Me vs. TV8

A little background. One Saturday I was watching the TV8 6p.m. news and they put up a map to go with the story that anchor Erin Kiernan was reading. The map showed the U.S. and Europe, with an ocean in between. Can you correctly name that ocean? Well, whoever put the map together prior to the newscast couldn't. They had named it the Pacific instead of the Atlantic. I sent an e-mail to Ms. Kiernan and asked if she was as shocked as I was about the change. She good naturedly replied she was stunned. I sent an e-mail to Davie Busiek, News Director, and he gave me some lame excuse about being out of town and not seeing it. Well last Sunday night, after a roughly two week period of watching their mistakes, I'd had enough. At the end of the 10p.m. news I sent an e-mail to the station manager and news director. Enjoy the following....

I grew up with TV8 news. My earliest memories are of Russ Van Dyke with AE milk at the desk and of course the backwards weather map. However you have made it difficult to stay with you. From the weekend when you replaced the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, ask Erin Kiernan, to the last few weeks when you've mis-spelled Italy on Cynthia Fodors report(ITALTY) to mis-spelling the Harlem Globetrotters (HARLAM). Bob Kaple has been the final straw for me. Stating, after a tree tore through a mans home and struck him, "no harm no foul" to his latest inability to report correctly the opening of the new DM library, stating the library would be closed Sunday 4/9 and not open again until Monday 4/10. Later corrected by Emily Givens, prior to the Dm Register plug, that it would be open Sunday 1-5pm. I'm done with your idiocy

His reply

Dave A Busiek wrote:
Mr. King:

We try hard every day to get it 100% right, but in 27 years at KCCI (back to the days of working with Russ), I've found perfect newscasts to be rare. You seem to have a wonderful memory for the mistakes. What's disappointing about your email is that you can't seem to give us credit for any of the good work that we do. Judging by a lot of factors, not the least of which is ratings dominance, I'd have to say the vast majority of viewers think we must be doing something right.

We live in a fishbowl, and every mistake is out there for all the world to see. We realize that, and we have systems in place to catch mistakes before they air, and they catch many, but they are not foolproof. If we make a mistake, we try to find the reason for it and prevent recurrences. And if it's a mistake that needs correcting, like the one this weekend on the library hours, we go on the air and admit the mistake.

I don't know what you do for a living, but if you work with people, you surely must know that humans make mistakes. If that makes us "idiots" in your eyes, I guess we'll have to live with that. I'll be sure to share your note with the rest of the staff so they know how you feel.

Sincerely,

Dave Busiek
News Diector

My BAD back

You might want to consider a refresher course for "How to win friends and influence people". I found your e-mail quite defensive for Iowa's News "Bleat"-er. I'm not surprised you missed the facts of my e-mail, since it's the facts that have been messed up in your newscasts. I didn't call you "idiots", I stated I was tired of your "idiocy". However, I believe it is "idiotic" to make excuses for the mistakes made. Oh well, "You'll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people", or it's media. "No harm, no foul", Bob Kaple just may have captured your new slogan.


I usually cut folks some slack if they're new or doing a live shot. These errors are in their prepared pieces and facts that are easily checked. Needless to say, they lost a long time viewer.