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"It was incredibly plastic," says panel member Nina Bell of Northwest Environmental Advocates. "I'm not trying to be insulting. But there was an extremely heavy emphasis, both before and during, to not say anything controversial." Sten is quick to praise KGW for doing the show but says he found the emphasis on harmonious accord curious. "I thought the pointing fingers thing was misplaced--the idea you can't disagree on something without getting upset," Sten says. "I think disagreement leads to change." The town hall followed a documentary by KGW reporter Jon Catton, who must not have been wearing his ribbon during filming, because he didn't pull any punches in placing blame. Catton's documentary pointed out that in settling the valley, we've transformed the Willamette from a free-flowing river to a polluted channel with stripped and overbuilt banks that is prone to flooding and unable to assimilate the toxins that ooze into it from industry, agriculture and city streets. "The documentary was fantastic," says Francis of Willamette Riverkeeper, "and I was heartbroken the 'town hall' didn't delve into solutions." The point of the hour-and-a-half special was to bring the problems of the river to the public's attention, says Larry Silverman, executive producer at KGW. He says he was not aware of anyone being warned to make nice. But, he adds, "The goal was to try to build some common understandings, and everyone has their own issues and they are pretty passionate about it." John Miller, chairman of the Willamette River Basin Task Force, rejects criticism of the show. "You have to remember that this is the first time in the history of commercial television that a major station dedicated an hour and a half of prime time...to a natural resource issue such as the Willamette Basin," he says. Miller admits there has been some frustration from environmentalists who think the state has dallied too long in dealing with the problems of the river. "That's legitimate," he says, but insists the state task force is moving forward with "blinding speed." Bell is skeptical, noting that as with the KGW show, an effort is being made to keep things friendly. "We have a governor who is heavily promoting the idea that if we all talk to each other and hold hands, everything is going to come out OK in the end," she says. Bell notes that Catton's documentary evoked the spirit of former Gov. Tom McCall, who is credited with the nationally acclaimed Willamette River cleanup in the 1970s. She suspects any ribbon tied to him would have quickly frayed. "He pointed fingers and used the law to the maximum force necessary to clean up the river," she says. |
