Milwaukee's Fox TV station, WITI-TV (Channel 6), can improve its anemic news show ratings without emulating the sensationalist bent of some Fox shows or the tabloid newspapers of Fox Broadcasting Co. founder Rupert Murdoch, the station's new general manager said.

Questions about the Fox influence on Channel 6 news programs peaked this year when Fox Broadcasting, New York City, bought Channel 6 and other stations from New World Communications Inc., also of New York City.

But WITI's news won't turn into "Cops" or "World's Scariest Police Shootouts" or look like Murdoch's New York Post, Carol Rueppel said. WITI will decide for itself how to program its newscasts.

"There is no general template from Fox for what makes a good television station or what makes a good newscast," said Rueppel, 47, who was named vice president and general manager of WITI April 15. "They really believe in localism . . . and in general managers identifying what is important to that local market and going after it."

Prior to coming to Milwaukee, she was news director of TV...