It's been a few weeks now since anchor Stacey Bell left the studios for the final time at WJW Fox 8. Now Tracy McCool is settling into her role next to the inimitable Bill Martin. I am certain that eventually, I will find that Tracy has taken Stacey's place in my news-viewer heart. But, first, about Stacey.....Right now, I am still missing Stacey. Too often today, local TV news presents the latest random nonsense dug up from Reuter's "Oddly Enough" file as if it's legitimate content. It's not. It's nonsense. The Smoking Toddler, the Werewolf Boy, all of these stories are nonsense, not anything that really matters to local viewers.
It may be boring, it may not test well with the consultants, but what we need to hear is what our local elected officials are doing about our streets, our sewers, and our water. That really matters to our lives. Sorry, but The Smoking Toddler doesn't matter. (And by the way, that's not to say that the kid shouldn't knock it off.)
So what does this have to do with Stacey? Because Stacey knew it was nonsense. Her mere silence at the end of such tripe spoke volumes. Her quick pitches to Mr. Goddard after such stories were silent, sort of non-judgmental judginess about the newsworthiness of the preceding story. She knew. And we knew that she knew. Just the look on her face made it clear.
Miss ya Stacey. And your silence.
