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Wednesday night's show airs from New York (just as it did last night... and will tomorrow night if all goes as planned.) I am in NYC working on a project (which will air later this month) and meeting with people about GretaWire. If I get trained today — and if it sinks in — Gretawire will have a bit of a new look very soon (it will depend on how fast I learn what they need to teach me. If I am a slow learner, the change will be delayed a week or two until I can get back to NYC for more training. Now that I have tipped my hand, you will know I am a slow learner if the site does not look a bit different soon. The pressure is on!)
Have you ever noticed how some stories can be contagious? The perfect example for me is "The View." Until the whole Rosie and Donald Trump fuss, I had no interest in the show. It was not that I did not think it a good show, but rather I have been too busy with my own work to watch it or pay much attention to it. And now? While I don't get a chance to watch it often (I am on the road so often), I confess, I am interested in learning who the two new co-hosts will be. I sort of shake my head at myself for being interested (who would have guessed?), but I have caught the bug and we will learn today. What is also a bit odd is that the controversy the show has experienced over the past year has generated bigger ratings for the show. In this business, even controversy (short of an arrest) can help attract the viewers. Pretty soon all anchors/hosts will all be asking Donald Trump to call us a pig or a loser. Just kidding! (And here is the question to you: Are you interested in the topic of who will be the two new hosts and do you simultaneously deny interest?)
By the way, get ready for my favorite phenomenon in the media business: TV hosts or reporters who do a segment or write the story about how bad it is that the rest of us have interest in some topic like the new "View" hosts. Shame on us for having interest — even if it is just for a few minutes! (It is not exactly axe murder to have interest.) Why do the critics do this? It is a trick. If you want the readers, or you want the ratings but you don't want to admit interest and you don't want to get your hands dirty getting caught doing the topic, this is the way. It is the oldest trick in the book.
It is like the anchors/hosts who did segments on how bad it was that people covered Paris Hilton. They acted "holier than thou" with their writings or talk and yet did the topic by doing it this way... so they could get the readers or the ratings the sneaky way! Lawyers do essentially that same trick in the courtroom every day when they stand before the jury in closing argument and say, "I am not calling the police officer a liar" — yet getting that idea before the jury! Never dull, huh?
As an aside, if I don't want to watch a topic on TV or read about it in the newspaper, I can simply hit the remote or look at another page. I actually don't need help in deciding what I want to watch or read. How about you?
If you watched last night and the night before, we have driven home a common point: Police need to be in closer contact with families of crime victims. Two nights ago, missing Stepha Henry's mother was on our show and she is in enormous pain of not knowing about her missing daughter. The pain seeps through the camera. The pain is bad and we should look towards trying to help this woman and others similarly situated. One easy — but not perfect — way is for the police to have more contact with the families. I am not suggesting that police tip their hands about investigations - it is important to keep matters close to the vest in an investigation - but rather to stay in constant (even daily) contact with families. I keep pushing this: Assign a rookie cop to call the family once a day for 2 minutes. It will help the family (they will realize the police do care and they do) and it will create a life long empathy in a young police officer that will enrich his or her performance on the job. Two minutes is not going to take away from the other responsibilities of a police officer — in fact, it could be done while drinking a cup of coffee (called multi tasking!) Not all crimes can be solved, but there are simple ways to help ease the pain. Showing you care is one of them. It also eliminates what we see often — people getting mad at the police and being a police officer is a tough and important job.
Now for some e-mails:
E-mail No. 1
The Mitt Romney brothers interview was so refreshing compared to so much junk about Paris, Britney, and Lindsay. It’s pretty obvious “You reap what you sew”.
People who mock at the wholesomeness of the Romney’s just don’t feel comfortable in a wholesome environment. That’s their problem.
Linda
Saint George, UT
E-mail No. 2
Hi Greta,
The interview with the Romney guys was ok. I would like to have heard you ask them why none of them has served in the Military. This is so appropro for the men on the Hill. It's ok for other parents to send their sons/daughters, but find any loophole they can to keep theirs' out. Seeing Romney's son's on TV didn't persuade me to follow Romney, nor did I find them all that impressive. I was impressed with you driving the Matt Mobile, and the photo of you and Jeanine kicking back with the long neck. Was it, by chance, a Lone Star long neck… hee hee. In my opinion Paris Hilton was feeling the heat to move from her neighbors. I can't imagine any neighborhood welcoming her. The paparazzi will continue to follow her, and disrupt any kind of normalcy neighbors of hers may have. She should find a place with acreage to accommodate her loud parties, and the media hounds. Second thought, why are we still talking about her? Surely there are more meaningful topics to discuss.
Mary
TX
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