LaPierre on the loose...on the beach?

[Dan Strassberg]

Well... When he does LaPierre on the Loose, he's a commentator, but when he
does the news, he's a newscaster. I think the rules for the two categories
are (or should be) different. I realize that radio has a
three-generations-long--or longer--tradition of having the same people
report the news and express opinions on the news. Many of the old-time
commentators, however, were commentators foremost and reporters or
newscasters second. Mr LaPierre was purely a newscaster for decades before
he started voicing his (frequently ill-informed) opinions over the air. For
whatever reason--probably because I just about never agree with
him--LaPierre's opinionizing has made me uneasy even when, say, Paul
Harvey's has not. (And I don't agree with Harvey any more than I do with
LaPierre.) I think part of the reason is that Paul Harvey's style is so
original and unusual that you'd have to be totally detached from reality to
think of him as a strictly a newscaster even when he is merely reading
alleged facts from wire-service copy..

I know that people who have worked with LaPierre think the world of him.
Great! Wonderful! But don't let your personal liking for the man get in the
way of your being objective about whether it was or wasn't appropriate that
he and Infinity Broadcasting attempted to conceal the fact that he was
reporting on severe New England winter weather from the warmth of Florida. I
haven't made up my mind on whether the attempt at concealment was
acceptable, but I'm uncomfortable with it.

--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@att.net
eFax 707-215-6367

----- Original Message -----
From: Donna Halper <dlh@donnahalper.com>
To: <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.BostonRadio.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 11:54 AM
Subject: Re: LaPierre on the loose...on the beach?


> Shawn wrote--
>
> >Short of that, does it really matter where his physical location is?
> >With technology being what it is, he could even have the view from
outside
> >the windows in Allston piped to his living room, if he wants it.  No, he
> >won't feel the actual cold this week, but it's not like he's never
> >experienced a New England winter before...
>
> And Dave Maynard has been doing the same thing for years.  Again, it's
> quite misleading if a newsperson says they are in one place when in
reality
> they aren't in that place at all-- that's an ethical violation, such as
> when years back a reporter (I believe it was ABC's Cokie Roberts) claimed
> she was standing in front of  the White House but in fact, she was back at
> the studio. But I haven't heard Gary say he is sitting in his home in
> Massachusetts.  Gary's been a WBZ employee since 1964 and if technology
> permits him to have a nice home in a warmer climate and still do his job,
> what's the harm?  He is a commentator, and he can comment from
> anywhere.   I am glad that Boston.com told us where to send our Xmas cards
> to him, but I still fail to see the problem.
>
>