NEWS OF THE DAY

posted by James Reel

    NPR can be as bad as any cable TV channel about hammering non-stories to death all through the day, but this morning the news division did a nice job of mixing items from hour to hour, getting new details on the stories being followed in every newscast, passing along the latest dismal developments in Iraq without obsessing on the usual trivia, and so on. It’s nice that with all the money it’s inherited from the Widow Kroc, NPR news can still sometimes put a little effort into its broadcasts.
    Locally, morning newsman Robert Rappaport pulled some ligaments in his shoulder a couple of nights ago, and Bill Mortimer is filling in, grumbling about the early hour as he arrives with the dawn. Robert is the only KUAT/KUAZ newscaster who always does his stints live; the others, including Bill, record their newscasts just a few minutes before air time. That way, they can start over if they make any big mistakes, and work on getting the timing exactly right (the KUAT-FM newscasts simultaneously fit into a tight slot on KUAZ). Sometimes I worry about using recorded newscasts. What if something newsworthy happens before air time? But hey, this is Tucson, where (despite the false urgency of live TV remotes) newsy events tend not to “break” like Derby horses. They just amble out, and there’s plenty of time for reporters to catch up.