Media Frenzy

By Rob Holbert Managing Editor

If you’ve got legal questions but don’t want to shell out the shekels to consult an attorney, or if you’re itching for someone to talk to late on Sunday nights, WPMI TV-15 may have a new show for you.

The NBC affiliate started its new show “Law Call” March 12 at 10:30 p.m. The half-hour show features viewers calling in to ask legal questions of attorneys Bill Eiland and Allen Ritchie, as well as other attorneys. In the first installment, attorney Toby Brown of the Cunningham, Bounds, Crowder, Brown & Breedlove law firm sat in for Ritchie. WPMI reporter/anchor Mike Rush serves as the show’s host and moderator. Rush typically anchors the 10 p.m. Sunday broadcast, so “Law Call” puts him on the air for an additional half hour.

“Our goal is to allow people who have legal questions to have them answered,” Rush said. “It should offer a comfort level for people to get to talk about the law. They may be too intimidated to go into a law office, or worried about the money.”

The first installment of “Law Call” featured several calls from viewers looking for basic legal advice. Some callers talked about “slip-and-fall” cases, while others asked about situations where they’d been injured on the job. One caller even described how her unborn child had been larger than the doctor anticipated and that the infant suffered a broken arm during birth.

“We want to hear people’s stories,” Rush explained. “Obviously that makes for better television, but it also gives our attorneys the chance to tell people what the law is, not what to do.”

Upcoming installments of “Law Call” will deal with bankruptcy and love and the law.

New morning man

It probably came as little surprise to regular listeners, but WABB AM 1480 selected Shane McBryde to co-host its morning public affairs show with Ron Fraiser. McBryde was one of several ‘trial” co-hosts who joined Fraiser over the past several weeks as he sought to replace former co-host Kathy Richardson, who left because the show no longer fit her schedule.

McBryde hosted his own afternoon public affairs show on then-WNTM 710 AM. He left to handle public relations for the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, and has also made a run at city council.

The addition of McBryde to the program means two self-professed conservatives will run the show. Fraiser’s previous co-hosts have been liberals. Fraiser and McBryde say they plan to keep the show focused on local issues.

Lesson learned

Students at the University of South Alabama student newspaper, The Vanguard, got more than a lesson in cultural sensitivity when they recently ran one of the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed – they got a first-hand look at the news cycle.

Vanguard editor Jeff Poor and his staff decided to run the cartoon Feb. 20. USA’s Muslim Student Association quickly lodged complaints with the school’s administration, and WPMI did a story on the situation a few days after it initially ran. (In the name of full disclosure, I must point out that I serve as adviser to The Vanguard, a position that affords me no editorial decision-making.)

After this initial interview and a subsequent meeting with Muslim students, it seemed the controversy had died down. But when the Mobile Register’s Jeff Amy ran a story March 6, the whole thing started over again. On the day of the Register’s article, WALA and WKRG both ran stories on The Vanguard’s decision to run the cartoons. The following day, National Public Radio interviewed Poor about the cartoon.

The story had also been moved on the Associated Press newswire, and a columnist in Huntsville even opined about The Vanguard’s decision to run the offending cartoon. Needless to say, some of the student journalists’ heads were fairly swimming after this barrage of attention for something the Mobile Register says generated little interest when they did it just a few days before The Vanguard.

Sometimes, that’s just how it goes in the media world.

Walker filing in

WPMI morning anchor Scott Walker will begin writing a regular column for Lagniappe starting the next issue. In his column, Walker will deal with some of the behind-the-scenes things in the television biz that readers may not know about. Scott will also answer readers’ questions.

We hope it will be a lot of fun for our readers and will help Scott understand what it’s like to work with a crack, hard-core news organization like Lagniappe.

Rob Holbert is Lagniappe managing editor. Contact him at rholbert@lagniappemobile.com.

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