WCCO ended their evening broadcast tonight with a hard-hitting news-piece on the arrival of baby sea otters at the Minnesota Zoo.
Comfy news stories are used to finish broadcasts because ending on a lighter note helps maintain an audience. This is one of many signs that broadcasters, in a constant battle for ratings and advertising revenue, have lost track of their grand responsibility: the quality of the public sphere.
The RTNDA code of ethics says that "journalists should [. . .] guard against extended coverage of events or individuals that fails to significantly advance a story, place the event in context, or add to the public knowledge."
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
KARE 11 Wins Award
It was late Sunday when a romp through Lexis Nexis led me to a news-wire that said four Gannett television news programs had won RTNDA Edward R. Murrow awards. With the chagrin of a man-proven-wrong I considered the list, which began with this entry: "KARE-TV at Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN –[. . .] for '35W Bridge Collapse'."
I put the laptop down to think. After a couple days I decided it was my obligation to post the good with the bad, and I went to check and see if KARE 11 had reported their big win. They did, along with video of the coverage in question.
So with palms sweating as I type: kudos to you, KARE 11. If your Internet video technology wasn't so horrible, I might go into more detail about the coverage.
KARE 11 receives their award on October 13, during an official ceremony at RTNDA headquarters in New York City.
I put the laptop down to think. After a couple days I decided it was my obligation to post the good with the bad, and I went to check and see if KARE 11 had reported their big win. They did, along with video of the coverage in question.
So with palms sweating as I type: kudos to you, KARE 11. If your Internet video technology wasn't so horrible, I might go into more detail about the coverage.
KARE 11 receives their award on October 13, during an official ceremony at RTNDA headquarters in New York City.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Resurrection
I'm days away from quitting my job and starting out on my own as a freelance reporter. As I look forward to unemployment, I'm thinking this abandoned shed of a blog might have been worth more than I gave it credit for.
The problems I had with it were obvious to me after the second post. The first and most glaring problem with a blog like this: redundancy. TV news programs (especially the local ones) break ethical guidelines often because its policy to do so. Of course Fox 9 has an American Idol beat reporter. How could they avoid it? They're just part of a grand-scale umbrella extension of Fox Inc., ran by Rupert Murdoch, the very man most responsible for destroying broadcast news industry.
If there could be a single enemy of public knowledge, it would be Murdoch. If the current news-media v. ownership struggle were compared to a Marvel comic-book, he and his junta (made up of other industry men, various conservative politicians, etc.) would be The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, with Murdoch as Magneto himself. An even more depressing fact: there is no team of X-Men dedicated to maintaining the quality of the public sphere, countering the malicious acts Murdoch and his Evil Mutants.
Another problem with this blog is my ineptitude, unavoidable because:
1. I'm lazy. Plain and simple. There was a six-month span of time a couple years back, during which I edited a school newspaper and was accordingly beholden to the many responsibilities of an editor. It was a great learning experience. I learned that my human inclination, shaped by eons of evolution, guides me away from taking on too much responsibility. I don't dare ponder the possible consequences of ignoring that inclination.
2. I don't have cable or TiVO. This means I have to pick and choose which broadcasts I watch, and catch the rest on internet postings. The result is an incomplete picture of the daily news-scape, which I feel is important picture to have for these postings. A complainer like myself needs to have a perfect idea of the thing he is upset with.
3. Watching local TV news every day is unbelievably depressing: gas prices going up, blacks killing whites, blacks killing blacks, gas prices going up, whites having to rent because they can't afford housing, squirrels water-skiing, etc. Metro news is limited crime reports, and suburban news is limited to self-absorbed babble. After watching this stuff every day for a couple weeks I start getting nausious at around 4:30, just before the evening broadcast begins.
The problems I had with it were obvious to me after the second post. The first and most glaring problem with a blog like this: redundancy. TV news programs (especially the local ones) break ethical guidelines often because its policy to do so. Of course Fox 9 has an American Idol beat reporter. How could they avoid it? They're just part of a grand-scale umbrella extension of Fox Inc., ran by Rupert Murdoch, the very man most responsible for destroying broadcast news industry.
