Wausau Daily Herald from Wausau, Wisconsin • 37

Guillaume stars in now serias2E EM Southfork Ranch draws tourists5E Weddings cngagsmonts6E Bare bones Linda Ellerbee I i "5 DD mm WJFW's smal staff challenges the 'big' guys By Tom Alesia Wausau Daily Herald RHINELANDER Substitute anchor Chris Oatman and Sports Director Scott Ablin appeared a bit haggard during WJFW-TV's 10 p.m. newscast on a Friday last fall. Two hours before, both had stood in a driving rainstorm to cover news in this case, filming a pair of high school football games. On the air, Ablin joked of the conditions: "There was some guy loading animals two-by-two." eet the underdogs of local television: the news staff of the smallest station in a small media market. 0 I Opinion polls reduce reality to a hunch If public opinion is defined as what we think other people think, then a public opinion poll may be defined as what other people think we think other people think.

The poppycock possibilities here are practically infinite. Oh, maybe not so much in the poll-conducting part, but certainly many things can go wrong in the result-interpreting part. However, this is just one of those little risks you take when you reduce reality to a collective hunch. And call it science. For example, not too long ago a poll was taken to find out what The American Public thinks of the reported wrongs of Mr.

Wright. (Naturally, the part of The American Public was played by 1,203 people you and I never met, but never mind; they call that science, too.) One question the pollsters asked people was: Should Jim Wright step down as speaker of the House of Representatives if he isn't cleared of all the ethics allegations against him? Forty-nine percent said he should. Forty-one percent said he shouldn't. Ten percent said they weren't sure. Those are the facts.

Now, pretend you're a reporter (don't worry; it gets easier with practice). The crusty but kind-hearted editor tosses a copy of this poll in the general direction of your tender parts, but gently, the way Goose Gossage used to toss a baseball in the general direction of some batter's brain. If the crusty but kind-hearted editor misses, you have to write the poll story (if he doesn't miss, you still have to write the poll story but it will take longer). So we'll pretend he misses. You've got the poll but before you can write your story, you have to figure out what your story is.

All right, you've seen the question, read the answer. What do the numbers tell you? What's the most striking thing about these numbers? What's the most important conclusion we can draw from that? What's your story? Most reporters said this; "According to a recent poll, nearly half of all Americans think Jim Wright should step down as speaker of the House of Representatives if he isn't cleared of all the ethics allegations against him." A perfectly accurate tiling to say. Possibly an important thing to know. And that is what we'd call a story. However, as you are only pretending to be a reporter and therefore have a brain of your own, you may have said this: "According to a recent poll, more than half of all Americans either do not think Jim Wright should step down as speaker of the House of Representatives if he isn't cleared of all ethics allegations against him or they're not sure." Also a perfectly accurate thing to say.

Probably a much more important thing to know. And that is what I'd call the story the kind that makes the little hairs on the back of my neck shimmy with shock. What were more than half the people they polled smoking, anyway? If a man were to be found guilty on 69 separate counts of unethical conduct, what possible justification could anybody conceivably find for letting him remain leader of the largest legislative body in the United States government and two heartbeats away from the most powerful executive office in the world? Well, the poll had an answer for that, too. It seems 75 percent of all Americans are strongly convinced other members of Congress frequently break the same rules. Should we conclude, then, that three-quarters of all Americans believe it's OK to cheat if all the other kids are doing it, too? Or that one-quarter of all Americans believe Tinkerbell took over the Capitol? Excuse me but I think I'll go lie down someplace until my head stops hurting.

It's my fault. I should have remembered that when you play the polls, any number can lose. Or win. Or both. From now on, you can draw your own confusions.

And call it science. And so it goes. Linda Ellerbee is a King Features columnist. i(t "Via Bob RadumWautau Daily Htrald During WJFW's 5 p.m. weekday newscast, news director Mike Michalak serves as anchor with Scott Ablin handling sports.

The floor director is Audrey Triebs. They write, report, edit, photograph and appear on camera. At one time, they even built the set. WJFW's seven full-time, on-air reporters produce 11, half-hour newscasts each week a task that would give Dan Rather hives. "It's the classic example of a skeleton crew," said News Director Mike Michalak, who is also an anchor and assignment editor, "but it works." Based in Rhinelander with a two-person bureau 60 miles away in Wausau, WJFW (channel 12) offers 5 p.m.

and 10 p.m. newscasts each weekday as well as one on Sunday nights. The latter two broadcasts put them in direct competition with Wausau's WSAW and WAOW both of whom have on-air staffs twice as large as WJFW's. Hoping to grab a slice albeit a small one of the central Wisconsin audience, WJFW presents a live, three-minute news report from Wausau during its 5 p.m. broadcast.

"Our bureau is in a city many, many times the size of the surrounding counties we primarily serve," said Michalak, 34. "We had to go where the people are. We had to expand. Trees don't show up in the ratings book." Still, WJFW's heart (and its studio) remains in Rhinelander, a city with less than 8,000 residents. It's not unusual for a company's groundbreaking to be the station's lead story.

"Everybody goes through slow news days," Michalak said. "You make calls to the sheriff departments, and the biggest event of the day might be someone locking keys in their car." He smiles. "If we were any smaller, we'd probably run that." Michalak said Rhinelander residents appreciate WJFW's local newscasts, but they probably don't realize the uniqueness of having TV news in a small town. "You look at TV like you look at a water faucet," he said. "You turn it on, and it delivers." In 1978, a 24-year-old Michalak joined WJFW-TV after working in radio since high school.

