"Be kind to Gary Lezak" is not in the job description

So KSHB weathercaster Gary Lezak is unhappy that I asked some hard questions about WeatheRate, the Phoenix service that sells its Good Housekeeping-type seal of approval to qualifying TV stations.

"Today, in the KC Star Aaron Barnhart, who is rarely kind to us at NBC Action News still tries to take a shot in the FYI section today," writes Lezak on his blog today. He then quotes a portion of my print story (which was mostly an uncritical piece about the NBC affiliate's spiffy new HD studio and Fox 4's traffic system). He quotes the part where I point out that WeatheRate's service "really never caught on" as it has only been used by a few stations at a time.

OK, first, a message for Gary and the other weathercasters in town who seem to take it especially hard whenever I write about them: It's not my job to be kind to or to promote anybody or anything in town or on TV. It is my job to serve my readers. Most people in local television don't have a problem with that -- or if they do, they have the good sense to keep it to themselves. I think most of them wish I would devote more time to local coverage, whether kind or unkind ... and I totally agree.

Part of what I'm trying to do, in fact, by stepping up the volume of articles at TV Barn is to address that gap in local TV coverage. To my editors' credit, they are now starting to push some of my blog pieces, in shortened form, back into print. Hooray, the virtuous circle. We should have been doing that in 1999, the year I started TV Barn, but whatever.

Now back to Gary.

In refuting my claim that WeatherRate hasn't caught on, Lezak writes, "The reason there are only nine stations using the WeatheRate certification is because in most markets there is no clear leader."

Unfortunately, that's complete nonsense. Even WeatheRate's founder and president doesn't make that claim, probably because it defies all logic.

Let's say you're the general manager of the CBS affiliate in town. Let's say your station has finished No. 2 at 10 p.m. for -- just throwing out a number here -- a decade. Now let's say your investigative team set up a beautiful sting operation to catch sex perverts on camera ... and lo and behold, your station won the 10 p.m. news for one blessed ratings period. Now, what do you do next?

Do you wait until a trend develops establishing your station as the "clear leader"?

Or do you go back to your promo staff and tell them to put some new spots in heavy rotation immediamente telling everyone in town that you're the number one source for news!!!

Well, of course. Nobody cares if one TV station in town is using the WeatheRate seal one year and another station is using it the next. Like anyone has a memory in TV. Lezak's station keeps buying the seal because it's a tough, competitive market and the wins are a differentiator between NBC and the other affiliates in town. Now, it just so happens that Gary is very good at what he does and keeps winning, and not to make too big a deal of this, but had he bothered to consult Google rather than his own bruised ego, he would have realized that I have pointed out how good he is with embarrassing frequency, in print and online.

In a separate post on TV Barn, I interviewed WeatheRate's president, Bruce Fixman, and I asked why his service was in so few markets after all these years. He gave me a plausible reason, blaming the economy (which he expects to rebound later this year). And while I have my doubts about WeatheRate as a going concern, Fixman insisted to me that it remains his one and only job, so I must assume he's working hard to promote it. Finally, Fixman defended Gary Lezak against charges that he tilts the scales in his favor by logging into WeatheRate's system and updating his own data.

Letting people set the record straight wasn't a kindness to Lezak; it was a service to the reader.

Oh, and one more thing. I just noticed the layout from this morning's print edition. This is from the front page of the FYI section:

Dude, your head is almost as big as mine!

Comments

[Chris]

So... that order I placed with Michael Mahoney for my Leezak / TVBarn '08 Bumper Stickers was crap?

Dammit. I want my $50.00 back.

[Gary Lezak]

Aaron,

First of all, thanks. I am not asking you to be kind, but just to be fair.

And secondly, it isn't complete nonsense. I really have heard from other meteorologists around the nation asking me "what happens if the next year you end up in second or third place, wouldn't the promotion backfire on you?". It very well could, and I am pretty sure our competitors would jump all over this if they ever beat us in Weatherate. In March, everyone starts again all tied in forecasting the weather.

Have a great holiday weekend. I did enjoy your column today.

Gary

[Bonnie McKean]

Wow, Gary L has a big head, that's news. Really, I don't watch any of the local weather anymore because it is all so much bragging about themselves that the weather gets lost in the process. They spend so much time touting their own success it's embarassing. Who gets it right most? Who cares. Most of us don't remember what they said the night before unless they really get it wrong. Since when is how many times you got it right more important that what you are supposed to be doing, forcasting the weather. Most times we would do better opening the window and sticking our hands out than listening to you.