WCCO-TV: Lost In Translation

Image via WikipediaWCCO (Channel 4) is the Number One TV station in Minnesota.  Just ask them if you don't believe us.  They like to brag about WCCO being watched by more people than anyone else, and that this is not a coincidence.  Of course, having CBS' prime time schedule helps a bit.

Married co-anchors Frank Vascellaro and Ameila Santaniello (who we like to call Mr. and Mrs. News) have picked up where Dave Moore, Don Shelby and Pat Miles (among others) left off, anchoring a news-free 10 p.m. broadcast that looks more like a late-night video lifestyle magazine.  For sweeps month (do they still call it that?), Mrs. News went to Washington and scored interviews with President Barack Obama and members of the White House staff.  Not to be outdone, Mr. News was seen driving a tank and profiling bodyguards who protect celebrities.

Beat reporters such as Jason DeRusha and Esme Murphy get the star treatment, having their faces plastered on every needless graphic per newscast.  And recent hires Aristea Brady, Holly Wagner and meteorologist Lauren Casey might as well be called the 'CCO Blonde Patrol, for obvious reasons.

But there's one thing WCCO isn't bragging about, coincidence or not.  It's about a story they did on Halloween night concerning a Minnesota dog breeder.  The station claimed that this woman sold dogs to a market in New York's Chinatown, which were to be used as meat for human consumption.  That's frightening stuff for animal lovers if it were true.

Except that it's not.  Ducks, not dogs, are part of the menu at this particular market.  WCCO's reporter had apparently misunderstood the employee of the market he had contacted in New York, hearing the word "dog" instead of "duck".

Apparently fearing legal action, WCCO's parent company CBS ordered all traces of the story (video included) off its website.  The only explanation they've given is an internal memo from management (David Brauer of MinnPost has a much more detailed description of all this, along with the memo in question, on his blog.  See it at www.minnpost.com/braublog.).  No disclipinary action that we know of has been made on the reporter, his producer, and anyone else associated with the story.

This is the kind of story that gives news departments migraines, and could cost WCCO and CBS millions of dollars in legal fees and damages.  It's one thing to deliver a hard-hitting news report with the facts clearly on your side.  It's quite another to manipulate the facts for the sake of ratings.

WCCO used to have a strong reputation for journalistic excellence, as the number of awards on its mantle will attest.  That may not be as important these days, with many a newsroom having faced the corporate budget axe.  When you get a story wrong, all the married-couple news anchors and eye candy reporters can't make up for the hit the station's reputation just took.  Coincidence?  You decide.