SPEAKING OUT

ARTHUR GOLDHABER

Cablevision is One of Few News Outlets to Air Editorials Special to Cable World

Cablevision Systems' Peter Kohler practices a lost art on television, but he's no dinosaur. Rather, he and his crew of on-air editorialists are helping keep alive what used to be a staple of local - and network - television newscasts.

With the demise of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, broadcasters began phasing out delivering editorials after the local news. Afraid of irritating advertisers and viewers and seeing little use in devoting resources for the two-minute vignettes, broadcasters eliminated them.

Networks, too, led by Howard K. Smith of ABC, Eric Severeid of CBS and John Chancellor of NBC, commonly aired commentaries several nights a week as part of their newscasts.

Alas, the TV editorials have gone the way of the test pattern and TV dial. Close observers of broadcasting history should not be surprised. A 1998 survey on on-air editorials commissioned by the National Conference of Editorial Writers found that of the 191 stations responding, only 29 still aired editorials.

Seven years earlier, that same survey by Appalachian State University associate professor David Spiceland found 102 stations doing editorials, out of 306 respondents.

Cable news operations that editorialize are an even rarer breed. Perhaps the only cable operation that airs editorials is Cablevision Systems' NewsChannel 12, a group of regional cable news networks that serve most of the MSO's 2.8 million metro-New York subscribers.

VP-editorial services Kohler heads a team of five journalists who write and present two to four editorials a week, depending on the local NewsChannel 12 station. Archives of the Bethpage, N.Y.-based MSO's editorials are on the company's Web site at www.cablevision.com.

"I think there is no lack of arguments you can make for not doing editorials," Kohler says. "What [broadcasting editorials] does require is a commitment from the top. I think that's what we have here at Cablevision. There is a commitment from the top that says Cablevision should do editorials and that they are worth doing."

Since 1995, Cablevision has expanded its editorial operation to include an editorial writer and presenter in each of the five New York metro areas it serves.

Cablevision sees local content as a key weapon to combat growing DBS inroads. Editorials are part of the same plan that includes the three regional MetroChannels on each Cablevision system in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The survey responses echo those given by cable news operations' representatives who do not broadcast editorials.

A Time Warner Cable spokesman says his company's systems operate 24-hour news operations in a news wheel format "a format that is not appropriate for editorials." And "there is no editorial need for editorials as part of that format."

These sentiments were echoed by New York 1 News SVP/GM Steve Paulus who says: "Political reporting is one of our strong points, and I don't see a need to add editorials ... though it may be something to consider down the road."

A federal appeals court ruling last October that struck down the FCC's right-of-reply rules might have spurred more news outlets to do editorials.

The regulations, which were the last remaining vestige of the Fairness Doctrine, required TV and radio stations to provide airtime for respondents to political endorsements or personal attacks.

Nevertheless, standard practice at TV outlets that editorialize, such as Cablevision and broadcasters WXYZ-TV in Detroit and WISC-TV in Madison, Wis., is to air opposing views - even in the absence of an FCC requirement to do so.

"When we started doing editorials here, we stated that our purpose is to promote a dialogue, not a monologue," says Kohler, whose company's standard policy is to give time to opposing views, post viewer responses on the Web site and even broadcast messages left by viewers on voice mail.

Cablevision's news operations have been broadcasting editorials for more than a decade.

WCVB-TV Boston GM Paul LaCamera says, "Historically we have run editorials and have not been impeded by the previous rule at all."

However, the appeals court ruling allows the FCC to enact new right-of-response rules, if they are consistent with the Constitution and in the public interest - a daunting task. FCC Chairman William Kennard said at the time of the ruling that he will consider writing new rules.

The decision, however, probably won't result in an onslaught of Eric Severeid wannabes. That's because few TV and radio stations air editorials, and among those who do not, few are clamoring to introduce them - a trend that began in 1987 with the Fairness Doctrine's demise.

After the appeal court ruling, Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio and Television News Directors Association says she heard from just one station, Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV, that was considering editorial broadcasts.

Unfortunately, the ruling probably came too close to the November elections for most stations to consider making political endorsements, she says.

Choosing to editorialize Since television and radio stations share the same First Amendment rights as newspapers, why do fewer broadcasters than print journalists exercise their right to express commentary and opinion?

"The news can cover the issues; lack of budget for the resources or editorials will hurt our credibility," were the main reasons offered by stations that don't editorialize when responding to a question in Spiceland's 1998 survey permitting several answers to the query.

