Channel 2 gives Jay Levine free rein to pontificate
Jay Levine
Now that North Shore voters have turned down Tuesday’s referendum on $174 million in renovations to New Trier Township High School, some people are bound to blame Jay Levine. Ever since WBBM-Channel 2’s chief correspondent delivered a controversial report about the issue last week, he’s come under fire for his attitude — if not his facts.
Levine’s report was no straightforward news story. In keeping with his latest persona on the CBS-owned station as a cocky advocate for the little guy (a role created and once played to perfection by Walter Jacobson), Levine is being encouraged by his bosses to embellish the facts with his opinion. But unlike Jacobson, whose commentaries were always labeled “Walter’s Perspective,” Levine’s editorializing carries no such disclaimer.
Even before his report on New Trier aired, it was clear the intent was to provoke an emotional reaction. In teasing the piece hours earlier, Levine’s producer, Ed Marshall, tweeted: “Top high school in US fears falling behind. New Trier faces backlash for $200M taj mahal plan. Bad timing award? Jay Levine at 10p on cbs2.”
If labeling it a “Taj Mahal plan” weren’t enough of a signal, Channel 2 abandoned any pretense of objectivity when 10 p.m. news anchor Rob Johnson introduced Levine’s piece with these words:
“One hundred seventy-four million dollars. It’s a number that’s almost unbelievable. While President Obama asked for $100 million to help Haiti recover from the terrible natural disaster, north suburban voters are asked to spend nearly twice that much to rebuild a high school. CBS 2 chief correspondent Jay Levine is here tonight after asking school officials a pretty simple question: ‘Are you kidding me?’ ”
All that was before Levine opened his mouth. In the report itself (here is the version that still appears on Channel 2’s website), he invoked familiar stereotypes to frame the issue as that of a wealthy, effete community (“the Rolls Royce of school districts in Illinois”) being woefully out of touch with the economic realities of the time. His conclusion: “No one’s predicting the outcome of a battle based on North Shore champagne tastes at a time when most everyone else is making do on a beer budget.”
Proponents of the referendum were quick to cry foul, circulating an open letter to Channel 2 news director Jeff Kiernan that called Levine’s report “unethical, biased and factually inaccurate.” After reviewing their detailed rebuttal of the piece, Channel 2 acknowledged a lapse in Levine’s description that the renovation would include “underground heated parking” for staff. In a follow-up on its website, the station said: “CBS 2 has not been able to independently confirm that the plans for the new underground parking would, in fact, include heating.”
Otherwise, Channel 2 spokeswoman Shawnelle Richie said Tuesday, Levine’s story was “completely accurate” and was “presented in a balanced way,” adding: “We did a thorough fact-check and stand by what was said.” (An example of the same story — reported without obvious bias — aired a few days later on ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7. Here is the link to Alan Krashesky’s version.)
Love him or hate him, Levine has been in the top tier of Chicago broadcast journalists for 36 years — including the last 20 at Channel 2. His reputation as a first-rate newsman and relentless competitor is legendary. Over the years, I’ve watched him excel as a beat reporter, a war correspondent, an investigative reporter, an anchorman and even a talk show host. Anyone remember his old “Friday Night” show?
Personally, I have no opinion one way or another about the New Trier issue. But I don’t think Levine does himself any favors when he tries to channel the spirit of Howard “I’m Mad as Hell” Beale from the movie “Network.” Is this just another virtuoso performance in his repertoire? “There definitely is a change in Jay,” Channel 2’s spokeswoman said. “He’s been let loose.”
blogs.vocalo.org
Network news producer Aaron Altman (played by Albert Brooks) said it best in 1987’s “Broadcast News”: “Let’s never forget — we’re the real story.”
My sister who lives in Wilmette is in ecstasy that this lost! She was out bright & early to vote it down!
The obvious solution is to expand New Trier West to take over all the township’s students & sell off & demolish East. The land is worth a fortune & would pay for much of the new construction on Happ Rd.
I realize that there’s a sentimental attachment to the old buildings, but there’s a time to give them up.
And the NT leaders keep coming up with all sorts of BS reasons that the West Campus can’t be expanded. They just want a Taj Mahal for themselves.
What about me?
I’ll be on the SCORE Saturday and Sunday, and I will be voicing my opinion loudly and clearly in favor of the pro-life Super Bowl ad featuring Tim Tebow. Of course, I will be hiding behind the skirt of feminist sportswriter Sally Jenkins, who is pro-choice but who’s written a defense of Tebow in the Washington Post.
As for this post, I do declare Jay Levine has taken a courageous stand because Jay, who last I heard was one of the best golfers among the Chicago media, may be risking never getting an invitation to play golf at Indian Hill Country Club. But I’m pretty sure I can have him tag along when I get my annual invitation to Lake Shore up the road apiece. It’s the least I could do for someone who has been so bold as to come out against the fat cats of Winnetka.
And you know what? For that Jay deserves to be rewarded by the fat cats of Highland Park. So I will also make it my goal to get him into Exmoor and Bob-O-Link, too. I don’t really know anyone at those places, but maybe Jay does. So Jay, if you could just give me the telephone numbers of any guys at those places, I’ll do your leg work for you. And you don’t have to limit yourself to the North Shore. Medinah’s cool. How about Cog Hill? Yeah, I know it’s public and anyone can play there, but it’s still pretty decent. You’ll deign to play there, won’t you?
Um, wake me when Mike North is invited to appear on the 10 o’clock news and he comes out in favor of changing the nickname of New Trier from the Trevians back to the Indians.
A perfect way to start the day. Feder’s blog and Bruce Wolf’s “What about me?” commentary…all on the same page!
“TV news journalism” is a term that’s been evolving into an oxymoron for years now, especially on the local level. It’s painful to watch most late local news since that half hour is normally fat with commercials and promotional messages. Extending the 10:00PM news to 35 minutes didn’t add any discernible content, just more fat. The occasional investigative pieces and anchor commentaries are just about all they offer. Jay as Walter is a good thing although a large (and I’m sure sponsored) flashing “commentary” warning on screen would have been appropriate. Big fan of Ron Magers but the highlight at 10 on ABC7 most weeknights is seeing what color suit Vincent will twirl around in during the closing visitors on State St. shot at the show close.
WCR #
02.03.2010 06:08
4
A perfect way to start the day. Feder’s blog and Bruce Wolf’s “What about me?” commentary…all on the same page
………………ditto……………………..
Bruce, thanks for using caps. It was way too hard to read you WOLFSERVATIONS without them!
If I were Jay, I would say it was Steve Martin that did the report.
What Jay Levine did is journalism malpractice. Unfortunately, it’s becoming more common and it’s galling. In New Haven, CT – the new GM, Mark Higgins at the ABC station, WTNH, told the news staff to be somewhere between CNN and Fox News which presumeably means more T and A; definitely more opinion and mandatory Tweeting. That resulted in one of their news reporters actually re-enacting a rape, complete with a knife. What passes for journalism by station managers who have no idea what it is let alone why it’s important, continues to stun me on a near daily basis. This is just another sad day for broadcasters and our great republic.
Jay is/was a heck of a golfer. (I suspect he could clean Jerry Taft’s clock.) If memory serves, Jay used to play in a Wednesday foursome at the Hinsdale Golf Club with Floyd Kalber and an old Catholic priest and some other guy. (Maybe the other man was a doctor?) Jay was by far the best player in the group. Long off the tee. Deadly short game within 75 yards or so. None of which has anything to do with New Trier, of course.
Aside from not seeing the post-video clip commentary by Levine, I think it’s fairly presented given the state of TV news, where opinion creeps its way into virtually every story.
But more importantly, who GIVES a cr*p? Outside of the New Trier school district, is anybody else financially impacted by this? It’s apparent that some residents in the district realize they don’t have as many zeroes on their investment account totals as before the meltdown, and most likely their kids have moved on to college, the business world, and white-collar crime. So 50-something Mommy & Daddy Winnetka want to hunker down & weather out the storm.
Hey Bruce. I think Jay Levine has a better chance of getting an invitation to play golf at Northmoor or Briarwood, than at Exmoor or Bob-O-Link. Exmoor and Bob-O-Link are still pretty much “restricted”.
I’d put my money on Jerry straight up!
I wonder if the people crying about Jay Levine’s biased are dutiful watchers of the crew at Fox (Not 32) Network. It all depends on what you are biased about, eh?
While there are always quite a few flubs on election eve, and there were just as many last night, one of my favorites has to be what Carol Marin of Ch. 5 reporting briefly before correcting herself. Seeing that the governor’s race was coming down to the wire, and with Adlai Stevenson III as Hynes capaign chair, someone gave Marin an old article about Steveson’s immediate efforts to move for a recount when he ran against Big Jim Thompson back in the day. Marin went out to read breathlessly that The New York Times and UPI (that should have been the clue right there) that Stevenson had filed emergency motions in x number of counties to move for an immediate recount. After a minute or so, it dawned on her (i.e. she kept reading to herself) and she instantly said “I take it back.” Classic one for sure. I guess Ch. 5 reporting the news almost 30 years late isn’t as bad as some of the stuff going on at NBC. Just joking, Carol.