If there could be a single enemy of public knowledge, it would be Murdoch. If the current news-media v. ownership struggle were compared to a Marvel comic-book, he and his junta (made up of other industry men, various conservative politicians, etc.) would be The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, with Murdoch as Magneto himself. An even more depressing fact: there is no team of X-Men dedicated to maintaining the quality of the public sphere, countering the malicious acts Murdoch and his Evil Mutants.
Another problem with this blog is my ineptitude, unavoidable because:
1. I'm lazy. Plain and simple. There was a six-month span of time a couple years back, during which I edited a school newspaper and was accordingly beholden to the many responsibilities of an editor. It was a great learning experience. I learned that my human inclination, shaped by eons of evolution, guides me away from taking on too much responsibility. I don't dare ponder the possible consequences of ignoring that inclination.
2. I don't have cable or TiVO. This means I have to pick and choose which broadcasts I watch, and catch the rest on internet postings. The result is an incomplete picture of the daily news-scape, which I feel is important picture to have for these postings. A complainer like myself needs to have a perfect idea of the thing he is upset with.
3. Watching local TV news every day is unbelievably depressing: gas prices going up, blacks killing whites, blacks killing blacks, gas prices going up, whites having to rent because they can't afford housing, squirrels water-skiing, etc. Metro news is limited crime reports, and suburban news is limited to self-absorbed babble. After watching this stuff every day for a couple weeks I start getting nausious at around 4:30, just before the evening broadcast begins.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Catering to Ownership: The Idol Beat
During the American Idol season our own Fox 9 news has provided us with weekly in-depth coverage of the show. They also have an Idol-themed website run by Chris Matheson, the entertainment beat reporter.
It's tricked out with killer graphics and a chat room where enthusiastic fans can argue over their favorite contestant. It's also tricked out with a disgusting sploosh into the toilet bowl of sensationalism and sycophancy.
Other local affiliates are silent on Idol. Now that it's in its seventh (or is it eighth? ninth? 41st?) season, the show is far from being newsworthy in any sense and should be beyond even the soiled ethical standards of entertainment reporting, especially here in Minnesota which is nowhere near Hollywood (geographically or egotistically). But I guess entertainment news is pointedly shit, and Matheson's reporting is actually funny if we take it as an intended punch-line to a joke that the E! channel has been telling all these years.
Then there's the matter of incest. Fox 9 news is running weekly updates on a show that's broadcast on their own station and that is a backhand to RTNDA ethical standards. I would like to find out if other Fox affiliates run similar bits on their own news broadcasts. Is KMSP getting more than video clips from Fox headquarters for doing these updates?
It's tricked out with killer graphics and a chat room where enthusiastic fans can argue over their favorite contestant. It's also tricked out with a disgusting sploosh into the toilet bowl of sensationalism and sycophancy.
Other local affiliates are silent on Idol. Now that it's in its seventh (or is it eighth? ninth? 41st?) season, the show is far from being newsworthy in any sense and should be beyond even the soiled ethical standards of entertainment reporting, especially here in Minnesota which is nowhere near Hollywood (geographically or egotistically). But I guess entertainment news is pointedly shit, and Matheson's reporting is actually funny if we take it as an intended punch-line to a joke that the E! channel has been telling all these years.
Then there's the matter of incest. Fox 9 news is running weekly updates on a show that's broadcast on their own station and that is a backhand to RTNDA ethical standards. I would like to find out if other Fox affiliates run similar bits on their own news broadcasts. Is KMSP getting more than video clips from Fox headquarters for doing these updates?
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Catering to Ownership: KARE 11 Reports
Last night KARE 11 News broadcast two stories about Katie Henslin, the first Minnesota native to be a contestant on the TV game show Deal or No Deal. The first report ran at five o'clock, the second at 10 o'clock. Henslin told KARE 11 her half-million dollar win will help her and her husband buy a home and support their children.
The problem is this: Deal or No Deal is on NBC. The show is owned by the same people that own the KARE 11 affiliate here in the Twin Cities.
