TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Debate simmers
over debateUnusual cooperation between competitive TV stations will result in an unusual six-station simulcast of the same program tonight.
The multi-station telecast of the gubernatorial debate has sparked debate about interactive polling during debates.
The face-off between front-running candidates Mazie Hirono and Linda Lingle will originate from the studios of noncommercial KHET-TV, but will also air live on KGMB, KHNL, KHON, KIKU and KITV from 7 to 8 p.m.
Oceanic Time Warner Cable offered the stations interactive polling through its digital service but only two stations accepted. Executives of two which declined have strong feelings about doing so.
KHON-TV and KGMB-TV will conduct two types of viewer polling.
During the debate, subscribers to Oceanic's digital cable service will see a prompt asking who they would vote for, assigning a different button on the remote for Democrat Mazie Hirono, Republican Linda Lingle or "undecided."
The method permits one vote per digital box, according to Oceanic President Nate Smith.
Other viewers will have the option of registering unlimited responses by calling one of three phone numbers. Results will be tallied and presented on each station's 10 p.m. newscast.
The two stations had planned a call-in poll before Oceanic made its proposal, said Rick Blangiardi, Hawaii market senior vice president for KGMB and KHON, both owned by Emmis Communications Corp. Results will merely be presented as viewer response, rather than a scientific poll, he said.
KHET will conduct its own Web-based poll asking a different question.
"We have something online where people can come to www.khet.org and they can vote there as far as who they thought won the debate," said Kay Kasamoto, communications specialist. Results will be presented on "Island Insights" immediately following the debate. Both shows are underwritten by the Hawaii Government Employees Association, which is encouraging its members to watch Hawaii Public Television.
Both KITV and KHNL chose not to use the digital polling.
KITV President and General Manager Mike Rosenberg feels the technology is wonderful but doesn't think this is the best way to use it.
"My fear in doing this interactive digital gimmick is that the result will be an unscientific survey of who won and I think that's very dangerous," he said.
It also appears to him to be a ploy to build audience.
"The whole point of this cooperation was not to see which station could get the most viewers to watch them but how all the stations could get as many viewers as possible to watch the total," Rosenberg said.
KHNL Vice President and General Manager John Fink is also skeptical.
"Since we're trying to be fair and do this as a public service I don't think this type of poll will be in the public interest," Fink said. "Even scientific polls have a margin of error."
Organized groups of viewers could easily influence the poll's outcome, Fink said, "and 75 percent of the population doesn't have digital to begin with so people have to be very careful how they assess or judge the results."
Neither of the campaigns had discussed the planned polling but agreed the results would be less than reliable.
"You're not qualifying the people who are voting in any way so it is very unscientific," said Lloyd Yonenaka, press secretary for Linda Lingle.
In the Hirono camp, spokeswoman Barbara Tanabe said, "I think unscientific polls do a disservice because they present misinformation based on accessibility to technology, so it tends to favor the very computer literate audiences and that really skews the results."
"It's not that we're for or against it but we feel these polls are very unscientific and a disservice to viewers," she said.
Oceanic's Nate Smith is eager to see how many people use the digital technology vs. the phone and dismisses talk about unscientific results.
"To me the more response you get the more chance you have of getting an accurate picture," Smith said.
KIKU-TV will simulcast the debate without the polling. "We think it's a community responsibility," he said. The station will rebroadcast the debate at noon Sunday in Vietnamese.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com