Sorry, all, I didn't know we were supposed to blog our questions--I was just preparing them to bring with me. They are a work in progress and may change in the midst of the discussion at WCCO.
So, I did some searching--and it looks as though others had more success on the U of M Libraries site than did I, but I was able to find an interesting article on the web from a CNN insider, since resigned and now apparently working for a university in Hong Kong. It is called "The Precarious State of Television News" by Rebecca MacKinnon written for the Nieman Reports Spring 05 Issue. Its short, but very informative. Unfortunately, the library items I found to speak to this issue were books rather than articles. It seemed as though if someone needed to say something about the subject, it wasn't easily contained within the length of just an article--enough said.
Some questions that have been milling in my mind to ask Mr. Shelby include:
Why is the local news so different in its priorities that the National News? How can sports lead on the local evening news even on a heavy news day such as when the market crashes?
How much or how little control are you given in researching and reporting stories?
Do advertisers affect which stories make the final cut, and if so, to what degree has that changed in the last 10 years?
How much advertorial occurs in the local news?
How much actual reporting do the anchors and other on-air talent actually do and how much is provided to them from non-air staffers and news wire services?
What percentage of news stories are generated from tips by friends and family?
I am sure this list will expand.
In a short article by the independent.co.uk, by Jane Robins they talk about hijacking stories by the on-air personalities of the newsroom which was the genesis for one of my questions listed above. While this is a non-US media outlet, I thought it was worthy of asking if such things occur in the US as well.
I was also a bit troubled by the lack of information on the question of the state of television news. I guess that fits in with the suggestion that the media is sometimes reluctant to cover themselves. I thought there would be a lot more discussion and writing about this topic.
One more thing that I am in the process of reading--there is a website called tThe State of the News Media that has some interesting reading. I see however that someone else has posted the link below, but in case its not the one referring to local TV.
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Just another thought: There was a situation on Fox news a while back--possibly two years ago--where they provided a teaser which I found very irresponsible--and maddening. It stated something like--This cities water is not safe to drink. News at 9:00. I was outraged at this teaser, so much so that I still remember it to this day. When I actually watched this broadcast to see who they were endangering, they reported that the town affected had already been notified. But think about the thousands of people who maybe suffered thirst that day waiting for the news. I haven't seen anything so atrocious as this in recent teasers, so I would guess there was some backlash, but it demonstrates how much a disservice the broadcast news media can provide in search of grander viewership.
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