Media

The end of the news as we know it

by Dan Kennedy

The drive-time topic on WRKO Radio's Blute and Moes Wednesday morning was "Chet and Nat: Is It Anybody's Business but Their Own?" The answer: apparently so. Peter Blute segued out of a weather update by lamely quipping, "Speaking of ice and chill . . . " At one point, Andy Moes interjected, "I promise you, we won't beat this topic to death." This after he had already fantasized about the possibility that Chet would refer to Natalie as a "frigid bitch" on the air. And Blute and Moes weren't done yet.

There has been something truly weird and yet utterly predictable about the coverage of the news that Natalie Jacobson and Chet Curtis, the married co-anchors of Channel 5's newscasts, have separated. Predictable because Jacobson and Curtis are among the brightest stars of Boston's very small celebrity scene. Weird because, well, they're journalists, people who cover the news, and suddenly, Monday afternoon, their employer, WCVB-TV, was faxing out public statements about the end of their marriage.

The local media's reaction was huge, but probably not disproportionate given Jacobson and Curtis's celebrity status. Their split was front-page news in the Globe and the Herald on Tuesday, with the Herald running a big, torn-up picture of them from happier times. TV and radio pundits have weighed in, including their former boss, Emily Rooney, once Channel 5's news director and now the host of Greater Boston on WGBH-TV (Channels 2 and 44). For the most part, the coverage has been respectful, which reflects the fact that Curtis and Jacobson are good at what they do and -- at least according to those who know them -- are apparently decent human beings as well. (Even Moes, stricken by conscience within moments of making his "frigid bitch" crack, wailed that he must be a "bad person.")

But clearly there's something else going on here, too. Jacobson and Curtis made their bones during a very different era in local television news, when stations such as WCVB-TV and WBZ-TV (Channel 4) offered substance and even a little depth; when TV reporters routinely covered the State House and City Hall, venues whose pressrooms are nearly deserted these days. Sure, disasters, froth, and ratings have always defined TV news, but Jacobson and Curtis symbolize a time when those were not the sole ingredients. Channel 5, in particular, was special, winning accolades for putting together perhaps the best local newscast in the country. It still has some fine journalists, including Curtis and Jacobson, but for the past few years it has been obsessed with its ratings war against WHDH-TV (Channel 7), and has thus embraced the consultant-driven trend toward ever-shorter stories, flashy graphics, and lots of unnecessary live shots.

Jacobson herself has spoken out against this trend, although she's been unwilling to walk away from it. Still, her presence, and that of Curtis, has served as a kind of quality guarantee that there is a certain level below which Channel 5 will not descend. Now that their personal relationship is over, it remains to be seen how long their professional one will last -- and what it will mean for news consumers when and if that break-up occurs.