Ebola Coverage Intensifies As News Becomes More Ominous; Bay Area Media Angle; Are Any Of You Freaked Out?

 The Ebola situation is now a crisis--or is it?

Frankly, I think I speak for a lot of people: we have heard and seen a lot but are we in panic-mode?

Yes, to some degree.

Even the people who cover this story are not immune to freaking out a bit, and the latest news will only add to the anxiety.

This much is certain: as a news story, Ebola has turned from mild in-thought-process into the general conversation of the day. And that's normal given the spate of news and potential news on the horizon.

Bay Area news outlets have provided basic coverage --most of it from network field reports. And the few local radio talk shows here have pretty much ignored it. Inevitably, an Ebola case is sure to break out here. I don't know for a fact of course but given the nature of the disease, again, it's inevitable.

How will it be covered? Are local outlets prepared to give us the information and coverage we desire? Time will tell. This is all very slightly unnerving at this point.

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NBC Bay Area Anchor Janelle Wang on Medical Leave

 NBC Bay Area anchor, Janelle Wang, has been off the air for several weeks and people have been asking me if there's something up.


Wang is on medical leave and due to be back on the station later in the month.


I was told she's OK and that her condition was nothing serious. "She'll be back soon--she's a trouper", said a broadcast source familiar with the situation.


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Exclusive: KGO-TV Reporter Ishimaru Was To File Suit Against Station Before Her Medical Setback; Hostile Work Environment Complaint; Angela Alioto To Rep Her

Days before she suffered a serious stroke, KGO-TV reporter, Heather Ishimaru, was about to file a hostile work-environment lawsuit against the station, according to well-placed broadcast sources close to Channel 7.


Ishimaru, who is unable to speak or swallow food is in a SF rehab facility. Her attorney, Angela Alioto, confirmed to me on the phone that Ishimaru had planned to file a lawsuit.


"She, (Ishimaru), wrote three letters to management, (News Director, Tracey Watkowski and Assistant ND, Stephainie Adrouney),  about some work-related issues then suddenly she had her medical setback," Alioto said.


Watkowski did not return phone calls requesting comment.


Privately, my sources at KGO, (all requested anonymity due to the nature of the story), told me that Ishimaru, who is a veteran and much-respected reporter, had asked for some time away from the station dealing with a family matter involving one of her kids, a special-needs child. Alioto confirmed this account.


Watkowski balked.


"They were giving her shit," offered one of the sources. "They essentially told her to take care of the 'issue on her time, not the company dime, and that's just bullshit."


Needless to say the Ishimaru tragedy has rocked the KGO newsroom where several staffers are unhappy with the vibe overall. "This has just added to all the angst inside the building--there's a tremendous amount of tension here. They, (management), just don't get it--they're in over their heads."


Added Alioto:


"Heather has an incredible performance record.  She was harassed and treated differently by her superiors Stephanie and Tracey concerning medical leave to take care of her son. Heather was very stressed out about the treatment."






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If Jahi McMath Were White You'd Be Hearing A Whole Lot More About This Tragic Story

 The Jahi McMath story is both sad and tragically compelling. No one denies that.

 

The case of the 13 year-old, (now certified brain-dead), has been hashed about in media circles but there's a significant subplot to this story; not just the subject matter and its host of medical ethics, human sensitivity, the family and its thirst of any kind of hope for their daughter.

 

This involves race.

 

Jahi's fate and the family's fight has been given a wide array of media coverage, including this segment on CNN with Piers Morgan. And here too with Dana Bash, as it should.

 

That's not the issue we're debating here. Jahi McMath is black. She doesn't have Caucasian skin, nor Goldilocks' looks. She wasn't raised in the suburbs and her parents and relatives; no matter how much agony they must be going through, don't come off particularly well on television. And that's just the point.

 

Think about it for a moment: if Jahi were white her story would be plastered all over the TV/Radio/Internet domain. It would have had a "60 Minutes" segment by now; it would have received heavy-duty play by Geraldo and Megyn Kelly. And it most certainly would be water-cooler topic material not just in the Bay Area but nationally too, but it really hasn't resonated.

 

Part of that has to do the coverage, or lack thereof. This is not a new phenomena. And by the way, this is certainly not meant in any manner whatsoever to diminish the awfulness of white kids that go missing out of the blue; are kidnapped and never to be seen. I can't imagine the anguish and personal hell all missing kids parents must deal with on a daily basis.

 

This is a media matter. And while the subject of Jahi McMath has nothing to do with missing or kidnapped kids, its lack of greater media attention than it has already received speaks volumes about how the media selectively chooses its topical discourse and time generated.

 

Of course some of you will call us out for injecting race into this very sad case and label us insensitive. Absolutely, although the irony is that is precisely why we brought this forward because as much coverage as this story has received it just seems that there hasn't been enough.

 

Call it media institutional racism. It's not an intentional route or some wild conspiracy on what looks good on TV; what generates an "IT" topic nor in anyway is plotted out in the back offices it just sort of happens and that's a sad statement on our media powers-that-be.

 

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