America 1982-Chapter 352 - 32: Clues That Don’t Connect
"Welcome to ’Today’s Black News’, I’m your host Ron. Let’s take a look at today’s first headline about the black community..."
Tommy watched the television screen expressionlessly. On screen, a well-dressed black male host in a suit, clear in speech and organized in thought, was delivering the news.
This was a screen test recording BT Television had made to select hosts for its news programs.
"Next tape." Tommy didn’t wait for the completion of the first headline before he decisively spoke.
Martin hurried to the television, swapping in a new tape for Tommy.
This time, the host on screen was a black female. She didn’t even get a chance to say the program’s name; Tommy simply waved his hand dismissively, signaling to Martin to switch again after just glancing at the well-made-up black woman.
"Boss, this is the last tape. We’ve gone through all seventeen audition tapes already," Martin said, removing the tape from the player and shaking it in his hand to remind Tommy.
Rick, having accompanied Tommy to watch all the audition tapes, finally uncrossed his hands from in front of his abdomen and sat up straight: "These seventeen candidates all have experience hosting news shows. The least experienced of them has worked as a newsreader at a small television station for five years at least, and the most notable is the black female whom you didn’t even let speak; before this, she was hosting and the news director for a late-night news show on CBS’s affiliate station in Ohio. You should have seen her audition; she was quite good."
"Rick, I can see your efforts. Their resumes certainly meet our needs, but..." Tommy began, then paused, his fist resting against his mouth as he stared at the now blue screen of the television, lost in thought.
Rick understood Tommy’s dilemma, but he persisted in hoping Tommy would choose one of the seventeen: "They can deliver a variety of news according to our station’s standards. They may not be very flashy, but they definitely wouldn’t lose us points with the black audience."
In Rick’s view, BT Television already had a robust lineup of programs, particularly the kind aimed at drawing in advertisers with money for commercials—self-produced variety shows and series. The news program was just an optional extra, a vase of flowers. All they needed was a black newsreader to articulate the news and show the outside world that BT Television had its own news production—not just chasing ratings with sensational and vulgar content, but also willing to shoulder social responsibility.
What he didn’t expect was that for those more eye-catching self-produced variety shows, like ’The Ultimate Pregnancy Makeup King’ or ’Wife Swap’, Tommy would lavish praise but never interfere; yet, for the last-minute news program that was clearly made to fill the least desirable time slots, Tommy seriously offered his own vision.
First, he demanded that the news program, which was to seamlessly follow the prime-time lineup, be called ’Today’s Black News’ and only broadcast daily news related to the black community.
Second, he wanted to personally review the screen test videos and relevant materials to decide the final candidate.
Tommy completely lacked interest in the programs that could easily draw funds from advertisers; yet, he showed a deep interest in a news program that was obviously intended for garbage time. Up until then, Rick had thought he knew exactly what his boss was about, but now he realized he still couldn’t comprehend Tommy’s actions.
"They’re professional, but they won’t attract the viewership of the grassroots black community," Tommy finally said after a long silence.
Rick looked at Tommy: "The viewership of the grassroots black community shouldn’t rely on a dull news program. Tommy, it’s our self-produced series and variety shows that are the best weapons to attract viewers."
"I understand. Give me a few minutes to think. I’m trying to picture how this black community news program should be presented," Tommy said, not engaging Rick on the debate about ratings but asking for a moment. He closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair, and after three or four minutes of silence, he opened his eyes and faced Rick:
"These black hosts are too professional. That’s the problem. If you covered their faces and only listened to their voices, could you tell them apart from the white elite news anchors on CBS, NBC, or even CNN? Impossible, because there’s no difference," he said.
"What are you saying, I should go find a stuttering black host who pulls out a joint to get high halfway through the broadcast?" Rick frowned, somewhat puzzled by Tommy’s statement: "All news anchors on television networks have this look."
Tommy extended his hand towards Rick: "Give me the news script for the audition."
After receiving the script, Tommy quickly read through it and then turned to the mobile whiteboard. He furiously wrote a piece of the news script with a marker. After tossing the marker aside, he looked at Martin, who was discussing with Page which black host seemed more appealing, and said:
"Martin, grab a chair, sit in front of the television and read the news I wrote on the whiteboard. You can read, can’t you?"
"Yes, sir." Although Martin didn’t understand the purpose of what Tommy was asking him to do, he obediently carried a chair and sat down in front of the television.
"Pretend you’re the news anchor and read what I wrote on the whiteboard," Tommy said, tapping the whiteboard with his finger.
Martin looked at the densely written words on the whiteboard that Tommy was pointing at and, with a completely unimpressive anchor presence and an expression of sheer annoyance, began: "Darn it! This news is even more difficult to read than the hardest question in my reading class."