News is news and opinion is opinion. When the two meet under the guise of a TV news broadcast the result is Commentary and should (must) be labeled as such. News journalists are trained to keep personal opinion out of news stories. It is unprofessional and irresponsible for any broadcaster to inject his or her opinion into an alleged factual news story. When that happens it is the journalist’s and broadcast station’s responsibility and obligation to label the piece being aired as “commentary”. Ignoring this basic rule of news broadcasting reduces any facts to opinion, and stinks of “yellow journalism”. Jay Levine and his employer know better. Desperation for ratings creates strange bedfellows.
Jay Levine’s report had no impact at all on the NT referendum. First, who actually saw that report when no one watches Channel 2 news anymore. Second, recently retired New Trier Superintendent Wes Baumann gets the credit for getting the word out regarding the excessiveness and financial uncertainty of that plan. The current New Trier board still doesn’t understand this!
Sensationalism in Journalism, I’m shocked! Get over it people. Channel 2 “news” has been on life support for years. If they want Jay to morph into Dave Savini, Big freaking deal! So Jay may have stretched the truth a little. If it gets people talking about Jay and the station, Mission accomplished. And on a personal note, Jay if you get one of them black-lights to do a hotel expose, Feel free to stop by the double wide to test it out. Cause I got some critters roaming around on my bed that I haven’t been able to identify for years!
And speaking of journalism basics; did anyone catch Carol Marin’s “Emily Litella” / OOPS! moment late last night on the election returns wrap-up on Channel 5? Her urgent reading of what turned out to be ancient news followed by a “nevermind” reinforces that broadcast tennant of “pre-read your copy”. Yes, even the great ones screw up in the heat of the moment. There are precious few political pundits in Chicago better than Carol Marin. So, she’s entitled to this “gimmie”. But, her flub last night shows how quickly one’s credibility can be damaged by breezing over the facts to get something on the air. Sound familiar Toyota?
Is tv news really a factor in elections? What’s the numbers on people voting on the referendum that actually watched channel two? I’m guessing very very low. I know I haven’t watched Tv news for years.
Ah yes. I said it yesterday. The “edgy” pig virus is spreading and CBS Deaux has caught it!
I cracked up when I listened to Jay say the signs for and against the referendum outnumber candidate signs in Winnetka. Undoubtedly he and Ed drove around town counting them. Speaking of Ed, he lives in the New Trier district and has high school age kids, doesn’t he? Just wondering. In the interests of “full disclosure,” eh?
Speaking of excessive spending, CBS Deaux really doesn’t have to look very far for examples. Or did the GM tear out his predecessor’s opulent private bathroom?
Maybe Jay and Ed are just upset ’cause they never get a chance to use it.
I always thought journalists were to report what happens and what people (other than themselves) say about it. Glad to hear Alan Krashesky’s report was balanced; I’m not surprised. This is why I prefer ABC7, and so do most other viewers in this area.
CBS has a late news? I saw Letterman & Ferguson last night but not news. I see Goatzee’s insides.
Sideshow Mel:
Totally agree, and meant to comment on this earlier. Ch. 2 was off the air way early. 5,7,9, & 32 stayed on until about 12:45 a.m. Ch. 2 wants to be a news leader, but on this story, it comes in last.
Why did Channel 9’s graphics refer to the Democrat party? It is an old W/Rush/Fox thing to call it the Democrat Party instead of the Democratic Party. Kinda pathetic
Reading your comments how Mr.Levine has been let loose, and isn’t doing himself any favors made me think pot/kettle/black. I’ve been wondering the same about you, Mr.Feder. You’ve been attacking since day one of this blog, and I wonder who you might be harming with your rants. Maybe Jay Levine should take a close look at this blog, and get mad as hell over some of the crash comments aimed at certain individuals.
I just watched the web version of the story, and, as far as I’m concerned, Levine wasn’t “mad as Hell” enough. I say, if Channel 2’s newsroom really wants the ratings, then they need to substantially ratchet the sensationalist/tabloid journalism up. Go for broke: hire Jerry Springer and Geraldo Rivera to anchor. Let’s see the local version of “TMZ” meets “Inside Edition”!
Stosselesque … is that a word?
