year for National Public Radio, starting up the acclaimed “Which Way, L.A.?” daily public affairs broadcast on KCRW-FM.

“I seriously wonder whether these people who are running television stations have any sense of understanding of their obligations to the public in a democratic society,” Olney says. “Their argument is that audience research shows people are not interested in politics. They think it’s dull, boring. They don’t understand that’s not a justification for failing to make it interesting. It just displays a lack of imagination and enterprise and seriousness about their profession.”

Olney was a Sacramento correspondent during the glory days of TV coverage at the Capitol, back in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Telegenic, glib Ronald Reagan was an activist governor with presidential ambitions. Voters had just authorized a full-time Legislature. The cities had gained a lot more legislative clout over rural areas because of the Supreme Court’s one-man, one-vote decision. And network stations in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco installed bureaus.

“Then TV became a victim of its own success and things started unraveling,” recalls Steve Swatt, who covered the Capitol for 20 years for Sacramento’s NBC affiliate before quitting last year to do political public relations. “Newscasts got extended and pressures became greater for the shows to be revenue producers. TV news became ratings obsessed. We got into flash and trash.”

Sacramento news also became expensive. A typical bureau--a reporter and two crew members--was costing about $250,000 a year by the mid-’70s.

TV stations began pulling out their reporters and the last bureau shut down five years ago. Only one Sacramento station--the ABC affiliate--currently has a full-time reporter at the Capitol.

Some of the void is filled by a TV news service--Northern California News Satellite--owned and operated by former NBC correspondent Steve Mallory. He feeds reports daily to two dozen subscribers. The California Channel also feeds five hours of unedited legislative sessions each day to 61 cable systems.

Meanwhile, there are 18 newspaper and five print news service bureaus with about 75 reporters covering the Capitol.

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All this weighs heavily on the media strategists of Sacramento politicians who believe their bosses’ careers rise or fall depending on TV exposure. Communications director Dan Schnur takes Wilson to Los Angeles a lot for announcements, hoping to lure cameras. He often does, especially if there’s some interesting scenery for a “visual.”

Laments Michael Reese, spokesman for Treasurer Kathleen Brown, who is angling to run next year against Wilson: “If I’ve got to figure out how to get Kathleen--preferably naked--in a car chase under a TV helicopter, it ain’t easy.”