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Regardless of how one feels about his yes vote on same-sex marriage Friday night, State Sen. Mark Grisanti gave Western New Yorkers a reason to be proud.
And the Republican has Time Warner Cable’s YNN to thank.
The 24-hour cable news channel carried the speeches Friday by senators before the 33-29 vote in favor of same-sex marriage.
To tell you what my Friday night was like, I watched the coverage for about 30-40 minutes (I didn’t hear everyone) and couldn’t believe my eyes or ears. My immediate thought was how did some of these guys (they were all guys) get elected?
A few of the speeches by senators were rambling, incoherent and defensive.
Grisanti stepped up and came pretty directly to the point in a powerful, well-written speech that he delivered impeccably.
The manner in which he spoke should have had WNYers talkin’ proud even if many of them didn’t agree with his decision to flip-flop from his pre-election stand.
The guy can talk and talk well.
I also was proud of YNN, a channel that is so easy to ignore most of the time. But it has become the go-to-channel when the State Legislature or some other government body or board is debating a significant issue or a congressman is resigning in shame.
Grisanti’s performance was so impressive that his speech was the only one carried on the NBC Nightly News coverage of the same-sex marriage issue on Saturday. The network carried a brief clip of Grisanti explaining his reason for switching his position on Friday.
The national coverage of the controversial issue prompted Howard Kurtz, the former Washington Post media critic who hosts the CNN media-issue show “Reliable Sources,” to ask Sunday if it was too “celebratory” rather than objective.
Kurtz clearly felt that the media had far too much coverage of people celebrating in the streets and too little of those who opposed the decision.
His panelists essentially agreed. But one member, Craig Crawford (see above) , gave the best explanation of why that was the case. He suggested that journalists have always had “a soft spot” for civil rights issues, which is how many people – especially young people — view same-sex marriage.
The position of many younger voters has even made some Republican pundits question whether the party is “on the wrong side of the issue” in the long-term. After all, young voters eventually become older voters.
While Grisanti wasn’t available to the local network affiliates for interviews over the weekend, Channel 2 caught up with State Sen. Pat Gallivan at the Gus Macker basketball tournament in downtown Buffalo.
Gallivan, a Republican, explained that it was a difficult decision but he voted no because “in the end, I represent a very conservative district.”
That raises the question of whether state senators should vote how they think their constituents would want them to vote as Gallivan did or whether they should vote what their consciences tell them as Grisanti did.
If politicians always voted how their constituents would want them to vote, history tells us the world would be a very different and much less hospitable place.
* Sports update: Remember when former Channel 4 weekend anchor Mylous Hairston used to anchor sports as well as news when regular sportscasters John Murphy and Paul Peck were off?
The practice is continuing at the station. On Sunday, Nalina Shapiro, one of the members of Channel 4’s Kiddie Corps, did the sportscast. For the most part, she did a presentable job. With Amelia Segal, another member of the Kiddie Corps, doing weather, the Sunday newscast on the top-rated station in town once again had the appearance of a college TV station.
Alan Pergament was the television critic for The Buffalo News for 28 years. He currently is an adjunct professor at Buffalo State College and Medaille College, teaching courses in communications. He also writes a monthly column on the media for Buffalo Spree magazine.
Say one thing, then do another. Typical politician . Just in time for summer, “flip flops “
Boo hoo, the xians didn’t get coverage being mad that two consenting adults do something. Big whoop.
WIVB certainly did have the appearance of a college station. Nalina Shapiro actually did better than usual, she flubs so many lines that it gets embarrassing at times. She also has a really annoying habit of gesticulating with her hands, not something one expects from an anchor. WIVB seems to have fixed that by tighter than usual camera shots that cut out her hands.
Amelia Sega needs to choose better outfits with a green screen in mind, too much “shimmer” last night.
and…
YNN is becoming the “go-to” channel for more than just Albany issues, they do a much better job than the “real” stations when it comes to breaking storm events. Sad state of affairs, a kids station beating the “professionals”.
Yeah, I had to do a double-take last week when I saw Melissa Holmes also doing the sports on the 10:00 Sunday broadcast.
Isn’t it obvious what Time Warner’s game is? To keep their customers from switching over to DirecTV and getting the NFL Network by providing them this little YNN?
Good Lord, Professor, what speech were YOU watching? Grisanti (who I think did the right thing by the way) rambled on for twice as long as he had to..mostly because he repeated several of his main points. In fact I swear to God I thought he actually lost his place in the middle of his remarks. I can’t believe you actually thought that was a good speech. It was awful! (Then again you’re the one who believes John Murphy stands among the elite of NFL play-by-play guys–when he’s far from that!) I would suggest you go to YouTube and find the remarks made from the floor of the State Senate by Sen. Diane Savino. Now THAT, m’boy..is some fine speechifyin’