TV News 'Exclusive' of Dead Chickens on Roof a Hoax

Cleveland Station Paid Man to Lob Chickens at Neighbor

In a bizarre scheme to boost news program ratings during the crucial February "sweeps', a Cleveland television has admitted it paid a homeowner to throw dead chickens onto a neighbor's roof. The hope was that the rotting chicken carcasses would attract flocks of sea gulls and buzzards, which would produce sensational television news footage and boost viewership.

But the scheme didn't stop there, red-faced executives of WTUB-TV, an independent station, admitted Monday. The station's News Department then paid the neighbor on whose roof the carcasses had been thrown to mount an escalating series of protests that culminated in a march to City Hall and the presentation of a petition to Cleveland's mayor, Jane L. Campbell.

It all provided "news" that WTUB showcased, hoping the dead chicken story would attract viewers during the sweeps period when viewership is closely monitored. Better sweeps numbers are expected to translate into increased advertising revenues.

"We are very embarrassed and want to apologize to the people of Cleveland," said Robert J. Grover, president and general manager of the station, said at a news conference. "We have dismissed our vice president of news and two producers in the News Department and taken additional steps to see that something like this never happens again."

Grover declined to provide exact figures, but said the station paid a sum "in the low five figures" to the two homeowners.
Jerrold Ventura, 48, who lives in Cleveland's Westgate neighborhood, was paid to throw approximately 12 chicken carcasses over a six-day period onto the roof of his neighbor, Roxanne Rimley.

Mrs. Rimley, 72, a nationally ranked bridge player, organized two rallies of neighbors in front of her home on two consecutive days after the last of the chickens had been lobbed onto her roof. The second rally culminated in the protest march, in which Mrs. Rimley and three neighbors walked three miles to City Hall with a sign that read "No Dead Chickens" and presented a letter of protest to an aide to Mayor Campbell, who was out of town.

After a couple of days, the dead chickens did begin to attract sea gulls and WTUB's evening and late night news programs aired footage of the birds wheeling and diving over Mrs. Rimley's roof. No buzzards were ever shown in the broadcasts. The station's news programs also featured Mrs. Rimley in a series of appearances marked by escalating outrage over the dead chickens on her roof.

The attempt to boost WTUB's ratings was discovered when Cleveland Health Department inspectors visited Mrs. Rimley and cited her under a city littering ordinance. She directed the inspectors to Ventura, who ultimately revealed his motives in catapulting the dead birds.

At the news conference, Grover was asked if the episode would lead to news coverage that is less focussed on crime and automobile accidents and pays more attention to Cleveland politics, cultural affairs and social problems.

"We remain as committed as ever to excellence in community-based broadcast journalism," he said.

Mayor Campbell office issued a terse statement. "The mayor has long called for responsible news coverage of Cleveland and hopes this matter represents the turning of a corner for the news media," it said.

Ventura said that for some time he had considered throwing dead chickens on Mrs. Rimley's roof because her two cats go to the bathroom in his backyard. He said he recently mentioned his dead chicken fantasy to his weekly poker group, one of whose members is in advertising.

"Next thing I knew, here's this guy willing to pay me to throw dead chickens on the old bag's roof," he said. "I couldn't believe my good fortune. What he never said was that she got paid, too. Now that's not right."

Mrs. Rimley declined to be interviewed.

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