ENTERTAINMENT

RATINGS

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The drama in the
Persian Gulf has
helped the
embattled TV
networks woo back
their eroding
audiences.

MICHAEL ELKIN

Special to The Jewish News

S

addled with stupefying
sitcoms and soporific
dramas, TV networks
* * * have found an unex-
* * * petted and dramatic
savior this season in rivet-
ing reality programming.
War.
The Persian Gulf crisis has
proved a critical hit for net-
works whose most highly
paid executives couldn't stop
audience erosion for their
regular programming.
Until now.
Stars have been made out
of unanticipated sources:
suave, sophisticated cor-
respondent Arthur Kent of
NBC; brave Bernie Shaw of
CNN; and the diplomatic
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's
seemingly omnipresent om-
budsman and deputy foreign
minister.
All have become telegenic
heroes in a medium where
good looks and grace under
pressure make matinee idols
in ongoing coverage of hate
and hell.
"Say, did you see the war
on TV last night?" asked one
friend to another in an
overheard conversation as
they awaited their chance at
an automated teller machine
in Center City.

"Yeh, really something,
like a Nintendo game."
In the world's video
village, the victor doesn't
just get the spoils. He nabs
the Nielsens, too.
But this is no "Winds of
War" —with a tidy beginn-
ing, middle and end. And it
certainly is no mini-series,
giving promise of a painless
early resolution.
Are audiences able to
separate reel from real? Has
the horror of war really hit
home to audiences who sip
and sup safely ensconced in
the comfort of their kitchens
before telecasts of Scuds and
Patriots playing a dangerous
game of tag?
Is this "TV War," with
CNN described by one pun-
dit as "the war channel," be-
ing taken seriously enough
by viewers caught up in the
colorful fireworks of catas-
trophe?
"It's a soap opera to a lot of
people," says Dr. Eric Gold-
man, nationally respected
media specialist and former
director of the Jewish Media
Service in New York.
"Today's installment may
focus on the number of Iraqi
planes landing in Iran,
where pilots are given ref-
uge. Or maybe it will deal
with the question, 'Will the
Israelis continue to stay out

of the war?' There is a sense
of 'Let's see what tomorrow
brings.' "
Is it healthy for viewers to
treat a world at war as if it
were "As the World Turns"?
"I don't know if it's
healthy," but it is a reality of
today's TV mindset, Dr. Gold-
man says.
Perhaps, says the media
specialist, a shift in percep-
tion could come, but such a
change may signal its own
danger: a stepped-up war.
"You'll see a shift in at-
titude when the death toll

In the world's
video village, the
victor doesn't just
get the spoils. He
nabs the Nielsens,
too.

changes," says Dr. Goldman.
"We've been 'fortunate' with
Israel; the deaths so far have
been indirectly associated
with the bombings — people
dying from heart attacks.
There has been much destruc-
tion, but the deaths are not
due 'directly' to the war.
"When you see actual
deaths on our side or the

Soldiers load a 155-mm
cannon.

Israeli side, then perceptions
will change."
In the meantime, says Dr.
Goldman, the drama of
danger and disaster in the
Mideast will continue to
mesmerize without true
meaning.
"Viewers can be blase
about all this," he says.
Yet, in some cases, there
are hints of how Iraqi ac-
tions can score a direct
negative hit on viewers.
"I heard one person say
that the war finally hit home
when she saw a poor egret
soaked in oil" as a result of
the recent Iraqi-engineered
ecological catastrophe at a
Kuwaiti oil facility.
But, to a great degree,
laments Dr. Goldman, "this
war is far and away still some
sort of game."
Networks are often mak-
ing the rules. "CNN has
played it up," says Dr.
Goldman of coverage by the
24-hour cable network which
has scored scoops with its on-
the-scene reporting.
Yet Ted Turner's network
has taken a few critical hits
of late. Initially praised for
its primacy in reporting,
CNN is now coming under
the gun of critics blasting
the network for what some
see as one-sided reporting
from correspondent Peter
Arnett, whose coverage is

limited by restrictions im-
posed by Iraqi officials.
Is it morally justifiable for
a network to profit from the
woes of war? Should the
networks channel their
efforts toward the public
good rather than play a
relay race over war-coverage
ratings?
"When you are dealing
with marketing or advertis-
ing," which supports corn-
mercial TV, "the definition
of right or proper is
nebulous," says Dr. Goldman.

"I don't think we can start
changing the definitions of
what is right or wrong now
in network coverage of war.
"Is it shameful for people to
profit from war and death?
Yes. Is it a reality? Yes."
Viewers want variety. --
that, too, is reality. With a
protracted war, says Dr.
Goldman, "audiences will
lose interest. It's already
happening. For a soap opera
to succeed, you need cons-
tant new plot variations."
Networks, which resumed
a semblance of regular pro-
gramming within two days
of the war's start, will devote
as much time to the Mideast
as is economically viable,
says Dr. Goldman.
The bottom line in such
coverage? "It's a busi-
ness."

❑

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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