Live at 11! Fear, crime, misery, and death!
Kari Chisholm
Taking up the theme I started on Thursday ("Jeff Gianola, is this really what you wanted to do when you grew up?"), bloggers Randy Stapilus and Brian Hines separately blogged the nightly news that they watched.
First, Randy Stapilus got into the act at Ridenbaugh Press, tracking each story on Fox 12 and KGW 8 news on Friday night:
KPTV Fox 12, at 10. This is Portland’s second-ranking station, and this is an hour-long program, which would afford plenty of time for news of substance amid, ah, the rest. With two minor exceptions, it didn’t happen. ...It was a nearly consistent run of fear, fear, and more fear - the world is awfully dangerous. (Is it any wonder so many people are willing to trade liberty for the illusion of protection?) Leavened only by animals, provided they’re babies and they’re cute. Of this whole long list of pieces, we’d count two as news that a viewer interested in being informed about their community - the Freightliner piece and the streetcar piece
Then, over at HinesSight, Brian Hines cataloged every story on KATU 2 on Friday night:
Following in Kari’s eyeballs, I analyzed last night’s 11 o’clock news on KATU (channel 2) and found that those thirty-two minutes also were remarkably devoid of substantive stories. ...Viewers like me are fast-forwarding through most of the news (or not watching entirely). I’m a news junkie. I read two daily newspapers. Plus the three major news magazines each week. And watch cable news several times a day, along with perusing quite a few Internet news sources. But local television news makes me yawn. When there’s hardly any news on the news, there isn’t much reason to watch.
Brian's point is an important one. There's a lot of news junkies in this community. But Portland's TV stations are locked in a downward death spiral - with active news watchers bailing out, they try harder and harder to keep the people left behind.
Will any of them try to pull out of the death spiral? Will any of our local stations take the risky gamble to actually produce real news?
It doesn't have to be expensive. As Lynn Siprelle suggested over at Oregon Media Insiders, they could "Go Countdown"; focus on fewer, better stories with better writing, and an edgy style. As Portland Mercury editor Amy Jenniges has suggested, they could even just rip 'em straight from the Merc's blog or WW's not-a-blog.
You want interviews? There's a lot of folks in this town who would drive their butt to the studio to talk on TV. Find the articulate and interesting ones and do some short interviews to add color and perspective to the hard news stories. It doesn't cost any more. It just requires a little creativity and a little thinking. (Can I point out that we've found a bunch of interesting, articulate people right here at BlueOregon - and we don't have any budget at all?)
Real news doesn't have to be boring. In fact, it's much more interesting than fear, crime, misery, and death.
I'm willing to bet that the first station to try this will spike in popularity - and the staff there will feel better about what they do for a living.
I picked on Jeff Gianola last week, but the question is for all of you: Was reading the police blotter and hyping celebrities really what you wanted to do when you grew up?
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Jan 29, '07
You are Right of course about real news The Real news is what those silly politicians are doing with my tax money. If they were taking care of Public Safety there would be less Crime to report and if our Silly politicians would concentrate on doing their jobs instead of Transfat and trams we might be able to get a truck load of dicycles and micro brew through portland. never observed the organic vegetables being delivered by bus/tram or trolley car
Jan 29, '07
I hear Portland Public Schools are getting new turf fields for athletics, but in class the students still don't have decent text books and sometimes have to photocopy what they do have. I'd love to be able to dig into this, but I have a 8 hr. job. MW
Jan 29, '07
I forget who said it, but the statement that "nobody ever went broke under estimating the intelligence of the American people" seems to apply to this topic. Blood, twisted metal, bullets and heartbreak sell soap, beer and discount bedroom furniture (NO PAYMENTS UNTIL 2009!!!! . . . . (APR 32.5%)).
I would not expect content to change on local or national TV without a major change in the appetites of the target demographic which seems tragically unlikely.
Jan 29, '07
Don't forget the amazing but true "pet story" that the PDX talking heads conclude with every single solitary night. Nothing like an aw shucks innocent animal investigation to sugar coat all the carnage out there, but then again, that's just a logical extension of events when the local news organizations collude to fix advertising pricing. Thankfully, in the future, the internet and programmable cable will run these clowns out of business.
