The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 25

MONDAY JUNE 30 2008 -r 3D i THE 1 EWS UBSERVER Life etc vt I 3 THE NEWS OBSERITH MONDAY JUNE 30 2008 Life etc 3D 9 i Swim style 1 BY HOLLY THomAs 1 -7 I 1 THE WASHINGTON POST '1 Ow that swimsuit season has struck be prepared with more Nthan just sunscreen a beach chair and the same boring bikini :74: 111 il 7 otll and flip-flops you've worn the past five summers Whether it irat gti i you're cruising the Riviera or lounging by the kiddie pool consider l)'-'''''' LrIA' I' 't 17 these fashion forward takes on the basic bathing get-up '''''N 1 --1 I i A 11 '4? i '07 i 1 i A 1 (- 1) i 44 1 i I Retro-inspired i 1 st- 4 i 't Give a nod to Betty Grable I 1 fJ 1 i is I ts A PlP 1 i -A 1 1 I with a pretty modestly cut suit such as Li 1 lly Pulitzer' Rita one ti 1 -1 1 4 piece (wwwlillypulitzercom) 1 4 1 1 1 'po ''n til I i i which comes with a removable halter tie To do retro right opt 43161t i I -ic- or 7- A for a suit in solid navy black or I 41 i tit '11111k 0- 2 red that adds interest with but i '4 it otszli TA -Ki I' hpleating ti tons ruching or 1 1----' 16 --ct-- The Keds collection of 1950s 1 1 44 -A inspired wedges including this I ibsr) striped pair (at department stores and wwwkedscom) ups A 1 's P'ii rh 144 he vintage ante without going I '''rt -7 immtommoltt overboard Wes Hohenstein NBC17's chief meteorologist applies makeup before the 6 o'clock show z-r Wes Hohenstein NBC17's chief meteorologist applies makeup before the 6 o'clock show 4- 'N Wes Hohenstein NBC17's chief meteorologist applies makeup before the 6 o'clock show Swim BY HOLLY Timm As THE WASHINGTON POST Now that swimsuit season has struck be prepared with more than just sunscreen a beach chair and the same boring bikini and flip-flops you've worn the past five summers Whether you're cruising the Riviera or lounging by the kiddie pool consider these fashion-forward takes on the basic bathing get-up Retro-inspired Give a nod to Betty Grab le with a pretty modestly cut suit such as Lilly Pulitzer's Rita one-piece (wwwlillypulitzercom) which comes with a removable halter tie To do retro right opt for a suit in solid navy black or red that adds interest with buttons ruching or pleating The Keds collection of 1950sinspired wedges including this striped pair (at department stores and wwwkedscom) ups the vintage ante without going overboard in style IIBC-17 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1D in all five of its weekday local news 1 STAFF PHOTO BY TAKAAKI IWABU NBC-171S GROWTH sumer tips and alerts td 1 rt BY THE NUMBERS NBC-17's site calls special atten- 6 am: up 33 percent since the Febru- ay report Still May ratings were down 24 -47-- nprepot from thP nrevimic vPar tion to features such as a blog roll health stories and "Decision 2008" which collects election stories --i e4 1 1 i ti-- Bold and bright Be it South Beach or Long Beach coastlines will be 11 BC-17 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1D in all five of its weekday local news slots 7 where has STAFF PHOTO BY TAKAAKI IWABU NBC-17'S GROWTH BY THE NUMBERS 6 am: up 33 percent since the February report Still May ratings were down 24 percent from the previous year sumer tips and alerts NBC-17's site calls special attention to features such as a blog roll health stories and "Decision 2008" which collects election stories it's Bold and bright Be it South Beach or Long Beach coastlines will be WALL a OLLAI Lii green hot pil yellow such a i Jolly Rancher net-a-porterco Temper your 0011101- hues with meta el some kap sandals (wwws1 for size a green hot pink yellow such Jolly Rancher net-a-portercom) Temper your hues with metallic some Jacques sandals for size ss 46r On the wild side Get on board with the season's falfd tribal trend by donning a graph- On the wild side Get on board with the season's tribal trend by donning a ablaze with teensy suits in eye-popping neon Freshen up the highlighter-bright look with suit that mixes lime and lemon as Shay Todd's bikini (www suit's splashy accents try Irene leather (wwwshopbopcom) on If you have few curves: Go for big prints and bright colors A belt can help create a waist Choose high-cut legs and low-cut necklines 1 If you're petite: Small frames can be overwhelmed by large prints so stick to delicate patterns or solids Deep V-necks and halter styles help make your torso appear longer and high-cut legs do the same for your gams life is very interesting so I thought it was a good fit" It's not too much of a leap since Bond actor Daniel Craig was one of the first celebrities Ford dressed in his namesake men's line launched last year which has a traditional English bespoke feel Ford first made a name for himself in the womenswear arena during his tenure as creative director of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent After his high-profile departure in 2004 he took his rock-star status dashing good looks and creative energies elsewhere launching fragrance and eyewear collections in 2005 He opened his first menswear store on Madison Avenue in April 2007 graphic suit with an animal-inspired print Designed by Rogan Gregory for Target this striped one-piece (at Target stores and www targetcom) with a high-cut leg hits the right balance between sultry and skimpy Pair a suit like this with a flat sandal that has a slightly