Letting ads pose as news is sleazy

I'm generally satisfied with the quality of the news provided by local TV station KTVU. The station's news department has a reputation for hard news stories, though with an hour to fill at each of its three main newscasts (5, 6, and 10 PM) it's inevitable that a certain number of softer, more human-interest stories slip in.

I don't have a problem with those softer stories -- for the most part. The exceptions would be the segments on the Fox singing competition shows American Idol and The X Factor.

Cross-promoting Fox Broadcasting's entertainment shows during local affiliates' newscasts is probably seen by network management as one hand washing the other: higher ratings for the series mean bigger lead-in audiences for the affiliates' newscasts. And if we were talking about airing more ads for the series during the newscasts, I wouldn't be squawking.

However, taking up actual news time with stories about the shows is another matter.

Segments hosted by actual KTVU reporters that talk about the competitions as if they're developing news simply embarrass the news department. Does anybody at either KTVU or Fox Broadcasting think these segments are regarded as "news"? If so, let me burst your little bubble. The audience sees your clumsy efforts for what they are: long commercials masquerading as "news".

I'll admit, I hate reality TV shows, and I especially loathe these damned singing competitions. Nevertheless, I'd be just as pissed off if KTVU's newscasts started airing segments about Terra Nova or any other Fox entertainment show.

Fox Broadcasting, of course, doesn't care: it's getting the extended-length commercials it wants.

Unfortunately, the KTVU news department is getting the short end of the deal. Its hard-won reputation as a trusted news source is being eroded, the faux-news segments eating away at the station's good name like drops of acid.

Every time I see one of these segments coming up, I switch to another channel. And every time I do, I come closer to not switching back.

What kind of news department allows itself to be taken doggy style like this?

What kind of network screws over its affiliates like this? (Oh, right: all of them. Never mind.)

Tonight, KTVU aired two segments, both about The X Factor. That's about five solid minutes that might otherwise have been devoted to worthy local or national or international news. More importantly, it was a deadly double blow to the credibility of whoever's running the news team. No day in the Bay Area can have been so slow on the news front as to excuse plugging that stupid show twice in twenty minutes.

From a pissed-off but still reasonably loyal viewer of the 10 o'clock newscast to whomever's in charge of that newscast, a request:

Grow a spine and some balls.

Stop prostituting yourself and your staff.