LOCAL TV NEWS PROJECT - 2001
Gambling
with the Future Local TV journalism is on dangerous
ground.
In a survey of 118 local news directors, more than half report that
advertisers try to tell them what to air and not to air - and they say the
problem is growing.
To meet profit demands, many news directors report they are having to produce
a thinner and cheaper product by adding news programs while cutting their
budgets.
News directors say consultants are only providing the most generic solutions.
One in five also say their consultants discourage them from covering certain
kinds of news.
Gimmicks that once seemed to bump ratings - every story seemed "shocking" -
don't work any more. And stations don't know what to do in their place.
Everything is up for grabs. Too much is for sale.
Is there a way to succeed in such an environment?
The Project for Excellence in Journalism's ongoing content study of local
television news suggests there may be. Based on data collected from 189 stations
over four years, we have isolated five characteristics that commercially
successful stations share. Adopting these practices won't guarantee financial success, but statistically
they will give a station the highest likelihood of achieving it.
The elements:
The problem is that these ideas run counter to the prevailing wisdom in local
TV. Some are overrun again and again by short-term budget demands. And some
rarely enter the newsroom conversation
These findings and many others are part of Year Four of the local television
news study by PEJ, a think tank affiliated with the Columbia University Graduate
School of Journalism and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
In the stories that follow, the Project offers troubling findings about
sponsor interference (News for
Sale), new evidence of the impact of quality (Quality
Sells), the practices that viewers respond to (The
Magic Formula), a glimpse at the typical newscast (The Look
of Local News), budget problems (Thinner,
Cheaper, Longer), a comparison of network versus local TV news (The
Patriarch vs. the Family Circle), and more.
Local newsrooms beset by sponsor interference,
budget cuts, layoffs, and added programming
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