ROGER MONROE
Monday morning, July 22, I turned on Channel 25 to learn the latest on President Biden’s withdrawal from his re-election campaign. Overnight, Peoria police shot and killed a man and the station concluded another successful St. Jude Telethon on Saturday night. What was the “lead story” at 4:30 in the morning? Free haircuts for some children. The next breaking news story was a woman running for mayor of Normal. Ho Hum.
That, unfortunately, is what has happened to morning news at the once TV news leader. For several months, the station’s news director has focused on feature stories, rather than “hard news,” such as fires, accidents, shootings, and political developments during this election year. Feature stories have no time demands. They can be used any day, any week or any month. When people get up, they want to know what happened overnight in their town, in their state, in their country, in the world. For some reason, the news director at WEEK-TV has “changed horses” in reporting the news and free haircuts is breaking news, more important than anything else.
As a result, I changed channels to cable news and at 5 a.m. switched to WMBD-TV where that station led the news with a story about President Biden’s decision to quit the race for a second White House term. And it followed with the police shooting. That’s hard news and the right approach to news, in my humble opinion based on more than 60 years of news reporting for both the print and electronic media.
By comparison, on our morning “Breakfast with Roger and Friends” radio show on FM 90.7, we featured at 6:30, Rick Fox, Chairman of the Peoria County Democrat Central Committee.
At 7:15, former Congressman Ray LaHood was our studio guest and at 8 a.m., we talked with Congressman Darin LaHood. That was our top story as well it should, rather than haircuts.
I say that with a smile because my father, Zack Monroe, started working as a barber at the age of 16. He later purchased the Peoria Barber College and perhaps accounted for 90% of those cutting hair in central Illinois. He would be proud of those barbers providing free haircuts, as I am.
CONGRATULATIONS ST. JUDE VOLUNTEERS: WEEK eventually got to the annual
St. Jude Telethon which raised a record $11,659,937. That amount should’ve been worthy of the station’s top news story.
Congratulations to Mike McCoy and all of his runners as they raised nearly $6 million of the grand total announced at the 47th annual TV event. I’m not sure, but I may be the only one who’s still around when Methodist Hospital announced it was affiliating with St. Jude Children’s Hospital of Memphis, Tenn. Among those signing the agreement for the first affiliate clinic were Mayor Jim Maloof, Dr. Robert Hart, and Methodist administrator Don Larson. Marge Crowl was the first executive director and I helped her put together “The St. Jude Star.” The clinic opened in January, 1972, at the back of the Glen Oak Wing. That was 52 years ago, and I’m proud to remain a loyal supporter of St. Jude.
IS IT A GOOD IDEA? The Peoria Park District has approved plans to spend $4.5 million to renovate the existing Golf Learning Center on Radnor Road. The plans are to construct a multi-level, 21-bay facility for golfers, an improved simulator, and a full-service restaurant and bar that would be open year round.
Park officials are hopeful to attract non-golfers to the new learning center. The district is receiving a $4 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, but have not yet identified where the district might receive additional funding to make up the difference.
That’s the good news. The bad news is there has been a decline in the number of golfers. There were 26 million golfers in 2016 compared to 30 million in 2006. The number of golf courses in the United States is declining. There were 15,372 courses in 2015 versus 16,000 a few years earlier. The Peoria Park District has closed the Donovan (Northmoor) and Detweiller courses. While the decline rate isn’t alarming, it is a trend.
Not everyone gets excited to spend four hours on the golf course, and the cost of playing
18 holes isn’t cheap. Some golfing venues are planning 12-hole courses and some are considering six holes to reduce time chasing the little white ball around. It’s that last hole that seems to keep golfers from returning home earlier.
Meanwhile, supporters of a new amphitheater at Glen Oak Park are wondering when the park district will fulfill its promise for a new entertainment venue made two years ago.
HEART OF ILLINOIS FAIR: We did our best last month to promote the 75th annual Heart of Illinois Fair. It wasn’t enough. Though we don’t have the attendance numbers, they could not have been impressive since the Fair this year had no carnival to draw families and thrill seekers for the exciting rides and colorful booths. Like last year, officials said the last day/night attendance was the best of the shortened week of activities, thanks to some 1,500 who watched the demolition derby.
Heart of Illinois Fair officials need to visit the Boone County Fair in Belvidere to learn what they’re doing there. Last year they had a record-breaking attendance of more than 226,000 over six days. It was the sixth straight fair that has drawn an attendance of more than 200,000. The Illinois State Fair last year drew 700,000 during its 11-day run. That was a record.
I would suggest the board of Exposition Gardens convene a public committee of community leaders, including companies, advertising agencies, etc. to seek their guidance and wisdom in marketing and promotions. You folks need help.
There was a lack of advertising and a lack of media participation. The failure of a “midway” speaks volumes of a lack of leadership.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud,” — Maya Angelou