Bad Show

The FCC's Fowler vs. TV news

As television critics go, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Mark Fowler has always been a booster. In his role as the Reagan Administration's point man for broadcasting deregulation, Fowler has argued for three years that unleashing the industry was the surest way to guarantee quality in programming. Thus there were gasps in the audience when Fowler mounted the podium last week at the National Association of Broadcasters annual convention in Las Vegas and let fly with some sharp rebukes for TV newscasters. "Too often, broadcast journalists are obsessed with getting it first, with confrontation, not coverage," said Fowler. Televised news, he declared, sometimes looks "like Barnum & Bailey."

Fowler said later that in questioning the fairness of TV news he was merely reflecting "grumblings around the country." In particular, Fowler criticized news programs for showing President Reagan relaxing at his California ranch last September while a voice-over described the Soviet destruction of Korean Air Lines Flight 007. He also singled out NBC Correspondent Roger Mudd for a needling interview of Senator Gary Hart in March. "Is it political reporting worthy of Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite," Fowler wondered, "to ask a presidential contender, during the first serious public scrutiny of his candidacy, to do a comedy impression of Ted Kennedy during a live, election-night interview?'' No one had an answer. All three networks declined to comment on the sayings of Chairman Mark.