It's last call for Stan Cramer

It's hard to say what exactly made Stan Cramer stand out. Certainly not his neutral-toned suits or bland Midwestern features. For a guy who feasted on hapless bureaucrats, he could've passed for one himself. What may have set him apart was simply the fact that he was there. For nearly 20 years as the "Call for Action" man on KCTV, Channel 5, Cramer was the one guy in town consumers knew they could pick up the phone and call in the hopes of seeing their grievances fixed on the 10 o'clock news. Now, after dozens of awards and thousands of thank-you notes from grateful viewers, one of Kansas City's best-known TV personalities is signing off for good tonight. The 56-year-old Cramer accepted an early-retirement buyout from Meredith Corp., which is trying to cut costs at the 12 TV stations it owns. KCTV anchor Wendall Anschutz also is taking the golden parachute. Channel 5 is planning a short retrospective of Cramer's career on today's 10 p.m. newscast. The tribute will be repeated on weekend newscasts. His replacement has not been named. Often imitated, "Call for Action" specialized in the ambush interview. Cramer and camera would appear suddenly at the home or business of the alleged miscreant - repairmen accused of shoddy work, contractors charged with swindling clients - and coolly ask them when, in effect, they stopped beating their wives. The smarter ones shrugged their shoulders and walked away. Then there was the guy at a TV-repair shop in 1994 who ambushed Cramer, tearing his shirt and breaking the camera. The man later told police he was "sick and tired of Stan Cramer getting in (his) face all the time." "He's an aggressive guy and an aggressive reporter," said KCTV news director Don North. "It's not every reporter who's good at that kind of thing. The reality, though, is that most of his stories are not like that." Ask Cramer and he'll tell you one of his favorite stories was an unusual intervention he did in 1985. "This was a mother and father who had been falsely accused of abusing the child," Cramer said. "The mother had been told (by a social worker) to file an abuse complaint against herself to get her son transferred to another school. He had Tourette's. We were able to arrange an emergency hearing in juvenile court. The next day the boy was released (to his parents)." He has a little plaque hanging in his office to remember it. It says, "To Stan Cramer, who answered my call for help." Arriving from Nebraska's Creighton University 36 years ago, Cramer began at KCTV as a reporter, then became the station's community affairs director. When the "Call for Action" craze swept the TV-news industry in the early 1980s, Cramer established a consumer hot line for KCTV. At first it consisted of phone lines manned by 25 to 30 volunteers. Then the station's general manager, Phil Jones, decided to turn the service into a newscast segment. "He said, 'Stan, you can make anything of this you want,' " Cramer recalled. In the mid-1990s, North made "Call for Action" a nightly staple on Channel 5 newscasts so that viewers would "build an allegiance to it," North said. That they have, and "Call for Action" has grown larger and more influential around Channel 5 as well as Kansas City. "My job gave me a unique opportunity to have power - the power of television - to help resolve problems for people," Cramer said. "The feeling you get from getting someone a refund or their due is so much more than just doing a television story." Without a doubt, Cramer's career high point came in 1995 when Channel 5 aired footage of then-Kansas City school superintendent Walter Marks - who had taken medical leave for a bad back - lifting heavy boxes and lumber while supposedly recuperating in Florida. The school board fired Marks three months later. Cramer's report won numerous awards, includ- ing a prestigious honor from Investigative Reporters and Editors. Other Cramer reports drew fire from his targets, who filed lawsuits against KCTV and complained that "Call for Action" had unfairly maligned them and their businesses. One subject he absolutely will not discuss on the record is the agreement KCTV reached last year with a former female producer of "Call for Action" who charged Cramer with sexual harassment and discrimination. Another employee told The Star last year that she also had complained about an incident involving Cramer. Still, Cramer remained popular with viewers right to the end, helping keep KCTV's 10 p.m. newscast a competitive second to KMBC in the ratings. As for his future plans, Cramer said he's going to "take a couple of months off" and figure them out. "It's entirely possible I'll get back in the television consumer reporting business, or radio," he said. "But I don't plan not to work. I will work. One thing I do enjoy doing is helping people." You can reach Aaron Barnhart through the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Stan Cramer checks out of KCTV today @ART:Photo (color) @ART CREDIT:KCTV >>>