The Lack of Television Coverage on the Arts

Last night I was watching my evening local news and counted down in my head the expected news segments. In my Journalism class in college we learned that all news starts with what are called “bullets” or big shocking stories and then funnels it way down to the “BB’s” or the smaller stories of the evening. So I waited in anticipation for the murder and robbery count (a.k.a. the “bullets”) and then watched all the way through until the sports reports (a.k.a. the “BB’s”.) But, between the murder/robbery count and the sports news I wondered where the arts fits into all of this. I don’t know about you but I become afraid to live in my own home when I watch our local news. The news reports on the most horrific events in our community first and foremost to the point where I believe that the next time I walk out my front door I could get mugged at any moment. Personally, I would like to see more coverage on the good in our community including the local arts scene.

Now, I do believe that sports reporting is a great thing in our community. Who doesn’t want to see the Chief’s do well and find out what Herm plans to do to get ready for the next game? And who doesn’t want to see our local high school sports teams do well and play in championship games? This sort of positive reporting on local community sports is wonderful. But, why doesn’t the news also cover what our high school orchestras are doing and report on the competitions they win? Why don’t we ever hear about local actors who get called to New York to perform in a play on the nightly news? And, more importantly, why doesn’t our local TV stations report on the “major leagues” of the arts in town? I want to know about our local ballet company and how they were invited to perform at the famed Joyce Theater in New York City last spring. I want to know that KC Rep launched a play here in town that is now showing at Lincoln Center in New York. The artistic talent in this community is of equal or greater caliber than that of our professional Chiefs players and I think that it is about time that the arts received equal coverage on local television stations.

I’ve got to say, thanks but no thanks to the murder count in Kansas City for the day. I don’t need to be afraid to live in my own community. I want to see more of the great things happening in Kansas City on television. If you feel as strongly as I do about the lack of arts coverage on our local television stations in Kansas City then please send them an email or write a letter expressing your thoughts. Let’s show how great Kansas City is on television!