On Sunday, KUTV's Brian Mullahy, Katie Baker and Ty Perry provided an excellent lesson for aspiring broadcast journalists: If you don't know what you're talking about, don't talk.

On Ch. 2's 10 p.m. newscast, anchors Mullahy and Baker both expressed some degree of shock and surprise that Utahn Todd Herzog (gasp!) lied to fellow contestants en route to winning the million dollars on the hit CBS show "Survivor." Apparently, they've never seen the show — it's all about strategy and deception.

And it's a game!

Would you criticize a champion poker player for bluffing? Of course not.

All 15 winners have strategized, bluffed and, yes, lied. Even Neleh Dennis, the sweet-as-pie Utahn who finished second in Season 4, had to deceive people to get as far as she did.

And then KUTV hired her as an on-air personality.

So it was ridiculous to criticize Herzog for playing a game by rules that have been well established over the past seven years.

"He said himself that he lied as part of his strategy," Mullahy said, shaking his head.

"Ohhhh," Baker said, pulling faces and shaking her head. "And maybe he won't have trouble sleeping at night because he'll have very nice sheets to lay down on."

"I guess," Mullahy replied. "Some people may question the strategy, but all right."

Absolutely ridiculous.

I'm not suggesting that Mullahy and Baker be required to watch "Survivor." But don't sit in judgment on something you know nothing about.

And KUTV's audience would have been well-served had Perry done two minutes' worth of research before reporting on "Survivor." Talking about Herzog's reputation as a schemer on "Survivor," Perry said, "One survivor even called him slimy."

Actually, second-place finisher Courtney Yates called him "slippery." And there's a major difference between the two.

Perry also reported that, since returning from China in August, Herzog, "hasn't told a single soul that he was even involved with 'Survivor' or that he was the winner of 'Survivor.' So he has kept a big secret for quite a long time."

First, it's not true that Herzog didn't tell anyone he was involved with "Survivor." (He attended local viewing parties, for goodness sake.) And, second, Herzog couldn't have told anyone he was the winner because he didn't find that out until Sunday night.

I'm not suggesting "Survivor" was a huge story (although KUTV led its Sunday newscast with it). But if you're going to report on it, know what you're talking about.

I MADE A MISTAKE myself in an item last week when I wrote that Sunday's "Survivor" finale would trim the field of hopefuls from four to three and then to two before the final vote. That, of course, didn't happen — the jury voted on three finalists.