These are two write-ups I did after a supremely stupid ad campaign by WQAD, the number two station in my hometown. One I sent in to my local paper, the other I posted on WQAD’s message board.
Why you can't believe everything you read in the paper.
One would think that a local news organization would place a high value on viewer’s trust. Sadly, at least one of the Quad City’s television stations, WQAD, proved on their Tuesday night broadcasts that they’d prefer to pull a fast one on the viewing public rather than actually expand its viewer base. Is it any wonder that they’ve been a distant number two for over two decades?
For the past few weeks, WQAD has littered local papers and airwaves with a mystery teaser promising a new member joining the channel 8 news team. The ads featured conspicuous weather-related imagery and turns-of-phrase like “weathered the storm” and “take the heat,” in addition to a reference of the mystery individual’s firing from another local station. This carefully crafted ad campaign was clearly designed to build up talk that WQAD had hired Terry Swails, who was dismissed from KWQC earlier this year. Instead, former WOC host Jim Albrecht was revealed as the mystery man, who chuckled to himself: “So you bought that Terry Swails rumor, did ya?”
Of course we did. That’s exactly what WQAD wanted. It was a rumor that was started and reinforced by the station. Apparently uncomfortable promoting their new commentator on his decades of service to the local community, they felt that a misleading campaign implying the hire of a different broadcaster would be more successful. As such they insulted both of these veteran newsmen and alienated any viewers they hoped to gain from this campaign.
As one of the individuals who was laid off from KWQC along with Terry Swails, my loyalty to the station has waned considerably, but I remain loyal to those dedicated individuals who I worked with day in, day out to serve this community. I was rooting for Terry to show up, once again, on Quad City televisions, because he deserves it after his decades of work. In a way, his appearance on WQAD would have been a vindication for those of us who were shown the door; at least we’d know one of us gets to continue serving his community like he deserved to.
So many people look foolish on the other side of this fiasco. WQAD diminished their standing as a news organization by deliberately misleading loyal and potential viewers. They made their current weather team look second-rate by promoting the possibility of a former competitor usurping their position. And by failing to promote him on his own merits, WQAD makes their new addition, Jim Albracht, look small by forcing him to deliver the punch-line for this sad joke.
The local media in the Quad Cities have taken a number of hits in the past year. Jim Albracht himself can attest to that. People like Terry Swails and I who were let go from KWQC can attest to that. Make no mistake. The local media in the Quad Cities and the Quad City community at large have lost enough due to influences outside of their control. The local news outlets are trending more and more toward profit driven corporate control and away from local ownership and local interest. The last thing we need is a local station patting itself on the back for tricking their viewing public. WQAD’s misleading campaign couldn’t be sadder after the past year at our local stations. It was deftly and purposefully executed by a station whose most valuable commodity is its community’s trust, and that trust was dismissed in favor of a cheap, one-time chuckle. We should demand better from those supplying us with our news.
FROM WQAD.COM:
How sad that WQAD can’t advertise Jim on his own merits. Instead, they have to use a deliberately deceptive ad campaign to piggy back Terry Swails’ 30 years of work on — oh that’s right — the number one station in the area to get people to tune in. Channel 8 had more religious KWQC viewers watching last night than they have EVER had, and instead of trying to expand their viewership, they went for a one-night gotcha that not only didn’t deliver what they implied in their advertising, but showed them to be a second-rate news organization with their “clever” switcheroo. What’s most amusing about this whole situation is this whole marketing campaign was based around the success of channel six. Not on Jim’s history in the community. Not on what WQAD can deliver for local news. No. The ad campaign was essentially saying that the only way WQAD can get KWQC viewers is to get one of their guys. Classy move WQAD. Enjoy that silver ratings trophy. You’ve earned it.
