Channel 7: Despite innumerable ploys to recapture its ratings glory of decades past, Channel 7 is still just limping along, so it makes sense that the station would see Bryant's predicament as a powerful lure to channel surfers presumably heading for other dial destinations. Hence the station presented lengthy Bryant reports at both 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. on July 15, helmed by investigator Tony Kovaleski live from Eagle. Every conceivable element was used to pad out these productions, from interviews with legal experts to footage of Bryant embarrassing the Denver Nuggets. Unfortunately, the dearth of anything that might advance the story left Kovaleski little choice but to admit the obvious, albeit at great length. At one juncture, he stated, "It is a different day, but the message has not changed." At another, he conceded, "Clearly, it's a waiting game." In 2003, that constitutes news.
Channel 9: The Bryant question was raised on Channel 9's 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts on July 15 at roughly the same time. It was the fifth item during the first show, the sixth in the second, running after many of the stories that also appeared in rival newscasts: the police chase, arrests of undocumented workers at the Air Force Academy, Mr. Bear. The key was that, in each instance, the lack of progress was cited briefly in items read by the anchors, Ed Sardella and Adele Arakawa. Nothing more was made of the updates than was actually there. What a novel idea.
Jay Bevenour
Related Content
More About
Channel 31: On July 15, Channel 31's 9 p.m. newscast started at 9:37 p.m., because the Major League Baseball All-Star game ran late -- but those who wanted to get their nightly dose of Kobe didn't have to wait very long for a supersized fix. The Bryant report was fourth on the roster -- the closest it got to the top of a newscast during the programs monitored that night. Reporter Phil Keating, who'd just returned from two days in Eagle, introduced the package, which went out of its way to boost the drama quotient. The primary ingredients were a script that highlighted "swabs, slides and DNA samples," an interview with Valerie Sievers of the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, and Lakers game highlights shown in slow motion, in order to make Bryant's playing seem as creepy as his mug shot, seen in several extreme close-ups.
But that wasn't all. Immediately after Keating's submission had finally wound down, colleague Heidi Hemmat launched into a thinly veiled extension of it. Hemmat interviewed Allyn Atadero, the father of Jaryd Atadero, a three-year-old who vanished in 1999 near Fort Collins. Last month, hikers found torn portions of the clothing the boy had been wearing when he disappeared; several days later, a tooth and skull fragment were located in the vicinity. Allyn told the Post on June 16 that he'd come to accept that these remains were from Jaryd, who was probably killed by a mountain lion, but a spokesman from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said it might take "three to four months" to make a positive identification.
What's any of that got to do with Bryant? Atadero feels that the CBI might have been able to ID the tooth and skull sooner if it hadn't expedited the examination of evidence related to Bryant. Channel 31 used this dubious claim, which the CBI refutes, as an excuse to roll out more basketball highlights and other Bryant tie-ins. This lucky break meant that around seven of the first ten minutes of that night's newscast exploited Bryant -- but the fact that some of it also exploited a grief-stricken father was infinitely worse.
Geraldo couldn't have done it better himself. Wonder when he'll hit town?
