Fox 9 News at 5:00 6/17/2009 Analysis

So I originally watched Fox 9 hoping for a little bit of controversy, and completely biased news reporting, but with this not being an election and it being local news instead of Bill O'Riley, I was disappointed in my quest.   Nonetheless, my news report:

Fox 9 5:00 news broadcast, 6/17/2009:

TOP STORY:  Denny Hecker Auto Business Fraud (approx. 4 minutes)

Bill Keller (team coverage, reporting on site).

Denny Hecker’s auto business investigation regarding the dealership failed to pay off loans and file taxes.  Showing the Denny Hecker Raids, maps.  Interviews with Hecker’s lawyers as well as State Patrol. 

Tim Blotz (team coverage, inver grove heights).

Gives advice for what Denny Hecker victims should do.  Says his car buyers stuck in “mess.”  Asking customers to help state patrol using Denny Hecker Hotline.  Warns audience that it is technically it is illegal to drive a car sold by Denny Hecker. 

 

LOCAL STORY:  Private Plane Crash in Crystal, MN (2 minutes)

Leah Beno (reporting on site at airport in Crystal)

Non-commercial airplane pilot died, Steven Case of St. Louis Park, and also the founder of Cyber Optics company.  Made contact with tower before it closed, the plane touched down at end of runway, then was suddenly off runway.  Talking about innocence of pilot….had experience, business man, had permission to use it.

 

LOCAL STORY:  Two-Alarm Fire in Brooklyn Center Apartment Building (30 seconds) 

Robyne Robinson (5:00 Anchor)

 

SPORTS: Timberwolves looking for new head coach (2 minutes)

(Dawn Mitchell reporting)

Exerpts from news conference, broke the news on twitter.  Al Jefferson (TWolves forward) on the phone giving his opinion.  News conference speaker stressed that this is a sad day for the Timberwolves, and that McHale should be praised for his work and dedication to the team.

 

WEATHER (1 Minute)

 Ian Leonard, meteorologist

Overview of current weather conditions, tornado warning in in Cambell County. 

 

Up Next (30 seconds)

Robyne Robinson

Tired of those aches and pains?  Coming up in heath news.  What happens when a black bear ends up in your backyard tree?  "Find out after commercial break!"

 

ADVERTISING (3 MINUTES)

So You Think You Can Dance (fox 9), Comcast Digital Cable, Luther Auto, The Jewelry Exchange, Papa John’s Pizza, Progressive Auto Insurance, Slumberland

 

DAILY DOSE (cheerful, happy voice) 4 minutes

Robyne Robinson:  Why some young girls are entering puberty earlier due to exposure to product in plastic can be linked to breast cancer and diabetes in rats. 

Also, there is a better way to eat carrots…  eating them whole is better for more nutrients

Rob Olson (2nd anchor):

 Cherry Juice Fad in MN Twins.  One coach (with cherry juice brand sponsorship) recommends drinking it all the time for both other coaches and the players.  Drinking cherry juice daily to alleviate previous aches and pains because studies show it can be used as an anti inflammatory.  Darker cherries known to be antioxidants…. Academic researchers are finding benefits… University of Michigan/Baylor University  Personal note on brother-in-law… drinks it and says it works.

 

SPORTS: Special Olympics summer Olympics taking place in MN (15 seconds)

Robyne Robinson

WEATHER (4 minutes)

 Ian Leonard, meteorologist 

One lone cell causing a mess of problems just south of Fergus Falls, aka a tornado warning in taht area. Weather headlines…. Old muggy feeling.  Storms possible next weekend.  Dandy Day for Dad.  Overnight forecast.  7 day forecast.  "Don’t forget about your dad…." Reminder on Sunday.  Circles it and laughs. 

Rob Olson hands Dalton a map for messing up on directions (15 seconds)

 

ADVERTISING (3 MINUTES)

Arby’s, American Family Insurance, Globe University/MN School of Business, Qwest, Country Splash, My Fox 9.com 

 

NATIONAL NEWS: (3 minutes)

ROBYNE ROBINSON

Space shuttle flight delayed due to hydrogen gas leak.  NASA will wait til uly 11 to launch in Denver

International Olympic Committee meets in Switzerland to vote on next host city for 2016 games.

President Obama swats a fly during a recent interview, claims he is "fast on his feet, fast with flies. "

200 pound black bear found in a woman's backyard tree in Pasadena, California.  The bear was tranquilized and safely released back into the wild.

COMING UP AT 5:30 (1 minute)

Rob Olson

Denny Hecker Story.  WI Window washer, thousands of boy scouts survigve weather. “More ahead in the next half hour”  

The news cast started with a local news story regarding a fraudulent tax scandal at Denny Hecker's Auto business.  The story was four minutes long, more time than was given to any other news segment other than weather.  The story was reported on site versus the news room, which gave a sense of credibility to the reporters debriefing the story.  Additionally, they were both males, speaking in with a sense of authority as well as urgency on the story.  What was interesting was how they really worked to position Denny Hecker as the "bad guy" or "criminal", even though he hasn't been proven guilty yet.  They had interviews against Mr. Hecker from both the MN State Patrol and the attorney representing the state, giving a biased, unfair viewpoint of the Denny Hecker story.  Additionally, they spent 2 of the 4 minutes asking audience members who drove Denny Hecker cars to call in and report them to a "victim hotline."  

Another piece of this broadcast that really stood out to me was the amount of "happy talk" the anchors were using among each other.  While giving the weather report, the meteorologist spent about 4 minutes giving an overview of the tornado warning in MN, but spent almost 2 minutes of that time being teased by the anchors for not being able to name his directions.  After returning to the "studio" after the weather map, the male anchor even made a point to draw a map of a compass and tease the meteorologist about it for a while.  I think this was really interesting in trying to establish a more "friendly" tone with the audience, but that because of their own chatter, they spent nearly equal time with weather as they did with the top story, more than any other news segment combined.  

Finally, I thought it was really interesting to note the type of stories that were being shown in regards to what really is considered news.  There were four minutes spent on the "Daily Dose", talking about how to properly cut your carrots and why cherry juice is beneficial to the body.  They also devoted about 2 minutes discussing an incident where President Obama swatted a fly away in a television interview and an unnamed woman in CA who discovered a black bear in her backyard.  In contrast, they only spent about 15 seconds talking about the upcoming meeting of the Special Olympics in MN, and about 15 seconds talking about the selection of the next host city for the 2016 Olympics.  They spent about 30 seconds talking about a fire in Plymouth, and only about 2 minutes talking about a plane crash in Crystal.  I think that glorifying some of these more "trivial" news stories for the comedic aspect while ignoring some of the more meaningful stories says a lot about the station and where their priorities lie.