This is what I’m thinking:

* Channel 2 made a nice makeup call Wednesday night when it did a brief story about whether young professionals would still be willing to go downtown after last weekend’s shootings near the City Grill.

The station interviewed a young male and a young female — who live and work in the city — out of a crowd of 400 professionals attending a meeting at a restaurant-bar a block from City Grill.

Both professionals interviewed said they wouldn’t be deterred from going downtown because of the shootings.

A few days earlier, the station ran a web comment from a mother who said she would no longer go downtown to attend Buffalo Sabre games with her daughter.

Channel 7 also previously ran an interview with a young woman who said she rarely goes downtown and would be more hesitant to do so now.

TV news can turn perception into reality with such reports so it is always good to add some balance.

Of course, TV news tends to use one or two people to speak for the community and it isn’t a good practice. But at least Channel 2 showed Wednesday that there are two schools of thought about the issue.

Unquestionably, the attitudes of people who live and work downtown are more important than those who occasionally go there and are predisposed to be nervous about the recent violent acts and less likely to go downtown anyway.

I would have preferred more interviews and a longer story. But at least one station acknowledged that balance and perspective are needed to the view that the shootings will severely harm downtown.

* Channel 2 also was the only station Wednesday to speculate strongly that the City Grill shooter “may have” left the area for the Carolinas. Channel 2 reporter Marissa Bailey cited a source close to the investigation for that report at the top of the station’s 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.

The qualifier “may have” makes the story pretty safe, since it also means that the shooter may not have left the area.

I didn’t see the speculation get the same attention on any other station or in The Buffalo News.

Channel 2 “may have” a scoop or it “may have” egg on its face eventually.

* The media was understandably hesitant to say anything negative about the crime victims immediately following Saturday’s shootings. But notably Channel 4’s Rich Newberg said Wednesday that Willie McCaa – who was killed — was scheduled to go on trial for robbery this week. Newberg added he had been shot two years ago.

* Channel 4 is using former Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark as a legal analyst. A few days ago, he phoned in some comments. It would be nice if the station mentioned that Clark is a former DA.

* It is fashionable to say that the City Grill shootings have given Buffalo some bad national press attention. However, that doesn’t extend to the “Today” show on NBC. I’ve watched it three mornings this week and there hasn’t been a word about the shootings during its news segments. Most of the coverage has come from cable news, which has 24 hours to fill. Perhaps because violent city crimes are so common the Buffalo shootings are not a big national story for network news. In a way, that’s sad.

* Unintentionally funny of the line of the week comes from Channel 4 reporter Lorey Schultz after saying two police cruisers arrived in a neighborhood. “I’m not sure what that’s all about,” said Schultz before adding she would find out before the next newscast.

 The comment illustrates how determined the stations are to appear to be on top of things. In the good old days – which might have been a few years ago – most reporters wisely didn’t say anything if they didn’t know what was happening.

*Showtime reports that the Laura Linney (see above) comedy, “The Big C,” about a schoolteacher that decides to live life to the fullest after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, was its highest-rated original series premiere in eight years. Monday’s episode had 4 million viewers nationwide. That speaks to Linney’s reputation. It also indicates that the fear was unfounded that many viewers would be turned off by the idea of using cancer as a backdrop for comedy.

 pergament@msn.com   

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