KCRA & the Safeway Meat Scandal (22)
It's all too easy to be cynical about what KCRA finally aired. There was actually a perverse kind of balance to it: both sides' positions were left vague and unsubstantiated, while we sat on the most important and interesting information we had--regardless of which side it would have helped the most.
Again, the result was not earth-shattering. Most viewers may never have noticed that anything was wrong. How many television stations do provide enough pertinent information about controversial subjects for their viewers to form reasonable evaluations of them? Coverage like KCRA's on the Safeway meat issue has unfortunately become television's stock-in-trade.
Our viewers most likely just followed their pre-existing inclinations in sizing up what little they saw of the story. Those who disliked big corporations no doubt knew immediately that Safeway was bilking consumers. Those who were more inclined to dislike Mexicans could probably tell right away that this was just another one of Cesar Chavez' Commie plots.
Maybe the only viewers who felt really uncomfortable with what little they'd seen were those who happened to dislike both big corporations and Mexicans.
