TELEVISION
By Greg Byron
| What Local
Stations
Don't Want You to Know!
An essay on the state of local news |
Photo: Daryn Kagan hosts CNN Live Today. She is also a news contributor to American Morning. Based in the network's world headquarters in Atlanta, Kagan joined CNN in 1994.
Local
Television News has become less important to Americans--in part because
we're catching on to their scam. More and more of us are realizing how
little journalism local news gives us because they'd rather reap profits
than provide public service.
Station promotion departments spend
more than a few dollars to lead you to quite the opposite impression. Even
so, newscasts are rarely news anymore--they're mostly 'info-tainment
to build ratings." Below are the strategies they use to keep you watching.
After you read them, you'll never see local news the same way again.
TV people can easily be caught up in the glamor
of it all. In stations all over the country, there are those who work in
TV who are well meaning, dedicated professionals. They have little control
over the way stations now staff and define news. The 'real journalists'
working in stations aren't happy their bosses shamelessly maximize ratings
and profits. They do the best they can under the circumstances. A great
number eventually leave after a few years--disillusioned over the pressure,
superficiality, and nomadic lifestyle. Greg found TV work exciting, even
intoxicating and occasionally personally rewarding. But not at all what it
once was and not the way it should be.
Anchors are Performers ...not journalists
Local stations spend a great deal of their promotional effort to convince you that their anchors are super news people. They're just like you--friendly, trusted, and attractive, and also great journalists.
In fact, most anchors are journalists-turned-actors who are highly paid for their poised images and their studio delivery. More than a few are not so poised off-camera and few anchors go out on stories or make phone calls to gather news. Those tasks are designated to much more junior people--many of whom, themselves, aspire to sit in the anchor chair someday.
Photo:
Kate O'Beirne is a panelist on CNN's The Capital Gang. Each week she discusses
the important issues of the day with Robert Novak, Mark Shields, Al Hunt and
Margaret Carlson. O'Beirne also serves as a political analyst on Inside
Politics. She is the Washington editor of National Review, writing primarily
about Congress, politics and domestic policy.
Full time performers - part time reporters
Most anchors only treks away from the studio are for pet image projects, celebrity guest appearances at dinners or other special events where stations wish to extend their presence. What few stories anchors do cover are specifically to demonstrate that they can do news and you'll see as much video of them in the stories as you will the interview subjects. In some ways, that's too bad because some anchors are highly qualified journalists--they've paid their dues and reported earlier in their careers. Others have not. They landed studio jobs too early in their careers to have learned the lessons of newsgathering and writing. The more experienced anchors provide input at afternoon editorial meetings where the decisions are made as to what stories should be covered. This depends completely on their capabilities and the News Director's view of them. In some stations, anchors are "included" in decisions to feed their fragile egos. But in other stations, anchors are more experienced than the rest of the staff and so their input is badly needed. It is difficult for the viewer to determine which anchors are 'readers' and which are 'journalists' because they are all promoted as journalists.
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