That really was some “attack” on that new Chicago Television book last week.
Thanks for a fine summation of the Jay Levine fiasco. It was completely biased and poorly reported.
I’ve been has been involved a little with the New Trier renovation and while the renovation was not “sold” well, the school’s poor physical condition is not up to par. Approximately 300,000 square feet of space (most about 75 years or older) was going to be torn down and replaced with 500,000 square feet. A quite a bit has been said about the school cafeteria that dates back from 1912. Some kids eat on the floor or in the hallways. While the cafeteria can be kept and maintained, the costs are escalating to maintain that building are increasing and its location on the campus limits other development. You can’t build above it. You can’t built to the south of it. You can’t build to the west of it. And you can’t built to the east of it. Effectively, the cafeteria limits the development possibilities of the school. You can tear it down and built a new school behind it. But imagine the uproar at having to pay $400 million or more for a new school. Jay would have had a field day.
If you want to renovate the existing buildings extensively and not build any new facilities, you would have to educate kids for years to come in trailers and you would still end up with the same buildings and structural problems.
The proposal that failed would have kept some of the old but would have given the school quite a bit of new. The proposal would have brought the school to the standards that the school should have had many years ago.
Friends of mine that went to New Trier describe the school as a dump back when they went to school 30 years ago. Not much has changed, particularly in the buildings that would have been torn down.
About 1/3 of the school does not meet ADA compliance standards. The school has only one elevator and getting around the school for many of the kids that may be injured or have disabilities can be difficult. The basement where the kids have gym during the winter has a ceiling that is so low, kids have to duck while running. The roof and windows leak. In my son’s math class last year, they have to put a bucket in the middle of the floor when it rains or snows.
The $178 million included about $20 million for furniture, fixtures and technology. About $14, million was a contingency reserve. So the actual cost for the buildings (500,000 sq. ft.) was about $144 million, but still a large number.
There have been no new buildings that house classrooms built at the school since the 1950s. And the newest buildings (for sports) are from the 1970s.
But here’s the kicker – and what wasn’t reported – is that if they don’t do the renovation, the school will have to spend tens of millions of dollars on repairs to these buildings. The construction costs for the demolished buildings was about $113 million. However, the expected cost to repair most of these buildings will be between $30 and $60 million.
I for one was looking towards the next 30-40 years and thought it wiser to spend $113 million on new buildings than pay $40 million to repair old buildings. For the $113 million you got 66% more square footage than was torn down and these buildings would not have needed major improvements for years to come.
All of the options mentioned in the comments to Jay’s story and your blog were explored, including moving to West School (not big enough), tearing down NTE and selling the land (you’d might get $50 million for the land, but you’d have to build a new school at a cost in excess of $400 million)
I think the school board naively thought if enough people saw the true condition on one of the hundreds of tours that they gave, they would be convinced. I for one, did go on the tour, and felt that the money would be well spent. I also think that many of the people that voted in favor of the referendum had gone on the tours. While I talked to many people that never went on the tours and decided they would vote no.
Would I have proposed less if I had been on the board, perhaps? But, the proposal was reasonable in scope and would have cost each homeowner about $250 per year on a $10,000 tax bill. If the median home price in New Trier is about $600,000 to $700,000, the median home would have paid $250 per year. (Much was said about how the price tag rose over the years, but truth be told, if the price of the home rose, the tax bill would rise accordingly and the share of the school cost would rise with it. But if all homes rose at the same rate, the amount owing on the bond did not rise with property values, that amount stayed constant.)
Meanwhile, the $18 million or so that was available as part of stimulus will go away as will the cheaper prices the school board was able to negotiate with builders because of the recession.
While much has been said about the scope and extent of the project, I wonder how people will feel when the school district starts to plow millions of dollars into repairing the current buildings and basically getting facilities dating 80 years ago for students that have all grown up with computers, hand held devices, cell phones and modern technology.
If the school district ends up buying the new equipment that is needed for the school (some chairs, tables and other fixtures date back to well before I was born and is in poor shape) and also spends 40-50 million on the buildings, the district will have effectively spent about half of the proposed referendum money and will get a school that may still need to be demolished in any event within the next 10 to 20 years.
It’s like putting asphalt roads in Chicago claiming they will last a lifetime. But last I experienced driving on Chicago’s asphalt roads, they have to be repaired every couple of years and rebuilt every 10-15 years. Wouldn’t concrete roads last longer and inconvenience the public less? Yes, but taxpayers don’t want to pay the cost for concrete roads even if doing that saves money over the long term.
