| This Probe is a two edged sword, my friend. On the one hand, we have an amazing human interest story, with what the US population as a whole have been waiting for: a first person recollection of the events surrounding Elizabeth Smart and her trying ordeal for the nine months ending on March 12, 2003. On another facet, we have a highly overpaid powderpuff journalist on the biggest broadcast television network in the nation, who has so little skill interviewing anyone that she finds herself led around by the nose by Ed and Lois Smart on her own program, and can't even draw the marquee subject of the program into a meaningful conversation. Is this what TV news has been reduced to? Here, I'll lay it all out for you... | ||||||
The setup Tonight I pulled "Bringing
Elizabeth Home" off the ol' Tivo. (Actually it's a DISH PVR
508. I have to make that distinction now or Tivo will kick my ass
and sue me into bankruptcy.) It's typical network-TV fare; musical
undertones, photo montages, sweeping landscapes and many tight shots of people
tearing up, interrupted at key point in the show by about 5 minutes of
commercials. Not to say that it isn't an emotional story.
Anytime a child is kidnapped and subsequently recovered, it is a joyous
occasion. However, to manipulate a viewer's emotions like that,
there'd have to be something pretty damned special about the show.
Tonight, that wasn't the case. |
||||||
|
|
The events
Like I have said from the beginning, this is almost a morbid tale that typefies what Americans view as entertainment. Basically, the meat of Elizabeth's story is one of torture, circumstance, perseverance, joy and the resolve of the human spirit. She defied the odds and seems to be a stronger person for it. Read here for my somewhat uninformed synopsis. Anyhoo, apparently Ed and Lois Smart have written a book about the experience. And what do you know, the book carries the same title as the television show! I'll probably pick it up and go on through it just because I'm not reading anything else right now. (Off-topic thought: if you're looking for a great sports book that almost isn't sports related, check out Michael Lewis' "Moneyball." Three words: off-the-hook.) The thing |
|||||
| that did surprise me about the show was that the book was very sparsely mentioned in the actual show, with a shot of the cover about 10 minutes in and a passing reference during the end credits. While the NBC effort was neither hard-hitting or deeply investigative, viewers did find themselves with some more insight into the daily lives of the Smarts and the different things that Elizabeth endured during her nine months away from home. | ||||||
| . | ||||||
| The NBC fiasco
"Human interest" and tabloid news stories are, unfortunately, now a staple of the major networks' news departments. The NBC kingpin (or queenpin, if you will) is Katie Couric, the talentless shill that normally sits on the "Today" set with Matt Lauer. The typical interview method of this bleeding-heart liberal is to ask non-offensive, closed-end questions of the interview subject, let them answer, then nod your head suggestively and let the subject do all the work. This was pretty much what happened on the set of "Bringing Elizabeth Home". What we witnessed on NBC tonight was an A#1 USDA-choice prime example of what |
  "Less is more" doesn't apply to these two. Neither does "For the love of God, stop!" (GE/NBC) |
|||||
| I'll again refer to as powderpuff journalism. Katie had Ed and Lois IN FRONT OF HER! So what does she do? She lobs a warm, fuzzy "how do you feel?" query up in the air and the elder Smarts make like Barry Bonds and knock it out of the park. This happens a few more times during the hour-long show, which was cut to about 35 minutes when I zapped the commercials. She probably asks about seven questions, six of which were answered back in March. The rest of the show was Katie doing voiceover work as we watch the Smarts frolic in and around their cabin while Couirc grins like a friggin' idiot. And as I sit here typing this, she is at home still grinning, collecting a hefty paycheck for doing what probably 95% of the news media can do better than her. Here is an excerpt from her "chat" with Elizabeth: | ||||||
(about 3 minutes of silence) KC: So, does anything feel different about being home? ES: Um, just being back and not having to be, like, told I'm a horrible, evil, wicked, evil evil girl every 10 seconds. KC: That must have been horrible. |
||||||
This is an example of her sickening lack of timing or form to interviewing. Of course it was horrible! You don't walk around aimlessly on a trail with a person you are paid to ask questions to, kick around dirt for a while then finally look up, ask a question, get a most surprising answer, then follow it up with a blatant understatement framed as an off-the-cuff glib remark. NBC has better interviewers and reporters in their vast stable. It's high time for Katie to be led to pasture. |
||||||
But as much as I would like to make it Katie's fault, the blame for the sensationalism and exploitation talk also belongs in the programmers at ABC, CBS and NBC. For but a few scant hours after NBC's press release about the Couric special hit the wire, CBS countered with their own "unauthorized" half hour tabloid. And then to add fuel to the fire, ABC's "Good Morning America" aired excerpts of a future "Oprah" show in which the girl and her parents are again interviewed. Martin Kaplan of the University of South Carolina put it very succinctly: "The whole thing makes you want to take a shower." |
||||||
|
. |
||||||
| The epilogue
Like has been said many times before by many different people, this is a great story. An affirmation of faith. An inspiration to those of us who plod through our lives with no real sense of purpose. Most of all, it proves the strength of family in adversity. The true test of this family, however, will be if it survives this media crunch, one that turns elizabeth's saga into a for-profit numbers game that will squeeze every last ounce of soul and humanity in it. One might say they brought it upon themselves, but it was only because they wanted to share their story. And because of Americans' demand, now the networks are forced to exploit the story. As USC's Kaplan said, "I think we should be ashamed of ourselves for being hooked on this stuff... all that NBC or CBS is doing is supplying us with the drug, and we're happy to pay for it." |
||||||
| . | ||||||
| This editorial and the views expressed within are the opinions of Ehren Stemme. The author in no way represents Yahoo!/GeoCities, the Smart family, ABC, Disney, CBS, Viacom, Oprah Winfrey, Harpo Prods, NBC, Vivendi Universal, Katie Couric, Univ of South Carolina, TiVo Partners LLC, EchoStar Communications, DiSH Network, Michael Lewis, Donald Duck or anyone else mentioned in this editorial. For comments or factual discrepancies please contact the Webmaster | ||||||
