WZZM Neglects to List the Candidates.

Analysis:

At two minutes and forty seconds, this story is rather long by local TV standards. Despite this, the story fails to give the viewer any information regarding the candidates that participated in this forum. Not even the names of the candidates are provided. The article does note that much of the forum is available online. While this is true (although the clips were not posted online at the time the story ran), the online resources do little to inform viewers without access to the internet.

Story:

Newsreader #1 – Well the city of Wyoming could have very different political leadership after the primary election next week. There are a total of eleven candidates for the mayor’s office and for three council seats. WZZM’s Phil Dawson joins us from Wyoming city hall where change is coming.

reporter – Lee the eleven candidates for the four jobs here at city hall include some new faces as well as some familiar names and tonight all the candidates were together for a forum to explain why they should win on election day.

Many of the citizens who crowded into the Wyoming library say they wanted to see and hear the candidates in person.

Citizen # 1 – It’s the only way you can compare one to the other, you can read all of his literature until the cows come home, you just don’t know until you see them face to face.

Citizen # 2 – This is a way that the public gets to really know the candidates I think.

Reporter – Next Tuesday Wyoming residents can either narrow down the number of candidates or make final their choices by giving one candidate for mayor over fifty percent of the vote, one candidate for 3rd ward council over fifty percent of the vote and two candidates for at large council seats over 25 percent of the vote. The Chamber of Commerce organized the forum.

Chamber of Commerce – Our government works because we have informed citizens casting valuable votes, and if they’re not informed, it’s not going to work well.

Reporter – New leaders have important issues to face in Wyoming. Twice voters have turned down tax increase requests for public safety and fire services. One fire station was closed and fire fighters were laid off. The candidates at the forum were asked to offer their solutions to these and other problems.

Citizen # 1 – They helped me make my decision about who I am going to vote for.

Citizen # 3 – And you may not agree with their opinion, that’s true, but everyone’s entitled to there own view.

Citizen # 4 – It’s a real important election because there are a lot of seats up right now, it could be a whole new council, a new mayor, it could be a whole new government here.

Reporter – If you miss tonight’s forum you can hear long excerpts from the candidates for mayor on our website WZZM.com, and Comcast cable station 26 will rebroadcast their entire televised coverage of the forum four times between now and election day next Tuesday. In Wyoming, Phil Dawson, WZZM 13 news.

Newsreader – And there are a number of other races in Grand Rapids. Voters in the first, second and third wards will choose candidates to represent them in the city commission. In Muskegon people are choosing a new mayor and in Grand Haven people are choosing two new council members. Again, the primary is next Tuesday, August second.

Total Time: 2:40