I do agree with the former principal on one issue: if the referendum had passed, voters would have been less likely to pay more for teacher’s salaries in the future by means of a referendum. But for the last several decades, there has never been a referendum for teacher’s salaries and New Trier already has a per pupil cost that far exceeds other fine schools in the Chicago area.
I wonder if now that the referendum failed, repairs might have to be made to the school and those repairs will affect the amount that can be paid to the teachers. We might end up in a situation where we lose teachers to make the repairs and our teacher to student ratio will go up?
One final thought: Channel 2 can do what it wants to attract viewers. At least you should label it accurately.
Sam. Get a grip, man! You really have a LOT of time on your hands, don’t you?
Sam, I appreciate your passion but no one really cares about NT and certainly not to the extent that you ramble on about it. The gist of the story was Jay Levine’s lack of journalistic integrity. new thought: Bruce Wolf is always on target and I am grateful that he chimes in each day.
Sam = Ultimate Blog Comment Hog. Sheesh! Lighten up and put on a Dave Fogel shirt.
Sam:
1. One of the women interviewed said they could have spent millions on repairs.
2. My sister, who reads the entire Wilmette Life paper every Thursday, never heard of any tours of the school!
3. When I mentioned moving to the west campus on Happ Rd. I said it would have to be enlarged. The New Trier board has given out some BS answer about lack of space for storm water retention as the reason for not adding on to & moving there. There’s no requirement that the retention pond be outdoors & I’ve read of several large buildings around Chicago that have had retention ponds built under their buildings. Plus they are the government & could use eminent domain to add some land if absolutely necessary.
4. If a school half the size of the rebuilt NT could be done for $30 million in Chicago, with all the corruption tax included, there’s no reason rebuilding NT should have run over $75 million!
What happened is that the NT board saw what Belmont HS in Los Angeles cost [$225 million +] & figured they could get away with this $174 million renovation, which would have ballooned to over $225 million when it was done!
((applause))”…and this has been “Trevian Talk,” brought to you by the fine folks at Vocalo.org. Tune in again next week when Garry and Sam square off on ANOTHER tough topic, “New Shoes for the New Trier Cheer Squad?” right here on Rob Feder’s blog. It’s a topic SO hot and SO controversial we may have to get a referee in here to keep them apart! Ha ha. Anyway, thanks again for joining us and remember, next week, bring your jammies and pillows and we’ll all snooze together. Good night everybody!” ((applause))
“Garry and Sam, sittin’ in a tree… K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”
Geez Sam, edit and proofread!
“Love him or hate him, Levine has been in the top tier of Chicago broadcast journalists for 36 years”…..
Well you love him Rob. This piece may sound butch but he’s your boy. The one you consistently turned to for inside info. Think of the people you denigrated at his behest. Karma’s a bitch aint’t it????
Comment number 2 from Gary, is a pefect example of the misinformation and ignorance that voted down the referendum – which was the right plan at the right time. Selling off the east campus and building a completely new school on the wast campus was studied and resulted in a cost more than double that of the plan recommended 7-0 by the school board (a board of residents in the community and with children in the schools). Just tell the well-funded opposition group comprised of wealthy neighbors on the street just north of the school that you are going to tear down the school, sell of the land and build 100 new homes across the street with construction last 3 to 10 years. Jay Levine’s misinformation certainly contributed to the defeat of a well developed plan. The problem is he still thinks the info he provided is correct. The Walter Payton school build costs per student are actually higher than the New Trier rebuild – higher per square foot and higher per student The fact that the Walter Payton school was build almost 12 years ago and for just 25% of the number of students (900) as the New Trier plan (3,500 studuents)distorted the numbers to fuel Jay’s bias and misinformation. Jay has comprised my children’s future with poor reporting and effecting the news rather than reporting it – we won’t forget that for a long time.
“But, the proposal was reasonable in scope and would have cost each homeowner about $250 per year on a $10,000 tax bill. If the median home price in New Trier is about $600,000 to $700,000, the median home would have paid $250 per year.”
Numbers are not up to par.
In that district, a home with an assessed value of $450k will have a tax bill of approx $10k per year. Therefore the larger and more affluent homeowners will have to support a raise of up to $1000 per year, (after all, the North Shore has homes values well over 1Mil in that area), and homes in the $400-700k range will support the $250/$500 amount.
As Cook County property taxes do nothing but rise year by year, and many homeowners in the NT district are not households which currently have highschoolers in the home, it seems a large financial burden on those residents, which they have now declined.