tough vibe such as this studded suede pair (at Old Navy stores and wwwoldnavycom) ic suit with an animal-inspired print Designed by Rogan Greg- ory for Target this striped one- piece (at Target stores and www targetcom) with a high-cut leg hits the right balance between sultry and skimpy Pair a suit like this with a flat sandal that has a slightly tough vibe such as this studded suede pair (at Old Navy stores and wwwoldnavycom) Iii ii Ii '1 twistillousi I ---t I ell if04 Though not radically distinguishable from other local news sites nbc17com in combination with MyNC cum is putting more eyes on NBC-17 content than TV alone could "Our Web traffic year-to-year is up about 30 percent" says Leffler Why the change Leffler partly credits his station's progress to the 2006 sale of the station by former owner NBCUniversal to Media General Inc which is based in Virginia NBC-17 was one of NBC's smaller stations nationally Raleigh-Durham is ranked as television market No 28 Now the station is No 2 in Media General's roster which means more resources are directed to it Just last year says Leffler the station hired 72 people "For the purpose of this business the sale from NBC to Media General was by far the best thing that could have ever happened to us" he says NBC-17 runs nightly promo spots starring Leffler who promises viewers a newscast that is 'accurate balanced and to the point" If that "balanced" part sounds familiar Wilson is quick to point out that NBC-17 isn't biting Fox News' ideological "fair and balanced" mantra I think 'balance' means inclusive" says Wilson think what people are talking about are points of view People want inclusive news They want to see viewpoints that reflect their own or reflect viewpoints they are at least aware of so that they can understand them better" As an example she points to this year's coverage of Chapel Hill murder victim Eve Carson We were cognizant of the fact that there are other crimes of this nature that don't touch a community in the same way" she says "and therefore sometimes don't warrant this kind of coverage All relatives of victims feel the same as the folks who loved and knew Eve Carson We just really tried to make sure that we were including all the people that really wanted us to hear that point of view" Listening tours The station conducts regular community listening tours with groups of about 15 people in an effort to gaugre concerns about their own conmumities Forums such as these Leffler says have made NBC-17 more aware of the public's desire for "hyper-locar journalism stories that often get overlooked by traditional media outlets but can be produced quiddy and cheaply thanks to the growing use of digital media As for accuracy Leffler offers viewers an e-mail address where they can point out inaccuracies lodge complaints and make suggestions Leffler handles the bulk of the e-mail himself and many are forwarded to the reporters involved Wilson says that corrections to flawed stories are made as soon as possible sometimes later within the same newscast The phrase "to the point" Leffler says is about not wasting viewers' time He says the station tries to avoid pointless repetition Anchors often refer viewers to the WNCN Web site for additional information after the main points of a story have been hit "Look we're the No 3 station" says Leffler "We've got to do things a little bit differently We've got to work harder We've got to be more creative "We've got to listen to what people are telling us" dannyhooleOnewsobservercom or (919) 829-4728 even at pm NBC-17 no local news competition except Time Warner Cable News FL WRAL takes a commanding lead in four of those slots delivering an average four times as many households as NBC-17 WTVD which leads the pack at 7 pm with 'Jeopardy" and at 7:30 with "Wheel of Fortune" outpaces NBC-17 in news overall by more than 3-to-1 Leffler says NBC-17 has no plans to compete against the other two stations with a noon newscast He added that he hopes NBC-17 will begin producing newscasts in high-definition (as the other two stations already do) by early next year Getting a new look There's an upbeat mood at NBC17's North Raleigh studios Renova lions were completed early this year to give the newscasts a sleek modern blue-hued cable-newsy look with visible TV screens behind the anchors during the seated portion of the newscast (at times the anchors are standing) "I think the set really helps" says sports director Penn Holdemess when asked about the ratings improvements The old set had that traditional single-background look of local news The new circular one with its anchor-desk-on-wheels allows for several different "looks" for the show Along with the new looks there's new blood When Holderness started his job in July 2007 the nightly anchor desk was complete Early that year former MSNBC anchor Bill Fitzgerald came on board to co-anchor the nightly news with Melanie Sanders the veteran of the bunch she's been there 512 years and worked alongside several different anchors before Fitzgerald Energetic meteorologist Wes Hohenstein joined the crew in September 2006 "We made investment in our on-air talent in terms of trying to create some longevity and consistency" Leffler says Holdemess for one sounds as if he plans to stick around for a while "This is not the biggest market I've ever been in" says