| |
One of the major challenges facing local news directors is the
selection of news stories in terms of potential audience interest
and appeal. Students could view the video clip from the PBS documentary
program
Local News, a series on a local Charlotte, North Carolina,
news broadcast. In this series, the News Director is under a lot
of pressure to improve the news broadcast’s low ratings. In
this clip, he is shown as having to make decisions about a story
about a local school bomb threat based both on the significance
/ relevancy of the story, as well as it’s appeal to the viewing
audience.
|
The news director constantly monitors local news
on competing stations, comparing it with his or her reporters’
coverage, and continually re-evaluates what viewers need and want
to hear about. Amidst the drive to find breaking news no other station
is covering, and to best the investigative work of other stations’
reporters, the news director must be sure his station doesn’t
miss anything relevant and appealing to local viewers. “We’ve
got a lot to prove,” begins Keith Connors, WCNC News Director,
as he delivers an inspirational speech to his team. “You know
the world is watching all that you do! We’ve got to connect
with that audience.” |
In Local News, reporters are switched and
fired, stories are slashed, and relationships with investigative
sources are challenged in an attempt to keep ahead of the competition
and give viewers compelling reports. When a hurricane hits the North
Carolina coast, it leads the news for hours, because ratings charts
showed viewers felt very threatened by the storm and wanted to see
what was coming. |
The news director’s role — while deciding
which stories to air — is to inspire and drive his team to
go the extra mile to get that report. Aside from the basic instinct
of reporters to dig for news, they must also be mindful of what
the viewers want and feel is appropriate. If the reporters, the
news director, and station management fail in this task, viewership
will decrease, precipitating a drop in advertising that could crush
a local station. So the news we see on television is usually a complex
mix including responsible coverage of current events and headline-grabbing
sensationalism. |
In the Local News episode “To Work
a Miracle,” WCNC holds a staff meeting to discuss how they
should cover a reported bomb threat at a local school. They debate
whether to go on-air and talk of the treats, possibly raising public
alarm, or to hold off and wait for more concrete information. This
is the process that most big news stories go through before they
make it into our homes. Reporters and management have to think carefully
about the impact of their work, and they must decide what level
of priority to assign each story. “Journalism is the process
of editing what is acceptable and unacceptable. What happens in
situations like Columbine happens because nothing has been thought
through. There is no plan,” says news director Connors. “You
want to win on a big story. When they find what could be an explosive
at a school the week after Colorado, it’s a big story.” |
Reliable sources are particularly important in ascertaining
what news is fit to air. The fire department may report that there
is a fire on a particular block. At first, it may seem like a good
piece of breaking news, until it’s revealed by a source that
it is just a small kitchen fire. It is the reporter’s sources
who can confirm the importance of stories. |
At the end of the day, however, the news selection
process is a difficult balancing act between what the public wants
to know and what it needs to know. “If this was only all about
a number, to have a rating, to get a dollar, well then it’s
a shallow, vacant, meaningless pursuit,” says Connors. |
In responding to this clip, students could examine whether they
agree with the News Director’s judgment regarding the station’s
coverage of this event as “news.”
|
This news director’s decisions reflect the issue of journalistic
quality and relevancy which are being challenged by business needs
to show high viewer ratings and please corporate owners. Analysis
of local television news by The Project
for Excellence in Journalism examines the content of the
highest-rated local news broadcasts in 20 cities in terms of:
|
community relevance, focus on the significant, covering
a broad range of topics, authoritative sourcing in stories, presenting
more than one point of view, citing multiple sources, level of enterprise,
professionalism — or understandability of a story —
and level of sensationalism — defined as the repetition of
gore, violence, thrilling action or implied disgrace, with the intention
of luring an audience to the story rather than to convey information. |
In their 2002
report, the Project found that there was a relationship between
the quality of news and viewer ratings. Forty-seven percent of stations
with the highest quality rating had a higher percentage than in
any other ratings grade. They also isolated specific aspects of
quality that were most likely to predict high viewer ratings. Some
of these aspects included the following: |
Investigation stories. News with higher
viewership news had quality of original, investigation stories that
requires extensive research, as opposed to a lot of “on-the-spot”
breaking stories. |
Focus on community. They also found that
stories about local community issues, including finding local examples
of how national or state issues impact the local community, for
example, how the “No Child Left Behind” legislation
influences local schools. Unfortunately, as the report notes, local
community stories on national issues are three times more likely
to not include a local context and consequences than stories with
local context and consequences. |
Story length. They found that longer stories
also resulted in higher viewership. Longer stories are more likely
to contain alternative perspectives, longer interviews, more visuals,
and more specifics. They also allow viewers to digest and reflect
on the story content as opposed to quick information summaries.
|
Sources.And, they found that stories with
cited, multiple, and highly knowledgeable sources resulted in higher
viewership than stories with anonymous sources or no sources. |
They also found that in 2002, three/fourths of stations were
experiencing declines in viewers, although these declines varied
according to market size and news time slots. One reason for this
is that corporate owners, concerned with profits from advertising,
which is linked to viewer ratings, may assume that, contrary to
the Project for Excellence study, that sensational, “breaking
news” style attracts more viewers. As evident in a documentary
on this topic stations rely on ratings data to attract advertising.