Jan 29, '07
Anyone who watches television news broadcasts and expects indepth coverage of local events is deluding themselves. Considering how much time is consumed by commercials and self-agrandizement by the stations, there is precious little actual time available for news stories. We seem to receive more weather and sports details than actual news.
IMO, it is the job of newspapers and news websites to provide investigative journalism reports that explain more than the headline reports we receive from television. I still, however, enjoy watching the late evening news to obtain the latest quick stories of the day. After about the first ten minutes of news, I fall asleep.
11:03 a.m.
Jan 29, '07
C'mon, Kari. Is it just coincidental that Fox News--an hour long program--is second ranked and is fundamentally "bleed and lead"? Is it anything new to complain about the quality of local news coverage?
You write: Brian's point is an important one. There's a lot of news junkies in this community. But Portland's TV stations are locked in a downward death spiral - with active news watchers bailing out, they try harder and harder to keep the people left behind.
Will any of them try to pull out of the death spiral? Will any of our local stations take the risky gamble to actually produce real news?
But that is putting the cart before the horse, isn't it? Is there any evidence that news stations are losing their audience via this strategy? Or could it be that this strategy is actually what holds their audience?
Are there really a "lot" of news junkies in this community? And if there are, don't most of them already watch KGW?
11:14 a.m.
Jan 29, '07
The Real news is what those silly politicians are doing with my tax money.
Yes! That is the real news. If we had real news coverage, one of the local stations would have reported - just once - that Oregon is now #50 in corporate taxes. Low taxes equal lotsa jobs? We did our part, now where the #&%! are those jobs? (Or maybe, just maybe, low taxes don't create jobs... Hmmm... gonna have to ponder that one.)
Are there really a "lot" of news junkies in this community? And if there are, don't most of them already watch KGW?
I'm sorry, but what? KGW isn't much better. I haven't done the research myself, but I'm sure someone has... What are the combined ratings for the various cable-news programs (plus the Daily Show) at 11 p.m.?
Anecdotally, I know lots of people who say they "put the local news on" just to wait for the weather. They tell me they don't actually watch it - they just have it on while they're making dinner, etc. When the weather comes on, they pay attention. So, local news ratings may not even reflect the depths of the disinterest out there.
Jan 29, '07
Let's see: four local "news" stations all fighting for the "bleed and lead" audience.
What does the lowest-rated station have to lose by refusing to play that game and focusing instead on hard news? They'll have the news junkie demographic all to themselves while the other three try to one-up each other on fluff and sensationalism.
Jan 29, '07
Two influences not commented on: Consultants and Impact of debt.
A reporter from KPTV told me several years ago that they were told to avoid government officials of any kind and get the "man on the street" reponses only. So they didn't ask City Commisioners anything about issues only the folks gathered to protest any decision. They were also told, at that time, that during the first segment of the newscast at least one story had to involve a sex crime. They were convinced that would get them to the top of the ratings and apparently it has managed that.
Re: debt. Let us be clear that the purchase of the local stations did not come cheaply. While they continue to make money, the real point for the corporate owners is not that they make money, but that they make enough money to cover the debt incured in buying the stations and add a little profit besides. That means cutting the major costs. You can bet that means looking at the staff. Cut the people and you show a larger profit (for a time). But it means you do not have the people to report on the local stories or even know that there are local stories to report. It means sending a reporter out on a crime story or a weather story is siginificantly easier than asking them to know who the players are in a city or county commission issue. So you concentrate on the easy, visual stories at the obvious loss of infomation about what is going on in the neighborhoods, in the schools, along the business districts.
Don't get me started about the narrow economic experience of the reporting staff (same caste) or the almost non-existant coverage of minority issues (unless it involves crime and "fear"). Portland television has two black anchors, one sports guy and a weather person. Only one of them is regularly on the street as a reporter. How many reporters speak a language other than English? How many could tell you where the colonies of Somali, Hmong, Kurdish, Eritrean or Ukraine families live in the Portland area and the impact that is having on the neighborhoods, schoools, parks, transportation and health care systems in their immediate areas? Bet if there was a gang fight they'd mention it!
