MEDIA : Cawthorne Runs Through His Paces at ‘Anchor School’

In the television news industry it’s known as “anchor school,” which invokes images of well-tailored talking heads sitting at little desks, listening to lectures on such topics as the Pros and Cons of Breast Pocket Hankies and Your Friend, Hair Mousse.

In a sense, that’s not far off. Anchor schools, which most anchors go through at one time or another, are simply sessions with television consultants designed to teach and/or remind anchors of the tricks of the news-reading trade.

Former Urban League of San Diego president Herb Cawthorne, hired at the beginning of this month by KGTV (Channel 10) as an anchor, commentator and reporter, recently returned from a version of anchor school, an intensive session in Iowa with Channel 10’s consultant, Magid & Associates.

“Anchoring is a lot harder than it looks,” said Cawthorne.

Cawthorne has hosted talk shows in the past, but he has no anchoring experience. He started at Channel 10 on July 1, but, except for some quick fill-in duty anchoring Channel 10’s news updates on CNN, he has yet to do any real on air work, as the station tries to mold him into a professional television journalist.

In Iowa, “the focus was to get me to relax and be myself and not try to put on the air of Walter Cronkite,” Cawthorne said.

The emphasis these days is more on “spirit and attitude” than “hair and clothing,” he said.

Closer to home, Cawthorne said he has taped “20 or 30” practice commentaries in preparation for his “Perspective” role.

Cawthorne is tentatively slotted to begin a commentary rotation with Michael Tuck and reporter Marti Emerald during the week of Aug. 6. Tuck’s last day as the station’s main anchor will be Aug. 17.

It wasn’t exactly akin to the dramatic shot of Flight 182 plummeting into a San Diego neighborhood, or even the image of Carlton Fisk celebrating his game-winning home run in the ’75 World Series. Heck, as special San Diego moments go, it may rank somewhere below former Councilman Bill Cleator touching the queen of England and Steve Garvey admitting that he had fathered a couple of kids out of wedlock.

But only photographer Andy Hayt, shooting for the National, captured on film the event all the nation was talking about Wednesday night.

Even though it’s an image now burned into the psyche of all sports fans, thanks to television coverage, Hayt was apparently the only print photographer who managed to capture Barr’s crotch grab and spit. His photos were picked up by the Associated Press and dozens of other outlets.

Hayt, who has shot photos for The Times and Sports Illustrated, said he has never received this much attention over a single photo. Newsweek magazine and several tabloids were among a long list of publications that contacted him.

“You name it, I’ve heard from them,” Hayt said, declining to give details.

He specializes in sports photography, but he lingered on Barr for just a few more seconds than the other photographers.

“I’ve been around enough of these things that I get a feeling when something crazy is going to happen,” he said. “With someone like (Barr), I never take my eye off her until it’s over.”

Michael Tuck clearly has his enemies. An anonymous person recently left a package containing police reports about Tuck at KNSD-TV (Channel 39), after it became public that the Channel 10 anchor had testified to the Grand Jury about his relationship with a 17-year-old girl. Channel 39 News Director Don Shafer declined to comment on the material. . . .

Channel 10 was reporting live Tuesday night from the Del Mar Race Track. It was 11 p.m.; nothing was happening. Reporter Jim Wilkerson stood in the dark, looking befuddled. But he was live, allowing Channel 10 to bring all the excitement of the moment to San Diegans. Amid a sea of meaningless live reports, it stood out as remarkably nonsensical. . . .

In “The Freshman,” which stars Matthew Broderick and Marlon Brando, Broderick plays a New York University film student. In his dorm room, clearly visible, is a poster from the Cinema Society of San Diego. “I wish I could say that I called up Marlon Brando and said I needed a poster in the movie,” said Cinema Society president Andy Friedenberg. “But I have no idea” how it made it into the film. . . .

The Visual Arts Foundation, the nonprofit sister to the Cinema Society, is co-hosting, along with the Directors Guild of America, a three-film series spotlighting the directors of some of the great Hollywood musicals. The series opens Saturday with “The Sound of Music.” Director Robert Wise is scheduled to attend. The movies will be screened at a private San Diego home with an outdoor facility. Call 454-7373 for more information. . . .

XTRA-AM (690) Sports Guy Lee Hamilton has landed a television commercial pitching cars, the latest coup in Hamilton’s climb up the San Diego celebrity ladder. Hardly a familiar face, except among sports fanatics and a few adoring sportswriters, Hamilton may be best known for publicly baiting television Sports Guy Ted Leitner. The commercial shows him on the set (or a facsimile of the set) of “Sports Talk,” the weekend show recently canceled by Channel 39. . . .

Former Channel 39 anchor/reporter Kim Devore has landed a job as a field reporter for a new syndicated show produced by Fox Television, “Personalities,” which is due to air in the fall. Devore’s replacement at Channel 39, Monica Gayle, has a cool, professional demeanor, with the look of someone on the her way up the television ladder of success. . . .

KUSI-TV (Channel 51) is moving to a new, larger studio in Kearny Mesa, in preparation for its increased local programming. The move is expected to begin this week.