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Local TV Election Coverage Ignores Changing Ways

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By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 6, 2008

The 2008 presidential election was all about change, but, for the most part, local television news in the Tampa area stuck to old-school ways Tuesday night. Every time the major broadcast networks cut back to the local stations, it was like going from a Ferrari to a Gremlin.

Coming off the splashy high-tech graphics and high-energy anchors at the networks, the local talking heads looked a little threadbare and dull.

Only a desperate desire for results of the Tampa area races would have kept the viewer from flipping to cable or heading to the kitchen for a snack.

A couple of local anchors chatting with the obligatory local political expert is not going to cut it anymore in this whiz-bang, 3-D holographic, touch-screen map era.

And on a historic night when the first black man wins the White House, you would think the local TV stations might have rounded up some leaders from Tampa's black community as commentators.

At least WTSP, Channel 10, under its new moniker of 10 Connects, tried to shake things up by dispatching Reggie Roundtree to an upscale watering hole in downtown St. Petersburg for an out-of-anchor-desk experience. It was an interesting effort even if the results were less than spectacular.

He tried to "connect" with people who chose to drink their way through the evening, but at times he looked a little lonely and in need of articulate company.

Meanwhile, back at the 10 Connects anchor desk, Dave Wirth and Heather Van Nest were begging people to "connect" by going online to chat with them. This got old and annoying fast.

When a couch spud is sitting in his pj's with his feet propped up and one hand on a cold brew and the other in a bag of popcorn, the last thing he wants to do is "connect" with TV anchors.

Other than the results of local races, there appeared to be two local breaking stories of note in Tuesday night: the meltdown of the election results in Hillsborough and the line of students at the University of South Florida who were still voting long after Barack Obama had locked up the election.

WFTS, Channel 28 (ABC Action News), and WTVT, Channel 13 (Fox 13), appeared to have the better, easy-to-read and most-often-shown election crawls of Florida results.

Network affiliates get precious little time for local coverage during election night, so it was disappointing when Fox 13's late newscast rehashed what already was reported on the Fox network.

STAR WATCH: Anchor Gayle Guyardo of WFLA, Channel 8, and radio personalities Nancy Alexander of WMTX (Mix 100.7) and Ian Beckles of 620 WDAE (The Sports Animal) are among the local celebrities who will be participating in "Dancing With the Stars Tampa Bay" tonight at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort.

The event is the inaugural fundraiser for Heartbeat International, a Tampa-based nonprofit organization that provides free cardiac pacemakers, implantable defibrillators and medical care to needy patients throughout the world, says event coordinator Melissa Johnson.

The event gets under way at 6:30 p.m. and is open to the public at $150 a ticket (includes dinner).

KEYSHAWN RULES: First Warren Sapp dazzles everyone on "Dancing With the Stars." Now it's Keyshawn Johnson's turn to show off his skills as an interior decorator.

The former Tampa Bay Buccaneer, who retired from football in 2007, will star on an A&E reality series, "Keyshawn Johnson: Tackling Design," which follows the former NFL star as he tries to make a name in the world of interior design.

The 10-episode series debuts in 2009.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

30 Rock, 9:30 p.m., NBC

Oprah Winfrey guest stars as herself on another wild and crazy episode in which Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) mistakenly thinks she's getting help from the talk show queen.

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