Good NY Post column here that wonders what will happen to local television news if daily newspapers die away.
But what we’re not hearing from TV in reporting this story is that it’s also an enormous television story. Without newspapers, from where will local TV newscasts procure the news they daily report?
Most local newscasts have for years taken much or most of their hard news from newspapers. The freshest genuine news that local TV newscasts now provide are weather forecasts, unless you count updates and previews of “American Idol,” “Survivor” and “Dancing With The Stars.”
Furthermore, the hiring of trained and aggressive news people by local TV news departments has became optional. Looking good on camera has surpassed one’s ability to investigate and deliver news…
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Yeah, just a typo on my part.
But in a hillarious bout of irony, the CT just stole a news 13 story (the palin for pres website) more than a day after news 13 did it.
And while unattractive reporters are not the norm, they certainly exist in larger numbers than you would imagine. Every station has 2-3 reporters that don’t fit the normal attractive mold, and that number jumps as you hit cable news.
A to the P: This is a NY Post article, not from the NY Times, although perhaps you were just referring to that market overall?
Peronally, I have always respected print journalism more than broadcast news. Just old school, I guess, and the fact that in my short time at the Boston University School of Journalism, even in the early ’90s, print was king. Bob Woodward is still a bellwether for political journalism, still kicking ass with his (and his team’s) work. No matter how much he goes on TV, he’s a newspaper man. But, of course, the Washington Post pays him well, gives him freedom to work on major stories and invests in his core group.
I found one paragraph in Phil Mushnick’s column (the one quoted in this post) both interesting and funny:
"…One could arrive for the TV job interview fully trained and prepared to be the best damned reporter ever known to local TV. But if you’re unattractive . . . Ugly newspaper reporters have never been at such a disadvantage."
I think that if TV news producers were inventing "60 Minutes" today (one of my favorite shows, ever), it would probably have correspondents that rank up there with the hosts of MTV’s TRL.
No way Morley Safer, the late great Ed Bradley, Leslie Stahl (she’s attractive and blond, but — gasp OVER 60!) or even Christiane Amanpour (too "foreign") would ever be hired. Jessica Simpson and Lindsay Lohan would have a better chance of getting the gig.
USA TODAY. Bank on it.
Most news stations I worked for went out of their way NOT to do a story if the local paper had picked it up in time for printing. But then again, I worked at some good stations. Sure, we would run some huge stories no matter when the paper did them, but even decent reporters look outside of the papers for stories far more than you our this article give them credit for.
Consider the source ash.
the NY Times has been in a losing battle with the NYC news stations for a decade now, watching their readership fall as local TV kept going strong. Having worked in that market, I can assure you their are a LOT of hard feelings there.
This article is far more sour grapes that actual fact.
Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll still get plenty of team coverage of all the snow storms from the parking lots of Lowe’s and Ingles!
Actually, I was more implying that the AC-T always seems to be a day behind you, so you’re the lead domino in this situation: if the WLOS gets its news from the AC-T, and the AC-T gets its from you, then if you go away, where will WLOS get its news?
Ash: If they went away overnight, sure. But reporters don’t necessarily need papers to practice their skills, so it’ll be interesting to see how the media shifts in the next few years. Some blogs are doing plenty of good reporting on their own, not just chewing over the work of others. talkingpointsmemo.com is an example on the national level, having done a ton of legwork on the national attorneys general/ Justice Dept. dustup last year.
marc, yes, blogs would be hurtin’ for news to chew on if daily papers went away, that’s for sure.
USA TODAY. Already the standard at News 13. It’s easy to read and also a carryover from the previous News Director’s administration. I guarantee no one there goes anywhere near the liberal New York Times, even though that paper covers "All The News That’s Fit To Print". But we are talking local, TV News. Enough said.
And by the commutative principle, if Ashvegas went away, where would the Citizen-Times get its news; so, if Ashvegas went away, where would WLOS get its news?