KLRT's room to grow.
Fox affiliate KLRT, TV, Channel 16's long-anticipated hourlong 9 p.m. newscast finally went live on Sunday, March 28.Featuring an anchor crew mostly from out-of-state, the first newscast's first story was a rehash by Dewayne Graham of Arkansas' equitable education funding and school consolidation issues.
He later followed with interviews with high school kids.
The newscast has so far had a good studio look, although for some reason anchors Kevin Kelly and Donna Terrell seem like they're sitting too close together.
Some of the other stories over the initial week have focused on hair dyes that may cause cancer, on-the-scene crime coverage, North Little Rock hotel methamphetamine labs, the commute time clog-up at the Interstate 430/630 interchange--which, frankly, isn't news--and the Main Street Bridge closure, which came just as the bridge was reopening.
Several of the stories seemed old or thuddingly obvious, but KLRT does show a willingness to get out with the public and try to do some stories based on what people experience daily. Although a rehash, the education story did anticipate the deadline last week for school districts to find their own consolidation partners.
As some Arkansas media observers put it, the anchors and reporters are so far reading well--with a few mispronunciations. There have been a handful of technical errors, such as starting audio on videotaped stories while anchors were still reading on camera, which sounded like a box of clanky auto parts falling over backstage.
Of course, some minor troubles are to be expected in the first weeks--and it's not as if the established newscasts are mistake-free. With more experience, KLRT's newscast can only improve and appears to have the potential to stick.
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| Title Annotation: | Outtakes: an inside look into Arkansas media |
|---|---|
| Author: | Holcombe, Carl D. |
| Publication: | Arkansas Business |
| Article Type: | Brief Article |
| Geographic Code: | 1U7AR |
| Date: | Apr 5, 2004 |
| Words: | 280 |
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| Outtakes. |
| KLRT growing pains. |
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| Playing the feud. |
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| Fee for all. |
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