We saw some public concern about the coverage of local politics several weeks ago following the report on the 2004 election and the stories done (few) and money spent on commercials (lots). But how closely is anyone following the state legislature and the absence of a full time reporter down there?
On another note: There are fewer and fewer people watching local TV news. That is clear from the ratings books. What we are seeing is some stations getting larger pieces of an ever shrinking pie. And the consultants say that to get those eyes you go with fear, so the stations do just that.
Finally... there is an extreme sadness that Lynn,(I dare say) Sid, and I feel about this subject. Because we know what is possible, how smart some of the folks are in the stations and how little we are really getting from that potential. I am glad to see the discussion online. I hope it makes a difference with the powers-that-be in the stations. There's that optimist in me coming out again.
Jan 29, '07
Stop that optimism, Lew. It'll just break your heart. ;)
Jan 29, '07
Now you know why any positive news from Iraq (a peaceful town, a new hospital or school) is mostly drowned out. Bad news sells. Good news is boring to most people.
Bob Tiernan
2:34 p.m.
Jan 29, '07
This is all stuff that drove me out of the "news." It used to be called journalism, but very few places can claim that anymore. They aren't journalists, they're the media.
I thought the area I lived at in Texas was bad. It only got worse when I moved to Oregon-- not just tv news, but the newspapers as well. While the Houston Chronicle may be a piece of trash, many of the local papers were really good (such as the Texas City Sun before the Galveston Daily News swallowed it up).
Here you can barely get the local news in the local newspaper. My old editor in Texas tried to talk me into starting my own weekly out here in east county to compete with the Outlook's "news"paper (more like a feature magazine on newsprint). But it takes a considerable amount of money to do that.
Something sure needs to change. I pretty much avoid the news anymore, turning it on just before weather will come on. I rely more on their web sites, where I cna pick which stories to read/watch.
Jan 29, '07
“It was a nearly consistent run of fear, fear, and more fear”
Sensationalizing to impose fear for ratings is nothing new. Sensationalizing to impose fear onto the public to advance a political agenda is nothing new either: Fear of the natural occurrence of global warming - Fear of peak oil – Fear of the effects of Measure 37 - Fear of development taking place in the suburbs – Fear of meeting demand and building new highways - Fear the public will override controls imposed by the legislature – the list goes on and on - all instilled onto the public to advance personal political agendas.
Jan 29, '07
Somebody named "Michael Wilson", above, says Portland Public Schools is putting in new grass fields in its very few sports stadiums.
Might you have some, what are they called, facts?
Or links?
Thanks.
Or is it just... more right-wing crapola with a capital C?
We shall see.
Jan 30, '07
I forget who said it, but the statement that "nobody ever went broke under estimating the intelligence of the American people" seems to apply...
H.L. Mencken said: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste or intelligence of the American people."
Sadly, the local TV stations are giving their current viewers exactly what the viewers want. But I'm not sure that excuses them from betraying journalism and integrity with their daily ritual of passing off infotainmment as news.
Local TV is to news as Hillary Duff is to rock and roll.
Jan 30, '07
Kari Chisolm:
I picked on Jeff Gianola last week...
Bob T:
Hey Kari, remember back in the early 90s when Gianola did a five-part story on being homeless in Portland, and supposedly lived on the street and in shelters the whole time? The segments were shown in November but were filmed in August so Gianola wore a coat and pretended it was cold out.
Bob Tiernan
Jan 30, '07
Yes, Kari, TV news in Puddletown is AAA minor-league ball, but I did get to work with some smart, caring people in the business, back in the day: Mike Donahue, Andrea Austin, Mary McDermott, Joe Becker, Joe Sottile, Chuck Dimond, Mark Sanchez, Lew, OMI's Lynn S., Sheila H., Bob Heye, and environmental reporter Jon Catton, who once took a simple story about Michael's Sausage Shop being suddenly closed (for a day) and turning it into an entertaining piece about regular Portland people missing their number one favorite lunch spot. The ultimate kicker!
Sure, most of it is dreck, but there are some good people trying to inform, educate and entertain the viewers here in Portland.
Hmmm... inform, educate and entertain? Isn't that what good teachers do too?