TV editorials on a comeback

Editorials are as old-school as TV gets, yet there's a movement to resurrect the format.

Lew Leone, the general manager of WNYW/Channel 5 in New York recently delivered the first of what's expected to be a series of editorials by him on the station's newscasts. Since Bill Carey took over the news operation at WPIX/Ch. 11, he's added a handful of commentaries to the 10 p.m. news, notably ones by Larry Mendte, who has addressed topics such as LeBron James and BP. Whether editorials attract people to newscasts or are just another passing fad in the race to save local TV news remains to be seen. Based on the online responses to Mendte's rants, the Web chatter is there. Response to Leone's, not so much yet.