Holderness who grew up in Durham and passed up a gig at ESPN to come back home "It's not the biggest station I've ever been at It's probably the most satisfying job I've ever had in television The leadership right now they trust me enough to do what I want to do and to take the time to do it" The anchor team has genuine chemistry even when the camera is off They chat and joke during commercial breaks and the atmosphere is light and relaxed on the set "We have a good friendship at work and outside of work which is nice" Sanders says Carving out a small niche NBC-17's brisk newscasts are heavy on local stories with three-point "bullet" graphics used often to pinpoint details A review of several broadcasts shows virtually no celebrity news (which WIND and WRAL include in some newscasts) and stories about national politics are often framed by NBC-17's Kim Genardo who has appeared nationally on MS-NBC during this election season WRAL's reputation is based on long-established trust and WIID's hook is breaking news As NBC-17 tries to establish its own brand story choice is crucial says Leffler "We got rid of almost all the blotter crime stories" he says "Instead we've invested our resources in covering 6 pm: Monday through Sunday grew 18 percent from last year and 33 percent from February 2008 7 pm: 32 percent more households Monday through Saturday since February 2008 and 7 percent since last year in the one slot where NBC-17 doesn't compete for a local broadcast news audience 11 pm: dipped 3 percent Monday through Sunday from last year but did 33 percent better in May than it did in February and lost a smaller percentage of households than WRAL and WPM in that half-hour slot growth and infrastructure in covering health in covering faith and values in covering the things that people have told us are important to them" One endearing funny feature of the 7 pm Wednesday newscasts is "Pint-sized Sports" in which Holdemess shows highlights of children's sporting events Holdemess narrates the local action in a silly mock-pompous deep announcer's voice and even interviews the little athletes It's in keeping with his promise in news-hour promo spots that NBC-17 will bring viewers some "positive stories" News director Nannette Wilson is impressed by the dedication Holderness and his camera crew show in putting the project together "They shoot the whole games" Wilson says "He picks the highlights and edits these stories himself He puts a lot into it You can't watch these stories and not smile" She says the feature is made for the Raleigh-Durham area because it speaks to the way many 7 pm viewers live their lives "They're out on the soccer fields with their kids" she says Live where they report Leffler says be wants NBC-17 to concentrate on "hyper-local news" and to that end camera-toting reporters cover specific geographic areas where they are required to live It's similar to the "self-contained" approach to reporting at News IA Behind the scenes there's a youthful atmosphere at NBC-17 particularly among those who handle Web content which says something about the forward approach Leffler likes to talk about Web host Page Crawford a UNCChapel Hill graduate was hired in August 2007 to be the "face" of Web content Reporters feed the Web sites all day and some of those stories are chosen for the evening newscasts Like every other media outlet NBC-17 is constantly striving to find new ways to reach multi-tasking cyber-savvy consumers under 35 "We are truly turning ourselves into a content-aggregation business and a content-distribution business" Leffler says That includes Web sites nbacom and MyNCcom The latter site collects content from professional media outlets NBC-17 reporters and site users The main site nbc17com has much in common with sites for WRAL and WTV'D All three sort the day's news under national world local and "strange" or 'wacky" headers Though NBC-17 eschews celebrity news and gossip on the air the site does have feature for juicy items from "TMZ" the Hollywood tabloid show that airs on NBC-17 weekday mornings at Each site does have its own locally focused stamp For WTVD it's the presence of a big video player running local stories at the top of its home page For WRAL it's the "5 On Your Side" feature that offers con SHOPPING FORA NEW SWIMSUIT? This year do your homework before heading into the fitting room Identify your body type then choose suits according to these shape-specific guidelines If you're curvy: Choose one-piece suits with waist-slimming details like a wrap a crisscross or ruching to emphasize a tiny waist Avoid skimpy string bikinis and instead look for wide bands to help streamline your look Bottom-heavy women should pair eye-catching patterned tops with solid bottoms Ford dresses Bond BY ADAM TSCHORN LOS ANGELES TIMES MILAN Italy It's official: When James Bond returns for the next installment of the 007 franchise in November he'll be ditching the Brioni suits he's worn for the last five movies and taking up with Tom Ford Ford confirmed the news last week during men's fashion week as he was preparing to open his new five-story 11478-squarefoot menswear store in Milan's "Golden Triangle" luxury shopping district "It's a terrific representation for us" said Ford against the backdrop of the polished Macassar wood walls of his made-tomeasure suiting salon "Bond's I I I I I.