a funny list of rules — old school TV news vs new school — to illustrate how much things have changed.
Old rule: news is news.
New rule: news is marketing.
Old rule: news is never old.
New rule: news has an expiration date
Old rule: live shots compliment the story.
New rule: live IS the story
Old rule: weather gets the attention it deserves
New rule: rain is a lead story.
Old rule: Cover the issues
New rule: cover the emotions
Old rule: Staff experience is valuable.
New rule: 1 year is experience
Old rule: Cover breaking news.
New rule: make up breaking news
Old rule: Build credibility and you’ll gain a bigger audience.
New rule: Reach more people through the Internet
Old rule: Be good storytellers.
New rule: more stories, less telling
Old rule: Report the facts.
New rule: report what people say
Old rule: Follow the news director’s lead.
New rule: Who’s the news director
Old rule: Consultants suggest.
New rule: Consultants control
Old rule: Ratings rule.
New rule: Demos dominate
Old rule: Know your community.
New rule: know your research
Old rule: Bad staff behavior is not tolerated.
New rule: address your questions to our attorneys
4 Comments
OMG so true …
WE NEED A WEATHER CP! IT MIGHT SNOW TOMORROW! DUMP OUR LEDE STORY ABOUT CHILD AB– — USE AND REPLACE IT WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF SNOW!!!
Those were the days.
Why did I ever leave?
*snort*
TV news may have always been about the ratings, but I seem to remember a time when TV news would define "soundbite" as "somewhere between thirty seconds and a full minute", lessening the chance of quoting anyone, be they a politician or a celebrity, out of context.
Shorter soundbites = more time for "Head On! Apply Directly To The Forehead!" commercials or whatever the hell… (sorry – just got back from downing seven Chimays @ the Monk)
don’t forget if it bleeds, it leads!
Pretty funny.
But people have a weird idea that old tv news was so different…but it’s always been about the ratings!
NATIONAL News was a little different in the 50’s and even some of the 60’s, but pretty much the last 50 years of local news have been uniformly bad.