Chapter 8

Reading the report of the recent ratings of television news programs in the Austin, Texas area brought a smile to the news editor, Burt Radisson’s face. The weekday evening and late evening news programs were rated number one and had increased their viewership lead over last month’s ratings. The weekend news programs were also rated number one and had a slight increase in their ratings over the prior month. He wrote “Good job” on the report and asked his executive assistant to route this report through the news teams and the producers. Burt knew how this increase in these ratings came about.

The weekday news program improvement started when Burt in a discussion with Dan Fagan, the television station manager suggested an idea he had. He thought they should contact Paul Conners, a syndicated local newspaper columnist about doing a short commentary three times a week on the news. Paul Conners doing his commentaries improved the weekday news program ratings. Dan then later came up with the idea of having Paul become a newsreader and having him freely comment on the news he was reporting. Couple Paul’s doing that with Dan’s philosophy of having good-looking women on the news programs were the reasons these news programs were attracting viewers causing this increase in the ratings.

Burt knew that Paul Conners was not bashful or reluctant to make comments on controversial topics. That was shown by what he said on the Supreme Court decision that overturned “Roe vs Wade.”

Paul said, “I know emotions are running high because of the “Dobbs” decision. This decision as I see it, does not say it is illegal nor does it prohibit a woman from having an abortion. What it does say is that there are certain rights a citizen has that are specifically stated in the Constitution, such as the right to bear arms, the right to assemble, free speech, and others, Those are rights the government cannot infringe on or take away. The right to have an abortion is not specifically stated in the Constitution. The rights that are not stated in the Constitution, per the Tenth Amendment, “are reserved to the States.” Therefore, it is up to the State you are in or you travel to, that decides if a woman can have an abortion. While this ruling is controversial, and you may not like it, this is a very straightforward reading of the Constitution. Some States will need to amend their present laws to allow abortions, which means you need to let your State Representative know what your feelings are on this matter.”

Needless to say, there were many viewer responses to Paul’s comments with the majority of those from women being negative. Burt informed Paul of this and said it would be best if Paul would better explain his position on abortion. That had Paul comment on the following day’s newscast.

“Based on the many responses received to my comments on abortion, let me clarify what my position is. I am not against a State’s law or Congressional legislation that authorizes nationwide a woman’s right to have an abortion up to and during the first trimester of pregnancy. After that time, there should only be abortions for the reasons of rape, incest, and the health of the mother. I support a ban on partial birth abortion, a barbaric procedure in which a viable baby is murdered. The Roe vs Wade decision did state that late-term abortions can be legislated. That is my position on this contentious subject and I respect your right to have a differing opinion.”

The viewers’ responses indicated the great majority agreed with Conners.

The weekend news program Burt knew followed a similar format of having attractive women on that news team. There was also a weekend weatherman Craig Randall, who was unique and maybe somewhat irreverent in how he discussed the weather. This weatherman showed clip art and made some random comments in discussing the weather which appeared to be unscripted. Because of his different approach, he attracted viewers who wanted to see what this weatherman’s comments would be.

Overall, as the news editor, Burt had no complaints about how things were going for him in the television business. Outside of the business, it was somewhat of a different story for Burt.

Burt was presently single or more specifically divorced. His marriage hadn’t been that good for a few years. The situation came to a head when Burt was offered the news editor position at Channel Four in Austin, Texas. His wife had just become an elementary school principal and did not want to give up that position and move to Austin. After some discussion, the problem was solved as to where each of them would live by their agreeing to a divorce.

He was forty-two years old and missed having the marital relations that he had when he was married. To be honest with himself, he knew he was not a handsome man and accepted the fact that he was an average-looking forty-two-year-old man. His looks weren’t going to attract any drop-dead gorgeous females and he acknowledged that. He also knew and could see by some of the photos of celebrities on the internet that physical beauty was only skin deep. How some of those good-looking actresses looked when they were in their twenties as opposed to how they looked now in their sixties without makeup, he could describe in two words, “absolutely frightening.”

Because of his feeling that way, he was more interested in finding a woman who had a warm personality as opposed to just having physical good looks. If he could become involved with a woman who had both, that would be great but so far that hadn’t happened. That didn’t mean he would disregard how a woman looked, he wouldn’t, but he knew it was more than the looks he wanted in a woman. He thought that the great majority of women weren’t that good-looking in the first place and those that were, weren’t interested in him. If some very attractive woman became interested in him, it probably was because of his position at work in that she thought he could do something for her in the television business. He would never become involved with a woman he perceived acted that way. He wouldn’t compromise his principles just to get some tail no matter how nice that would be.

Besides wanting female companionship, his second favorite thing to do was to golf. He was a decent golfer with a golf index of eleven. He golfed at a semi-private country club called Amber Lakes. He became friends with other golfers who golfed at this club. That evolved into Burt along with seven other golfers agreeing to have permanent tee times on Saturday at eight-ten and eight-twenty. He knew Dan Fagan had this type of arrangement with three golfers at a private country club.

When Burt started golfing at this club, he was told there had been a rumor that Amber Lakes when it was a private country club was going to be sold and houses built here. That rumor was put to rest when the new owner converted it into a semi-private golf club. Judging by the number of permanent tee times, the golf leagues, and corporate outings being held here, Burt would guess that this change in the club’s status resulted in it being a profitable business for the new owner.

Burt’s pursuit of female companionship resulted in him being currently involved with Tessa Carlin whom he had met at George Carson’s home. George was one of the eight Saturday morning golfers who invited that entire group of golfers along with a few other people to his house for a Sunday afternoon barbeque.