Also this issue: Cafeteria Society Contrary to an earlier study, public school lunches in Philly aren’t as bad as all that. Still, there’s room for improvement. -Elisa Ludwig Pressed For Time? -Mary F. Patel The Bell Curve City Paper's weekly gauge of Philly's Quality of Life

November 14-20, 2002

on media

Soundbites

by Deborah Bolling

And the Survey Says...

Last week, the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) released its 2002 survey evaluating local television journalism. The survey, called the Local TV News Project, reviewed 53 television stations in 17 cities and determined that, of those evaluated, Boston local news ranks the best in the country.

The project, which annually surveys the highest-rated half-hour news shows in U.S. cities, looks to determine if the stories selected for local broadcasts have community relevance, focus on topics that are considered significant, cover a broad range of issues, present more than one point of view, have multiple sources and seek to avoid the repetition of gore and violence to lure an audience to the story.

Philly local news didn't make the survey. Turns out, last year, Philly's three major 11 o'clock broadcasts (KYW, WCAU, WPVI) fared poorly, scoring grades no higher than Cs and Ds. This year, the report's architects decided to test new waters.

"Last year, in Philadelphia, we saw stories that just weren't put together well," says Atiba Pertilla, one of the survey's writers. "The local news broadcasts covered what we considered trivial events, instead of those that were significant. They did not present a broad view of national issues, or even a lot of locally relevant news. But maybe we'll revisit Philadelphia next year."

Go Tell This...

Starting around the first of December, Daily News reporter Regina Medina will no longer be scribing the “Tattle” column. Although Managing Editor Ellen Foley says the gossipy tidbits will still run, a successor has not been named. Medina, who describes herself as the only Spanish-language reporter currently on staff, will now take on the city as a general assignment reporter.

"Obviously, I was disappointed when I heard the news because I love this stuff. It's right up my alley," Medina says. "But, I just want to be a team player here. I'm hoping that that part of me -- the Spanish-speaking part -- can be helpful on the city side. Maybe I can break some good stories that no one else can do."

During the past month, the DN city desk has experienced a few significant losses, including the departure of reporters Mark Angeles (who went to NYC's AP) and Erin Einhorn, who just began a six-month leave to finish her as-yet-untitled book.

Foley says that although the paper recently hired Catherine Lucey to cover night cops (the job formerly held by Angeles), she'll ask other staffers to cover the absences.

"We're trying to patch together a plan, but it's not totally together at the moment," she says. "Right now, though, we want to employ the great skills that Regina learned while doing ŒTattle' in the rest of the paper."

On occasion, Foley says that Medina will still cover high-profile celebrity stories.