Then your channel's legal analyst is on for a total of 30 seconds -- and his "analysis" concerns when the trial might start.
Then you have Monica Conyers of the city council coming on, talking about how it's a "sad day" for the city -- doesn't say (and isn't asked, of course) why she thinks that -- seems to me it's actually a very HAPPY day for Detroit, and for the city council especially, who are finally getting Ubu Roi off their backs just a little. I guess Ms. Conyers didn't mind having phat-ass on her back! Fortunately, Kwame Kenyatta and Ken Cockrel still retain some of their human dignity despite years of dealing with the Hip Hop Mayor, and are saying flat out it's time for him to go. To which the Kwamster's press secretary responds, in preachy bullshit double-speak worthy of the Bush administration -- "You cannot steal an election, you must earn it"! (now that's news).
A related story: In the best-ever example of closing the barn door after it's burned down, city council is looking at capping the am't of money a mayor can spend w/o council approval. Too bad that couldn't have happened about $9 million earlier...
Then, 60 black ministers in Hamtramck getting together to support and pray for the mayor. What in the fuck ---?! I thought ministers were supposed to "support" ethical behavior and telling the truth and not cheating on your wife and stuff like that. This is followed by a story about a special prayer service, for no reason other than just, you know, "the city needs prayer, the city is in pain" -- but no, no, "it's not about any person" -- we just do these little freakin songs-and-dances whenever the stars line up right. What the fuck, did all the rejects from the OJ jury end up moving to Detroit?
And why is this crap on the news, anyway! instead of them talking about the actual case against the mayor, interviewing legal experts (of which there are plenty at the University of Michigan, for example -- but that's not IN DETROIT) or business leaders who could talk about the image/economic repercussions this could have for the city, or anybody who could put the whole thing into some kind of context or give viewers some sense of what comes next. I mean, really: what does come next?
Instead of taking this opportunity to educate people about what the law is, what public service is, what the mayor has done and why it's so serious, they do this bullshit high-school gossip "reporting" that serves absolutely nobody and ultimately helps increase the insularity of the city. And then you end up with (as follows) 5-second soundbites of 3 out of 3 middle-aged white guys, businessmen, saying it's bad for business and the mayor should go, and 3 out of 5 thirtyish black men and women expressing sympathy and support for "Suge Knight" Kilpatrick. "To see a person of his stature in court like a common criminal!" bemoans one. Well, yes, if you behave like a common criminal!
And this is why the guy was re-elected in the first place, although not the only reason, I'm sure. Because you have a populace that apparently can't tell the difference between a good public servant and one who wants to be in office so he can carouse and carry on and travel on the public's dime, and employ friends and family members, and take everything he can possibly steal from his city's people.
A smart and thorough local TV news dedicated to educating its viewers is a powerful counterweight to these kinds of abuses. In many ways, it's the only counterweight, because nobody cares as much about what's happening locally as the local news reporters. Why is it that the media is so chronically unwilling or incapable of exploiting its own potential for improving human society and doing good?
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