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A suggestion for WGBH's "Beat the Press"
By adamg on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 4:46pm
Tonight's "Beat the Press" is scheduled to discuss the Amanda Knox verdict:
After being convicted of murder, much of the reporting by the US media sided with Knox, questioning the fairness of the Italian justice system. Was it similar to the British coverage of the Louise Woodward verdict?
Hey, here's an idea for this Boston-based show: How about examining why the US media seems more fascinated with some woman 5,000 miles away than with dramatic cases closer to home? The same day Knox was convicted, a Suffolk County jury convicted Demetrius Wardsworth of murdering a man at a Roxbury housing project simply because he and his buddy felt like killing somebody. They didn't even know the guy they shot to death. The Globe had a longish story on Knox; a short brief on Wardsworth. What is it about pretty young white women?
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Comments
Beat the Press
Amen, Adam. The amount of time spent on that show bloviating about various national and international media matters is an utter waste of precious local public affairs-oriented air time. There are way more than enough important local media issues to fill a half-hour slot each week.
wpk
Because white priviledged kids live in italy for a year abroad and are subject to their legal system whereas wpk do not take a ear abroad in Roxbury. More to the point, Rooney's introductory take on the roxbury murder is likely to get her into hot water.
Suggestion #2
Lack of adequate (one could say paltry) reporting of WGBH buying WCRB and the subsequent dropping of "Folk on WGBH", "Blues on WGBH", religious programming and the Friday afternoon BSO concert.
And what reporting there has been has been regurtitation of WGBH press releases and interviews with official spokespeople. There have been no interview with members of the folk, blues, religious or classical communities.
For example, see the Allston-Brighton Tab's "report" of and my reply there.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/allston/fun/x730410639/...
When 27,000 Watts Is Not 27,000 Watts
FM propagation is different from AM; AM waves are so long, they travel many miles over land during the day and many more at night. FM waves are generally absorbed by the surrounding terrain, so the FCC assigns stations to certain classes mixing wattage and height-ABOVE-average terrain . WGBH-FM was grandfathered with extra power as a pioneering non-commercial station. The original WCRB came along in the 50s, but in the commercial band in southern New England. It's limited to FIFTY-thousand watts at close to 500 feet...any altitude ABOVE that requires some diminution of output wattage. WCRB operates from an antenna atop a steel tower located atop a hill in Andover. Its height-above-average-terran is 199 meters or 642 feet...thus it can only operate with the aforementioned 27,000 watts. But that is fully as effective as FIFTY-thousand watts at nearly 500 feet. Class dismissed.
Ask Roman Polanski
I think he knows.