The higher the ratings, the more they can charge for their advertising.
|
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. The system is based simply on the amount
of time devoted to particular shows and who is watching as recorded
on meters that send in information to Neilsen’s computers.
Audiences also keep diaries of their viewing habits during a specific
week. |
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.”
“These false ideas are being driven by outdated beliefs, and
by following the interests of advertisers rather than viewers. And
they are institutionalized by short-sighted profit demands that
force news directors to cut the very things that build viewership
over time — such as enterprise reporting and building staff,”
says the report. |
One reason for this focus on bolttom-line profits is the increasing
influence of large conglomerates who may be primarily concerned
with profits as opposed to news quality. For example, General Electric
owns NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC; TimeWarner own CNN News; Disney owns
ABC News, Viacom owns CBS News, and Murdoch News owns FOX News.
These corporate owners are often more concerned about gaining profits
than on news quality. Because both national network and local news
divisions must demonstrate high levels of profits, they often employ
methods that will result in higher ratings and more advertising
revenue. |
On the PBS
Newshour site, you can click on any one of 50 news market areas
to determine who owns the local television stations. For the Minnesota
market, which ranks 13th in the nation with 1,573,640 households,
1.5% of U.S. households.
|
CHANNEL |
CITY |
NETWORK |
OWNER |
| 2 |
KTCA |
St. Paul,MN |
PBS |
Twin Cities Public Television |
5 |
KSTP |
St. Paul, MN |
ABC |
Hubbard Broadcasting |
| 7 |
WCCO |
Alexandria, MN |
CBS |
Viacom/CBS Station Group |
7 |
KBSU |
Bemidji, MN |
PBS |
Bemidji State University |
| 7 |
KCCO |
Alexandria, MN |
CBS |
Viacom/CBS Station Group |
9 |
KAWE |
Bemidji, MN |
PBS |
Lakeland Public Television |
9 |
KMSP |
Minneapolis, MN |
UPN |
News Corp./Fox Television Stations |
10 |
KWCM |
Appleton, MN |
PBS |
West Central Minn. North Educational TV Co. |
11 |
KARE |
Minneapolis, MN |
NBC |
Gannett Co. |
12 |
KCCW |
Walker, MN |
CBS |
Viacom/CBS Station Group |
17 |
KTCI |
St. Paul, MN |
PBS |
Twin Cities Public Television |
22 |
KAWB |
Brainerd, MN |
PBS |
Lakeland Public Television |
23 |
KMWB |
Minneapolis, MN |
WB |
Sinclair Broadcast Group |
26 |
KFTC |
Bemidji, MN |
Fox |
News Corp./Fox Television Stations |
| 28 |
WHWC |
Menomonie, WI |
PBS |
Univ. of Wisconsin/Ed. Comm. Board |
| 29 |
WFTC |
Minneapolis, MN |
Fox |
News Corp./Fox Television Stations |
41 |
KPXM |
St. Cloud, MN |
PAX |
Paxson Communications |
42 |
KSAX |
Alexandria, MN |
ABC |
Hubbard Broadcasting |
43 |
KRWF |
Redwood Falls |
ABC |
Hubbard Broadcasting |
45 |
KSTC |
Minneapolis, MN |
Independent |
Hubbard Broadcasting |
|
The
Local News documentary demonstrates that focusing on
“bottom line” profitability creates a highly competitive
workplace:
|
In Local News, when news director Keith
Connors compares each day in the newsroom to a war, he means that
reporters must fight to keep their stories, to protect their jobs,
and to remain competitive in the market. If an anchor’s appearance,
personality, or credibility does not match audience expectations,
he or she may be cut, as was the case with WCNC anchor Alicia Booth,
who was replaced by another anchor and reassigned as a field reporter.
Such tactics on the part of station management
may seem unfair, or even shallow, but a key factor in their
decision making is economics. As the very large profits of local
television stations have declined with the advent of cable and
the Internet, the owner’s first response often is to tighten
the newsroom’s belt. “During the last four years,
the percentage of TV stations reporting budget increases has
slid from 72 percent to 66 percent . . . At the same time, the
percentage of stations reporting budget decreases has grown
from 7 percent to 20 percent. Budget tightening is primarily
in smaller markets,” according to the Radio-Television
News Directors Association (RTNDA). Most local news operations
are in these smaller markets. Complicating the drive for local
news operations to excel amidst tough competition is a simple
economic factor: it is difficult to produce audience-grabbing
broadcasts at a station that does not have enough money for
equipment and staff. |
Bill
Moyers PBS NOW: Sinclair Broadcasting's censorship and media consolidation
in general.
|
Disney's
control of information distribution | | |
|
