#5 - Gambit - 1/17/12
in New Orleans news for 27 years, beginning at WWL before becoming news director at WVUE, where he has recently employed several former WGNO reporters on a full- or part-time basis, including Meg Gatto, Liz Reyes and Jessica Holly. “I feel very strongly, from a news point of view, what you wouldn’t put on a television screen you shouldn’t put on Twitter or Facebook,” he says. “I don’t believe opinions should be part of it.” Erbach scoffs at that approach. “Journalists, they’ll just parrot back the copy and you’ll know nothing about them. Where is it written down that you can’t [express an opinion]? That’d be nice to hear what [WWL-TV’s] Angela [Hill] had to say about the Republican convention or the Iowa caucuses.” Asked if he thinks his star anchor should begin inserting her thoughts and opinions into the nightly news, a pokerfaced Siegel says, “I understand where Rick is coming from, but from where I’m sitting hard news coverage begins with the facts and then comes the opinion and interpretation.” But what about morning shows? WWL’s Eyewitness Morning News, the city’s top-rated morning show, has a couch, chatty segments with anchors Eric Paulsen and Sally-Ann Roberts, live music, viral videos, cooking, fashion and entertainment segments, Roberts’ famous birthday song — isn’t that at least a cousin of the Twist approach? “It’s cooking, it’s culture,” Siegel says. “I don’t know that’s News With a Twist. I
and his actress wife. The earliest set concept for Twist, suggested by a corporate visitor from Chicago who came down to consult with Cruse and Erbach and ended up spending time on Bourbon Street, had a bar that looked like a Boston pub (clearly wrong for New Orleans) — and included a stripper’s pole. Cruse said no to both. WGNO isn’t the only station experimenting with eyebrow-raising gimmicks; Houston’s KIAH-TV (owned, as is WGNO, by Tribune Broadcasting) has NewsFix, where last week’s hot topics included “ID’ing Dog Poo” and “The World’s Most Expensive and Luxurious Condom.” A regular feature on NewsFix is the “Dumbass of the Day.” And when Cleveland’s WOIO-TV was barred from a recent high-profile local trial, its newscast began reenacting each day’s testimony using puppets reciting court transcripts. (Ratings were strong.) On News With a Twist, regular features include “Wingin’ It,” with correspondent Tyler Wing trying his hand at various endeavors (learning to roll cigars, duck calling, riding a zip line). Commentary from the Everyyat perspective is provided by Kaare Johnson (son of the late WWL-TV editorialist Phil Johnson), while Northshore radio host Mike Church breathes AM-radio style thunder in the “Right Twist on the News.” (A recent, and typical, Church opinion: “The Ultimate Education Choice For Parents Is Ending Public Education.”) Each
“This is a hard news town. People Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > february 21 > 2012
take news seriously here, be it news, weather or sports.”
—
don’t see Sally or Eric editorializing.” Perhaps it’s also a question of tone; WWL’s website has featured gentle YouTube timewasters like “Frog Playing Video Game” and “Dancing Chihuahua.” Twist’s viral-video page, meanwhile, has been the portal to clips like “Man Left With Permanent ‘Woody’ after Getting Penis Tattoo” and “Worried Your Woman’s Cheating? DNA Test Her Panties For Leftovers.” “Who says the news has to be a certain way?” Erbach asks. “Who says?” Both Erbach and WGNO general manager John Cruse insist that “Twist” is a work in progress, an evolving experiment based on audience response and the enthusiasms of their staff. Bad ideas, or ideas that don’t work, can be jettisoned quickly. Before settling on Roesgen and LBJ, the men had considered a variety of other anchors both with and without news backgrounds, including a wellknown local talk-radio personality
episode of “Twist” concludes with the “Drink of the Day,” a local bartender presenting a cocktail recipe; the brandname booze is provided by Republic Beverage Company, a local liquor distributor, which, Cruse says, also is allowed to pick which bars are featured. That sort of cozy relationship would send traditional news directors reaching for the Tums — as would WGNO’s whole concept of “guest anchors,” who have included one-call-that’s-all lawyer Morris Bart (an advertiser on the show), New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond and New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas. Asked how a news program could cover the NOPD after its chief has shared the anchor barstool, Erbach insists the station wouldn’t pull any punches, adding, “If we started eliminating people based on how we’d cover them, we’d run out of people to guest host.” Then there’s the role of “creative services” — TV-newsspeak for the
21 V1_65710.5_4.729x10.833_4c_Ad.indd 1
1/13/12 9:58 AM