POLITICIZING ‘WALL STREET WEEK’
Did “Wall Street Week” host and financial commentator Louis
Rukeyser get the boot because of ideology and politics?
Some inside the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are saying just
that, and want CPB to look into how it is that the show’s producing
station, Maryland Public Television (MPT), made the decision on
Rukeyser.
Last week it was reported that MPT was taking Rukeyser’s
venerable show in a different direction after months of feedback
from other PBS stations that have carried the show for some, if not
all, of its 25-plus years. And the biggest change was that Rukeyser
was out as host, replaced by younger, hipper financial journalists
from Fortune magazine. But then last Friday Rukeyser announced on
air that he would take his show — which really is his in style and
substance — and make it available to PBS through another
sponsoring PBS station. Yesterday MPT fired back and claimed
Rukeyser wouldn’t be on the show again, even though his contract
runs through April.
Rukeyser, is one of the most respected financial commentators in
the business, who made his and the WSW’s name by sticking to the
facts: i.e., focusing on the markets and hard economic data and
providing forward-looking analysis from investment leaders. “Wall
Street Week” rarely, if ever, devolved into discussion of politics,
policies, or ideology. “He left that to other PBS fare,” says a TV
producer who does work for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
“I’ve never heard anyone complain about the show. It made money for
everyone involved, a rarity with CPB.”
Rukeyser claims his show cost only $2 million to produce
annually, while generating more than $6 million in revenue. Says
the CPB producer: “No one is buying that MPT was getting complaints
about the show or Rukeyser, because the financial numbers, the
sponsorships, the number of stations picking up the show don’t
indicate any dissatisfaction.”
According to the producer, MPT wanted Rukeyser to push politics
on the show. “We’re hearing MPT wanted him to attack Enron, to put
guests on the show that would criticize big business. That’s not
his thing. If his being forced out is about ideology and content,
MPT may have picked the wrong fight.”
Even it isn’t clear that Rukeyser’s show is underwritten by any
tax dollars, several House members who are fans of the show tell
The Prowler that they would like to hear from CPB and MPT
executives how the decisions about “Wall Street Week” were made.
“We’ve never called them on this kind of thing,” says one
Republican House member, “but maybe we should. If we questioned
their business decisions on the grounds of taxpayer money being
spent or misspent, maybe we’d get better results.”
THE NRA’S LIDDY PROBLEM
The National Rifle Association is debating internally about how to
deal with its “Liddy Problem.” No, not the G-man. Elizabeth
Dole. According a staffer with the NRA’s Institute for
Legislative Action, which spearheads the group’s political
activities, the NRA board is debating whether to endorse Dole in
her Senate bid. (Dole will most likely face off against either
former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles or
Elaine Marshall, the tarheel state’s secretary of
state. Former statehouse speaker Dan Blue is
running a distant third in Democratic polling.)
“We don’t want to endorse her,” says the ILA policy staffer.
“She’s been awful on gun ownership issues, gun control issues. The
NRA can’t be expected just to endorse every Republican the party
puts up. “
This is especially true in North Carolina, where the NRA’s roots
and support run deep. The NRA board told both the White House and
Republican National Committee board members that if they put Dole
on the Senate ballot, they risked not gaining the NRA
endorsement.
“This North Carolina race may be our opportunity to show our
independence,” says an NRA board member.
Others inside the NRA are pushing to stand by the Republican
Party and endorse Dole, or face troubles down the road when
gun-control measures arise in Congress. “If the NRA bails on Dole,
you can be sure the Republicans will bail on the NRA when the next
big gun bill comes up. Then we’ll see how independent the NRA
really wants to be,” says another NRA board member.
