A newscast for the masses; the history of Detroit television news.

9780814333020

A newscast for the masses; the history of Detroit television news.

Kiska, Tim.

Wayne State Univ. Press

2009

198 pages

$24.95

Paperback

Great Lakes books

PN4899

Detroit may have more lively local news than other cities but, as this book implies, the changes in broadcast methods there are reflected throughout the country. Kiska, a former newspaper reporter, television news person and professor of journalism at the University of Michigan - Dearborn, was an eyewitness to many of the alterations he records here. He commences with a retrospective of radio news in the hallowed days of Edward R. Murrow. The early days of local television news in Detroit are chronicled next. The growing popularity of one of the first and best-known anchormen, Jac Le Goff, is made a metaphor for the slow change of focus from the message to the messengers. Despite attempts to report on serious news, the trend for "happy talk" news hit Detroit. Kiska describes how the late sixties were a time of crisis for the Detroit stations in their reactions particularly to the 1967 Detroit riots. He ends the study in 1982 with the advent of cable; however, an epilogue brings the story up to 2007. The story is filled with anecdotes, escapades and behind the scenes infighting. But beyond that, it is a cautionary tale for all who believe that local television news should entertain more than inform.

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