In a similar survey question allowing only one response, "Ownership did not support it," was the top answer.

A lack of resources and newsroom budget cuts in a new competitive broadcasting environment are the main reasons why fewer television and radio stations air editorials these days, says WCVB's LaCamera, especially since a station needs to pony up for a separate team of editorial writers.

Many stations found cutting editorial staff an easy way to save money after the Fairness Doctrine's elimination, he adds.

Why do stations air editorials?

Community service is the No.1 reason cited by stations' editorial proponents in Spiceland's survey.

LaCamera sums it up best: "Editorials are probably not the reason a viewer tunes into a news broadcast, but we continue to air them because of our station's public responsibility."

Even at Cablevision, which has increased its editorial investment in recent years, editorials do not seem to contribute to the bottom line.

"As someone who writes and presents editorials, I can't tell you editorials are a bottom-line builder," Kohler says. "We are a cost, not a revenue producer, and there is no advertising that supports the editorials."

Do the editorials attract eyeballs? Cablevision last year conducted research on that question. Respondents had a high level of awareness of editorials, had a generally positive attitude toward them and wanted them to continue, though this mainly told the cable company that "viewers were not being turned off by editorials," Kohler says.

Demonstrating concern about a community is probably the main benefit of broadcasting editorials, says Chuck Stokes, editorial/public affairs director at WXYZ in Detroit.

"The bottom line is very important, but above and beyond that, is a responsibility to the community," he says.

Stokes argues that viewers identify with a station that editorializes and in a crowded market, "It's one way to separate yourself from your competition in the same way newspapers do."

For cable broadcasters, establishing a bond with a local audience may be even more crucial. Cablevision, for example, is reaching about 700,000 households and another 800,000 households in New Jersey that are only served by New York City network affiliates.

"The New York stations do the best they can, having worked at one for many years, but they have to cover a region of 17 million people," explains Kohler, who adds that network affiliates end up giving local suburban issues short shrift.

That gives Cablevision an opportunity to express views on local topics such as budget problems at Long Island, N.Y., Nassau County's legislature and a dispute over turning a decrepit, abandoned industrial site in Syosset, N.Y., into a shopping center, says Kohler.

Most stations that editorialize allow viewers to respond via the Internet. Cablevision's Web site exemplifies the Internet's power to create a virtual community.

Most broadcasters that editorialize avoid endorsing political candidates, but stations say it would take too much time to accommodate all the candidates. Stations also fear retribution by the winning politician if a station backs the opposing candidate.

Kohler says Cablevision's practice is not to endorse candidates, but adds, "There are no stone tablets that say we don't endorse candidates."

For now, the policy is to endorse positions on statewide or local ballot issues such as bond issues and referendums.

Plus, Kohler says News 12 does not shy away from controversy, even supporting New York State's decision to reestablish the death penalty.

He sees little tangible evidence that editorials create a big rise in viewership, but says, "It does help shine a light on something that otherwise is not being viewed."

Plus, Kohler adds, when you air editorials there is often anecdotal evidence it had an impact on the community or individuals: "People will tell you, and that is what makes it worth doing."

Two veterans of the Washington and New York public relations and government affairs world have begun a new firm specializing in providing public relations, marketing and government affairs services to the media and telecommunications industries.

The Potomac Hudson Group will be headed by Lorine Card and Valerie LoCascio, the company's founders, and have offices in Washington and New York. Card served as the director of the MediaOne Group's Washington office and has held positions with U.S. West and Continental Cablevision. She is sister-in-law of Bush Administration chief of staff-designate Andrew Card.

Current clients of the firm include Comcast, Lightningcast, the National Cable Television Association and National Geographic Television.

"We have chosen to serve a niche marketplace based on our experience and what we perceive to be a rapidly growing and competitive marketplace," Card says. "Strategy and creativity are key in this environment, and we are uniquely positioned to deliver both to our client base."

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., has been tapped to be the chairman of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee by House Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La. Upton previously served as chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations for the Commerce Committee.

Upton is in the process of naming his staff and familiarizing himself with the issues facing the subcommittee, according to spokesman Mike Waldron.

"Sure, there are going to be challenges as chairman of a subcommittee so directly tied to the everyday lives of every American," Upton says. "But these issues are cutting edge; I'm excited to work on issues like technology in the classroom and telemedicine."

Neither Upton nor Waldron would comment on what cable issues the subcommittee would address during the first part of the Congressional session.