[9.3b.1] Analysis of local television news by The Project for Excellence in Journalism analyzes the content of the highest-rated local news broadcasts in 20 cities.
- Three-quarters of all stories are local.
- Roughly 70 percent of the stories are under one minute long.
- The most common topic is crime - by more than 2 to 1 over anything else.
- Four in ten stories are about fairly typical, everyday incidents.
- Six out of ten stories that involved controversy gave only or mostly one point of view.

[9.3b.2]

[9.3b.3] As evident in a documentary on ratings, stations rely on ratings data to attract advertising. The higher the ratings, the more they can charge for their advertising.

[9.3b.4] The ratings for national network news (as well as all other programs) are based on data collected by the Nielsen Media system, which is based on a random sample of 5,000 households nationwide.

[9.3b.5] Despite owners’ and editors’ beliefs about the use of sensationalized formats, research by The Project for Excellence in Journalism posit that: “Many of the conventional ideas about what works in TV news — high story count, flashy production, emotion over substance, targeting — are demonstrably wrong.”

[9.3b.6] On the PBS Newshour site, you can click on any one of 50 news market areas to determine who owns the local television stations.

[9.3b.7] The Local News documentary demonstrates that focusing on “bottom line” profitability creates a highly competitive workplace: