The Honolulu Advertiser from Honolulu, Hawaii • 21

lie Honolulu Aareruser Monday, December 1, 1997 C3 New kid on the block struggles for higher MwrrTn i Dave Patterson, left, KHNL's new executive producer, discusses the director Chuck Parker at the station's assignment desk. Cory LunVThe Honolulu Advertiser evening's story line-up with news the final installment on a newsroom monitor. "This is real life. This is what TV's all about." The people parade Legislative reporter Julie Ogata returned to the newsroom after watching a new technique for brain surgery. Her story was supposed to air that night, but Parker and Patterson needed her to help follow anchorreporter Barbara Wallace's sweeps series on Hawaii inmates in Texas prisons.

It was an agonizingly slow news day and Parker and Patterson stood at the chest-high assignment desk struggling for something to lead their 6 p.m. broadcast. They had Wallace and Ogata talk to people involved with Hawaii prisons to put together two separate stories on what happens next. "How do we make it our lead?" Patterson said. "That's something I've still got to work out." Five hours later, Wallace sprinted into the newsroom in stocking feet after anchoring the 5 p.m.

show. The 6 p.m. broadcast was half an hour away and Wallace's story was still too long. "Now I have to go and seriously chop down my package," she said. "And we still have to figure out how to make this seamless," Ogata said.

With 10 minutes to air time, Wallace finished her editing, set out a tub of guacamole and chips for the staff and settled into a chair in the newsroom to introduce her story for the 6 p.m. show. "Everything runs very smoothly now," Gerasole said as Wallace sprinted in the background. "It's a pretty well-oiled machine. Reporters aren't being yanked back and forth off and on stories or they find out too late that something wasn't covered." While Parker tries to redefine KHNL's approach and settle down the staff, the parade of personalities continues.

Gerasole and his wife, Heidi FROM PAGE C1 illustrate government waste. "Everybody remembers Lyle Galdeira doing his walking," said newly promoted executive producer Dave Patterson. "The philosophy was, 'We have to be different to get people to We watched," said KTTV-4 anchorreporter Tina Shelton, snapping her fingers like a flamenco dancer. "It looked kind of good. It was well produced.

"We were scared. But after a couple of days, it was, "The emperor has no It was all promotion and no content." KITV city hall reporter Keoki Kerr remembered thinking, "If this works, then maybe it's time for me to get out of the TV business because it was so flashy and had so little substance." That was then Those days are gone at KHNL. New news director Chuck Parker, who has worked for both KGMB-9 and KHON-" Channel 2, has toned down the quick cuts and frantic approach. A Mainland consultant is helping reshape the broadcast by emphasizing clear communication and good story telling. Consultant Mackie Morris, vice president of Frank N.

Magid Associates, insists he's not In Hawaii to make KHNL's format look like it's produced for Anytown USA. "I have to adjust myself to the locale rather than bring a boilerplate approach," said Morris, who lives in Piano, Texas, and speaks with a drawl thicker than barbecue sauce. But KHNL remains last in the ratings despite lead-ins from NBC's powerful line-up of shows, including "ER." "At first, we tried to be a different news," said John Fink, president and general manager. "When you come out as the last guy in, where there's already a Coke and Pepsi, you try to be 7-Up. We've made some changes in content, we've made some changes in personnel and ratings Umbhau, were reassigned in August from their main anchor duties, although Umbhau now works the weekend desk.

Sports anchor Robert Kekaula was fired in October after a newsroom scuffle with executive news producer Alex McGehee, who also was let go. A new managing editor And today, Elisa Yadao takes over as managing editor, the No. 2 position in the newsroom. Her appointment caused a few staff members to question whether the station is creating a conflict of interest with Yadao's previous role as Bishop Estate's key spokeswoman in the biggest story of the year, the investigations of the estate, whose land and wealth touch nearly aspect of Island life. Yadao said: "They're very good people at Channel 8 and there are many people with whom I had the pleasure of working at KGMB and I'm actually excited.

It's going to beo very enjoyable to be part of a young team and to be able to help build something." She joins a loose newsroom. It's a place with plenty of air, space and light, where people are allowed to have fun. Lists of everybody's birthdays hang in some of the editing bays, along with a master phone directory titled "Phone Numbers That Are Mildly Important." Employees are broken down by categories such as "Da Techs" and people are listed not by name and title but as "Lyle, Man Myth," "Supa Dave," and "Promo Goddess JUL" And the new news director the man Armstrong said "will lead us into the future" has a simple, yet direct title. "Mr. Parker To You." Tomorrow: The once-mighty KGMB-9 struggles with a new approach.

93.9 KIKI 0-94) Current hits, dance. 94.7- 95T5 KUMU Instrumentalvocal easy listening. KAIM Christian programming. "KRTR "(KraTer RsdiofAduiT contemporary. KPOi (the Edge) Modem rock.

KKLV (Live 983) Continuous classic rock. 99.5 KORL Tourist information and music 100.3 KCCN Island music. 101.9 KUCD (STAR 101.9) Today's music. 102.7 KHUL-FM Classic soul. 105.1 KINE Contemporary Hawaiian.

107.9 KGMZ Oldies. through fire prevention week at school and so the station did a story on fire escape routes. If there isn't major news for the day, Parker and his staff don't pretend there is. They give reporters ideas that are based on news, let them come up with feature stories that address the bigger issues and look for people who are being affected. In one week, former anchor Vince Gerasole, now a reporter, was assigned to cover a Land Board proposal for dealing with beach erosion.

