Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Scrap the Breaking News and Go Back to Storytelling
A commenter sent me a great link to a blog from Lost Remote. I have linked to the articles on their site in the past. The blog has a variety of topics, but much of the time details TV and other mediums' ventures to the web and the many issues it raises. In the post entitled "Make Local TV News More Like TV News Again," Cory Bergman writes how TV has stepped up its urgency and speed to offset the frantic pace and schedules of viewers that make up life in these times. Bergman writes the web gives viewers that quick look at the news, so TV is trying to replicate it while losing focus on its strength. That strength is a medium that merges sound and pictures for good storytelling. So could a station abandon the daily house fires, car chases, shootings and just do 3-4 long stories a show? Heck, maybe even do it in the form of only 1-2 newscasts a day, but at least it would separate itself from the web rather than chasing after a technology which it cannot beat. It may not be able to beat it, but TV certainly can do storytelling better. I know this goes against the thinking of many TV news managers who all say, "Web, Web, Web, AND MORE WEB!!!!!!!!" They should think outside of the box. However, a Decade ago thinking about the web was thinking outside the box, now it is common place. You have newspapers and even radio now jumping into the race of video on the web. If you design your broadcast content for the web, while still doing TV, is the content on TV watchable? I say, no and it even speeds up the death of TV news as we know Today, rather than complementing it. Interested in your thoughts. -Hal
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7 comments:
So give up news and do features and long-form? That's your solution. There are already those things, on about two dozen cable channels.
It's called news for a reason. New is what is happening. A station that gives up on covering the big events or even the smaller ones, might as well disband the news department and put on Seinfeld and Friends reruns at 5, 6 and 10.
Lost Remote as has been said on here before is a joke. It's posters are people who want an end to TV and let the web rule everything. The posts are ways to further that goal.
The web is NOT PROFITABLE. You may get more eyes but it makes 1/3 or less of what TV revenue is.
Anon 1150- You are in denial. You said a station that gives up covering the big events or smaller ones might as well disband, its about to happen as it is. People will go to the internet for breaking news, they are already in big numbers, so what do stations have to lose for trying something different. At their current rate, TV news departments will be dryed up in 5 years.
Right thought, but you got it backwards.
DO the long form Journalism, the complete unedited Interview with newsmakers, etc--and PUT IT ON THE WEB.
Your TV Broadcast is, by definition, for the MASSES.
The Nets will run a 30 second bite from an interview with Decretary of Defense..then tag with: "for the COMPLETE interview go to ---.com".
You can't mandate Supersized Chicken Meals to EVERYONE who comes up to the Drive Up Window, but you should OFFER it to everyone.
As a viewer, I know I get tired of seeing KAKE's almost daily phrase of "and it's all caught on tape". It never is local and always something I could find on the internet.
If they keep going, I can see it now...
Jeff Herndon went in today for his annual physical and it's all caught on tape. Herndon was caught off guard as the doctor told him to cough.
No offense to Jeff, I think he does a great job. However, I do think the news powers that be need to find out what the viewers would like to see instead of the "Breaking News" or just finding something to fill time with.
KAKE & KWCH both have people call in to voice opinion, and I will admit that a LOT of the calls are from people without a clue. But I don't know how many times I have also heard someone make a good point and Larry Hatteberg will not respond. Instead, he just goes on to the next caller. It is obvious when someone has a point, he (or someone at KAKE does not want to address it.
I agree wholeheartedly with this article. It's too bad station management at all three stations in this market don't get it.
Meanwhile, 12's AnswerBack has been and continues to be one of the most entertaining segements each week and has been for years. They also aren't afraid to say "ya we goofed." You'd never see that transparency on KAKE.
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