For the next four years, he served as a one-man news team. "It was a hoot," he said. Now, Michalak, 34, hires fresh-faced, recent college graduates, offering them their stories from a roomy office on Scott Street. Technically, the live reports look, at times, less than picture perfect. (WJFW is working with Jones Intercable to improve the signal, they say.) The pair also hopes WJFW continues to gain credibility in central Wisconsin.

"1 feel we're a part of this community as much as any other reporters," Langbehn said. "In general, people are rooting for this station. Thev want this station to do well. It's iust sometimes we don't have the money or the tools that the the opportunity to learn TV news through rapid-fire, on-the-job experience. Reporters' longevity at WJFW, an NBC affiliate, often doesn't last more than a year or two especially when bigger stations beckon.

"With new talent," Michalak said, "you're not going to be paid all that well. The payment is: 'I worked in And people recognize throughout the Midwest that you know how to work and that you can handle any hours." Ablin, 22, graduated from the University of Iowa last spring. After more than three months of job hunting, he became WJFW's one-man sports staff. "I feel very fortunate to have this position," Ablin said. "I know there are a lot of people in similar situations who never get jobs in this business because they didn't have their resume at the right station at the right time." Weatherman Gary Cannalte, 28, graduated in 1987 with a degree in meteorology and a minor in communications from Northern Illinois University.

He taped a sample forecast by renting studio time at a Rockford TV station, then mailed his resume to stations within 500 miles of Chicago. Last July, Cannalte landed at WJFW leaving his job as manager of a suburban Chicago McDonald's. "It's the classic example of a skeleton crew, but it works." Mike Michalak News director With WJFW's signal reaching through cable TV systems the northern tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Cannalte watches a whirlwind weather scene. "I've had calls from the U.P.: 'It might not be snowing in Rhinelander, but it's snowing like crazy up WJFW's Melissa Langbehn and Julie Hertel cover central Wisconsin, especially Wausau, Merrill and Antigo. Though WJFW has maintained a bureau in Wausau for three years, residents sometimes forget the station's presence.

'Channel Hertel recalls someone saying, 'is that out of An '80 graduate of D.C. Everest High School, Langbehn joined WJFW nearly four years ago. Until September 1987, the station's two Wausau staff members drove tapes of their stories to Rhinelander each day. Now, Langbehn and Hertel transmit omers nave. Consider their live reports: Langbehn sits behind a desk, facing a stationary, unmanned camera without a teleprompter (which would display the news' text).

The only other person in the studio is Hertel, who works in the control room. Technical troubles often pop up. A recent live interview with Gov. Tommy Thompson caused a particularly hair-raising event in the studio. "We had a microphone check, and there was just this loud buzz sound," Hertel said.

"Two minutes before air, we didn't have any audio on him. We gave him another microphone and put it on a mike stand seconds before he went on. "It turned out fine," she said. "And the governor's never forgotten us. He knows what we're up against." Tops in books BOTTOM Tops in pop singles 1.

I'll Be There For You Bon Jovl 2. Like a Prayer Madonna 3. Real Love Jody Watley Hot 2. U2: Rattle and Hum Paramount 3. Jane Fonda's Complete Workout Warner 4.

Callanetics MCA 5. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial MCA Rentals 1. Big CBS Fox 2. A Fish Called Wanda CBS-Fox 3.

Crocodile Dundee II Paramount 4. Cocktail Touchstone 5. Die Hard CBS-Fox Source: Billboard Tops in albums fit 1. Like a Prayer Madonna 2. N' Lies Guns N' Roses 3.

Loc ed After Dark Tone Loc Black sheets: Solid black and black patterned sheets are covering the beds. About 50 black sheets sold last year at Pratesi, an upscale New York linen store. This year: 200 sold. Wamsutta says customers are snapping them up. Field-crest has three new black patterns.

Linens 'n things says black sheet sales are brisk. Fiction 1. The Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie 2. A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving 3. Star Danielle Steel 4.

We Are Still Married: Stories and Letters Garrison Keillor Nonfiction 1. Going Within: A Guide to Inner Transformation Shirley MacLaine 2. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten Robert Fulghum 3. Wealth Without Risk Charles Givens 4. One Up on Wall Street Peter Lynch with John Rothchild Source: Publishers Weekly Tops in country Memorable 1.

Is It Still Over Randy Travis 2. If I Had You Alabama 3. Young Love The Judds Source: Billboard Not Tops in movies Tree pollen Tree pollen is at its peak over much of the country, as a long season starts for 15 million hay fever sufferers. This year's pollen crop may be especially heavy in the Northeast and other parts of the country that had a mild winter, says Dr. Allen P.

Kaplan, president of the American Academy of Allergy and "Someday, in a few years, I think I'll go back to 'Star Then it'll be a couple more years to develop the project." George Lucas at the new Disney-MGM Studios theme park in Orlando last weekend where he dedicated the new Indiana Jones stunt theater he's developed for the park. A team player: Merrill's Clarence Glenetzke was a top pitcher for the former Wausau Lumberjacks and Merrill Rangers. Now retired, he still enjoys the company of his teammates. Page 3E. 1.

Pet Sematary Paramount 2. K-9 Universal 3. Major League Paramount 4. Criminal Law Hemdale Source: Variety Tops in videocassettes Sales 1. Moonwalker CBS.