This might be a violation of the RTNDA's code of ethics that states: "journalists should refuse to allow the interests of ownership or management to influence news judgment and content inappropriately."
Of all the other local news organizations, only the Pioneer Press, who ran a squib on their website yesterday, thought Henslin's win was worth reporting. The other local stations didn' mention Henslin at all.
The problem is this: Deal or No Deal is on NBC. The show is owned by the same people that own the KARE 11 affiliate here in the Twin Cities.
This might be a violation of the RTNDA's code of ethics that states: "journalists should refuse to allow the interests of ownership or management to influence news judgment and content inappropriately."
Of all the other local news organizations, only the Pioneer Press, who ran a squib on their website yesterday, thought Henslin's win was worth reporting. The other local stations didn' mention Henslin at all.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
About This Blog
Of course I will rant. When it comes to criticizing local television journalism, ranting is too easy, too necessary to avoid. And that is the goal of this blog: to monitor, analyze, and personally react to the quality of television broadcast news generated in my home town.
What I won't do is babble. I will use industry tools to lend credit to my judgements. I am a student at the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism and Mass Communication and I will often relate my critiques to coursework, but mostly I will use ethical guidelines set by the Radio and Television News Directors Association to weigh the quality of local TV news. In the case of local news and national news, ethics (or lack of ethics) affect everything from the form and quality of reporting to its content.
Some of the most relevant, most ignored guidelines include (in no order):
Electronic Journalists Should:
* Resist distortions that obscure the importance of events.
* Clearly disclose the origin of information and label all material provided by outsiders.
* Refuse to allow the interests of ownership or management to influence news judgment and content inappropriately.
* Use technological tools with skill and thoughtfulness, avoiding techniques that skew facts, distort reality, or sensationalize events.
* Seek to understand the diversity of their community and inform the public without bias or stereotype.
* Manipulate images or sounds in any way that is misleading.
I will also look at and react to results from the Minnesota News Council's hearings as they happen, and rant appropriately (or inappropriately).
I will rant. Expect the rant.
What I won't do is babble. I will use industry tools to lend credit to my judgements. I am a student at the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism and Mass Communication and I will often relate my critiques to coursework, but mostly I will use ethical guidelines set by the Radio and Television News Directors Association to weigh the quality of local TV news. In the case of local news and national news, ethics (or lack of ethics) affect everything from the form and quality of reporting to its content.
Some of the most relevant, most ignored guidelines include (in no order):
Electronic Journalists Should:
* Resist distortions that obscure the importance of events.
* Clearly disclose the origin of information and label all material provided by outsiders.
* Refuse to allow the interests of ownership or management to influence news judgment and content inappropriately.
* Use technological tools with skill and thoughtfulness, avoiding techniques that skew facts, distort reality, or sensationalize events.
* Seek to understand the diversity of their community and inform the public without bias or stereotype.
* Manipulate images or sounds in any way that is misleading.
I will also look at and react to results from the Minnesota News Council's hearings as they happen, and rant appropriately (or inappropriately).
I will rant. Expect the rant.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Post Uno
The title of the blog gives a good idea of how I will use this blog. The only thing that I need to clarify is this: by "local" TV news, I'm referring to local news in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. If you live somewhere else, then I encourage you to turn a firm eye on your own local news broadcasts, but I can't provide criticism of any broadcasts that happen outside the Twin Cities (except, maybe, as a comparison to our own).
The stations I watch will all be local network affiliates. I don't have cable and can't watch anything broadcast on the local public access stations. The local news programs I will monitor and write about in this blog include those broadcast on:
WCCO/Channel 4: CBS
KSTP/ Channel 5: ABC
KMSP/Channel 9: FOX
KARE/Channel 11: NBC
Thank you for reading.
The stations I watch will all be local network affiliates. I don't have cable and can't watch anything broadcast on the local public access stations. The local news programs I will monitor and write about in this blog include those broadcast on:
WCCO/Channel 4: CBS
KSTP/ Channel 5: ABC
KMSP/Channel 9: FOX
KARE/Channel 11: NBC
Thank you for reading.
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