DRUG-HOUSE VIGILANTE A CLASSIC 'SHOWTOPPER'

Story of Victoria Man Who Took Law into His Own Hands Spreads Far and Wide

In the TV news business we call it a "top" or -- more theatrically -- a
"showtopper." It's the story we choose to lead our newscasts, and that
choice is vitally important.

Unless the story captures the attention, and holds the interest, of the
viewers, then in this multi-channel, ultra-competitive age they will desert
you in nanoseconds.

Pick the right showtopper, and you've got them watching for the next 30
minutes at least. Pick the wrong top, and you're doomed.

At least, that's the theory. There are countless reasons why a viewer
chooses one newscast over another -- content, substance, style, the
anchors, trust, habit, familiarity, etc. -- but, like the main headline on
the front page of a newspaper, the story you choose to lead your newscast
is how you're going to grab them. After that, you'd better have enough of
the right stuff to keep them.

It sounds somewhat manipulative, but before you get too high and mighty
about it, consider that the first line of a book -- from the "best of times
to the worst of times" to "Tom. No Answer," -- has always been designed to
seduce the reader into venturing farther into the pages. Charles Dickens
and Mark Twain knew how to grab 'em big time. And how to keep them reading.

Many showtoppers are naturals: from the significant national or provincial
stories -- stories that will affect the lives of millions of people -- to
natural or man-made disasters to the election of a new prime minister. The
blindingly obvious.

But many days, you're picking your top from a cacophony of stories, some
significant, some just damn plain interesting. You've usually got a pretty
good idea of what will lead the 6 o'clock newscast as early as 9 in the
morning, when you hold your first story meeting and map out the day. By 11
a.m. -- when the producers and editors join a larger meeting -- you've
pretty well mapped out your show, from top to bottom (or top to Mike
McCardell, in our case at BCTV News.).

But, news being news, you change the game plan by the minute. The rundown
for the show changes constantly throughout the day. And so does the showtopper.

Which brings us to Monday at about 5:40 p.m., 20 minutes from showtime. We
had picked a strong showtopper, but one of our producers mentioned a story
I hadn't heard about earlier in the day: CH, our sister station in
Victoria, had a story about a drug house being closed down by angry neighbours.

The producer expressed some concerns about the man who had allegedly
trashed the place -- "I don't know if he's legit ... there's probably some
other stuff we don't know about all this. It's a great story, but I'm not
sure."

I'll go look at the piece, I said, and went back to one of our editing
suites and had one of our editors run it for me. I knew what the editor
meant -- there were some unanswered questions -- but the core story was,
yes, a grabber.

You've seen, heard or read about it by now. Rick Boudreau, who lives on
Speed (Speed!!! -- doncha just love it?) Avenue in Victoria, decides he's
had enough of the crack house and together with other neighbours enters the
party house and forces out the tenants.

The story's messy. Not a clean-cut perfect circle. But few stories are.
Life's not like that.

Now, in a perfect world, Boudreau would look like, say, Tom Cruise or the
guy who plays Spiderman or some other action hero. He doesn't. He's got the
face of a prizefighter who's lost one too many bouts. His nose is a broken
mess. His liquid eyes are those of a man who's done some hard drinking, and
living.

He's devoted to his young daughter, even though for a few dodgy moments
there was a chance the authorities would remove her from his home because
he'd displayed violent tendencies.

But it was a grabber. And we topped our Monday night show with it, knowing
that the story would have legs and that we'd follow it for much of the rest
of the week. Why didn't the police shut down the place themselves? What did
the mayor have to say about vigilantes? What did Boudreau's ex-wife have to
say about it all?

By 6:05 p.m. on Monday night, hundreds of thousands of British Columbians
knew about the little guy with the boxer's mug who'd taken the law into his
own hands. The next day we put the story on Global National, and the
national media were in hot pursuit.

I heard Boudreau interviewed on CBC's As It Happens, clumsily explaining
himself, but exuding a wonderfully rough sincerity. By Wednesday night, I
noticed that the Seattle TV stations had now picked up the story. The
authorities harrumphed -- justifiably for the most part -- but it was nice
to see the little guy getting so much attention.

By Tuesday, we'd moved onto another showtopper: Springer the sickly, lost
whale, and the attempts to move him from Puget Sound to waters off northern
Vancouver Island.

We'd debated that one too. At great length.

"It's, like, a fish," said one producer at the morning's story meeting,
arguing it shouldn't top the show.

"Like, who cares? Why should an animal story top the news?"

We'd got plenty of death, mayhem and controversy that we could have topped
with that night, but in the end, we went with the whale.

"We need a good news night," I said. "This one captures the imagination.
It's a feel-good story. A grabber. It's summer. Let's cheer everyone up for
a change."

We did. The overnight ratings were strong. I felt good about the decision.

I got an email from a viewer the next morning telling us we were
irresponsible for topping the show with a whale. "Wasn't there anything in
the world more important than that?" she asked. "Involving humans?"

Probably. We'll get to it tonight. Stay tuned.