Speaking of local TV . . .
-BRUCE LINDSAY and KSL News didn't get the praise they deserved in this space for the outstanding job they did in covering the breaking (if you'll pardon the expression) news of the recent earthquake in northern California. By juggling news feeds and talking to KSL reporters who had gone to San Francisco for the World Series, Lindsay was able to keep viewers calmly and completely informed during a yeoman stretch that started minutes after the earthquake hit and continued through the late news at 10 with only an occasional break. The entire KSL staff came through with cool professionalism, clearly outperforming both of their local competitors and making their network look good.So good, in fact, that your bleary eyed TV-critic, channel-hopping until his zapping thumb was raw while trying to keep up with all the network coverage, had a hard time deciding which reports were coming from CBS and which were the result of KSL's enterprise. That's why his review of the evening focused on network coverage, with only a cursory (and I do mean cursory) mention of local reporting on the disaster.
But comments in the ensuing days from several different observers who stayed with KSL's coverage through the evening have made it clear that Ch. 5 deserves commendation - and probably an award or two - for superior journalism.
Take a well-deserved - if shamefully tardy - bow, KSL. Take an extra one, Bruce. (And don't pay any attention to that pounding sound you hear. It's just Sir Spud beating on himself for not paying closer attention.)
-AS LONG AS WE'RE heaping praise on local TV efforts that should have been recognized but haven't been, let's say a word or two about "Who Will Believe the Children," KTVX's "For Kids' Sake" special that aired about a week ago.
The first word that comes to mind is "powerful." The second is "emotional." Rarely have I seen a local TV program that dealt as honestly and compassionately with a sensitive issue (child abuse) as this one. The reporting was strong and the phone-in question-answer session was absorbing. This was public service-oriented programming at its best.
And has anyone else noticed how much Kimberly Perkins has grown during her time at Ch. 4? Not that she was chopped liver to begin with. But she seems to have loosened up and become even more natural on camera, and her work with Phil Riesen in these "For Kids' Sake" specials has been first-rate - not too hard-edged, and yet not too gushy, either. (But don't tell anyone - especially not someone with ties to a bigger market. Let's just keep her our little secret for now, OK?)
-SPEAKING OF PERKINS' GROWTH, we're going to be seeing a lot more of it. Physically, that is. It was recently mentioned on a KTVX newscast that she and her husband, Jim, are expecting their second child sometime in February. That means she can swap childbirth stories with Ch. 4 anchor/reporter John Dupree, whose wife recently gave birth to a son.
Congratulations, all!