Gerasole didn't mention the Land Board proceedings until the middle of the story. Instead, he focused on beach erosion at Lanikai and talked about a tourist couple's reactions to what they had been told was the country's best beach. The next day, he was given a four-day-old press release about a health department grant to study the diverting of petty criminals into programs instead of jails. He wanted to use the announcement of the study to look at the debate over we've made some changes in management in the last nine months. The research indicates that we are ahead of what the ratings would indicate and we are providing what the people want to see and hear." Telling the story, and more At KHNL, Parker has a mostly young staff that has plenty of state-of-the-art toys and a mandate to tell good stories.

If there's a major story like the Palolo house fire in October that killed seven people KHNL hits it with multiple reports that look at as many angles as Parker and his producers can devise. There was the predictable companion story on who the victims were, and reaction from neighbors and the children's school. But KHNL also did a story on common fire hazards in the home. And the producers found an NBC report on what the inside of a house looks like during a fire. Patterson's three children were also going HBT's 'Nutcracker' begins Dec.

12 1270 KNDI Ethnic programming. 1380 KIFO Hawaii Public Radio, news. 1420 KCCNlsland music, UH sports. 1460 KULA Format to be an-nounced. 1500 KUMU Adulfstandards of 19403-1 960s.

1540 KISA Filipino-English programming. FM diversion programs. Instead of merely focusing on the grant, Gerasole introduced the story with footage of the Honolulu Police Department's diversion program at work on the street. Then he talked about the issues and mentioned the grant as a way of finding answers. A series full of hope There have also been more ambitious stories.

Duncan Armstrong followed a 3-year-old girl, Paige Ana Teves, from July to November to see how she and her family dealt with her cancer. V-Armstrong is one of KHNL's so-called "video journalists," a photographer who sometimes does his own reporting. He produced a five-part series on the Teves family for the November sweeps ratings period. It was a depressing subject, but the series turned out amazingly full of hope. "I was at their home in the wee hours of the morning, I was at the hospital at all hours," Armstrong said, as he played AM 590 KSSK (K59) Adult contemporary, news, traffic 650 KHNR Hawaii News Radio, Hawaiiinternational news.

690 KQMQ Top 40. 760 KGU News, talk, sports. 830- -KHVH News, talk, traffic, weather. 870 KAIM Christian programming. 940 KJPN Japanese programming from Japan.

990 KIKI (Hawaii's Country 990 AM) Country music. 1040 1080 12l6 KLHT Christian programming. KWAI Talk, sports. KZOO Japanese programming. SAV-MOft UPHOLSTERY CUSTOM DRAPERY CALL NOW FOR APPOINTMENT We Do Housecalls Furniture Refinishlng Re-Done Sofas For Sale From $175 OWNER.

ALVIN GOSHI PHONE 533-6708 Shall We Dance! LpI the Arthur Murray Dance Studio sliow jw how easy and fun teaming can be, You conlrl be dancing by the weekend or Call Toclav i CVV7 your next SS Free! 88.1 KHPR Hawaii Public Radio, news, classical music. 89.3 KIPO Hawaii Public Radio, pews, music, jazz. 90.3 KTUH Alternative rock, jazz, classical, Hawaiian. 92.3 KSSK Adult contemporary. 93.1 KQMQ Top 4a Rt Statt Council ok Haitaqt presents tde 1 7th Annual "A Family a-Fair" Sunday, December 7th 9 am 4 pm McKinley High School on King St.

Holiday classic at Leeward theater The Hawaii Ballet Theatre's Nutcracker," in its 16th season, will open an eight-performance run of the holiday classic, starting Dec. 12 at Leeward Community College Theatre. Showtimes will be at 8 p.m. Dec. 12, 13, 20 and 22; and 2 p.m.Dec.

13, 14, 20 and 21. The principal roles are danced by Melanie and Jason Mooney of the Ohio Ballet; they appear in the Snow Scene and as the Dew Drop Fairy and her Cavalier. Other leads are Hiroko Kurokawa Ota from Japan as the Sugarplum Fairy, Kyong Ho Kim from Korea as her Richard Dickinson from the Ohio Ballet as the Nutcracker Soldier and lead Russian trepak, John Rampage as Drosselmeyer, Elizabeth Hisas-hima; as young Clara, and Jennifer Kakuno as Fritz. More than 100 dancers will perform. A special highlight will be a free' Sugarplum Tea with Santa after each matinee performance.

Tickets: $19 for adults, $16 for children, military, and senior citizens. Charge by phone: 422-9772. Wayne Harada Please join us for this special snowing of Paul Victoria McCormack inspired fine art photography. fEautta NOHEA GALLERY I- Mid-Paciflc School of the Arts at Mid-Pacific Institute presents Fall Dance Melanie and Jason Mooney: "Nutcracker" principals. AWi In i ill (fit i I Concert '97 Friday, December 5 and i i 'A Hawaii Ballet Theatre i'W J8 Saturday, December 6 at 8:00 PM Bakken Auditorium on the Mid-Pacific Institute Campus 2445 Kaala St.

II Honolulu, HI General Admission $5 Students, Seniors, Children under 12 $3 Call ii1 Lhoreoeraohv bv Tickets at the door 973-5071 for more information Dance Faculty Michael Casupang, (si Lisa Jay, Paul Maley, Sylvia Yamada and Yukie Shiroma Guest Choreography by Marcelo Pacleb and Eve Walstrum WUIIWt. WIUUIU 1860 Ala Moana Btvd Mon-Fri tin 10pm Sat till 5pm.