Collapse of the big media?
The spring issue of Wilson Quarterly touches on an interesting topic. It explores how the media has evolved over the last decade or so and how the American people are starved for real news nowadays.
I can definitely concur with the author that pack journalism is the rule of the day (laziness is what I call it), and television news has no doubt become sensational in every way. That's why we are now seeing TV network news stations cover these kidnappings and cases like Terri Schiavo and manhunts for sex offenders around the clock non-stop. It's riveting (for some). I would even dare to say that competition has so overwhelmingly become the ultimate factor that the news has been turned into "entertainment" (news-tainment).
The author seems to chastise editors and producers for hiring young "marketers" rather than "journalists," but I'm not sure they have much other choice. It's called competition or ratings, and if your product isn't as good or better than the other guy's then you're not going to sell adveterising and make money. The Clarion-Ledger created zoned editions last summer while I was there to provide community news for the three counties in the metro area, and while this may not be the best journalistic concept out there, it sure as heck is making a lot of money. I'm guessing that was the primary purpose for creating the zoned editions.
He is also correct in his assertion that the news has become little tidbits and quick hit type news, rather than the traditional in-depth features. I know that may not be the most appealing thing for the intelligent minds of America, but there there are a lot of media consumers who don't care for sitting down and spending 10-15 minutes reading a 1,500-2,000 word piece. They just want the "wham, bam, thank ya, ma'am!" quick hits, and much of this is due to the development of the Internet and wireless messaging. New technology has driven the market to want everything now now now. I'm not sure how long it will be before traditional in-depth reporting will return as the primary media product, but probably not anytime soon.
I think he is hitting on something with reaching the young market, those 18-34. It seems like when people are in college and when people just get out into the workforce they are at the point in their lives when they most tend to question everything, voice their own opinions without fear of recourse and develop their own perspectives on key issues in the world. That's why Fox News has become so popular among the younger crowd, because they have a lot of young people on there and they are constantly bringing in "experts" or the "insiders" to debate issues and argue back and forth about whose perspective is right. There is very little actual, force-fed news reporting on Fox, and young people seem to hate being told what to believe. They love bickering, because they do a lot of it themselves. There is
even an online Fox News fan group at Ole Miss with over 200 members, but there aren't any for the other news networks. (It may also be due to the fact that Fox's top news anchor,
Shepard Smith, is an Ole Miss graduate). The local TV stations are so strapped with not having enough reporters to do the job that they have to be sensational to grab attention.
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=wq.welcome
I can definitely concur with the author that pack journalism is the rule of the day (laziness is what I call it), and television news has no doubt become sensational in every way. That's why we are now seeing TV network news stations cover these kidnappings and cases like Terri Schiavo and manhunts for sex offenders around the clock non-stop. It's riveting (for some). I would even dare to say that competition has so overwhelmingly become the ultimate factor that the news has been turned into "entertainment" (news-tainment).
The author seems to chastise editors and producers for hiring young "marketers" rather than "journalists," but I'm not sure they have much other choice. It's called competition or ratings, and if your product isn't as good or better than the other guy's then you're not going to sell adveterising and make money. The Clarion-Ledger created zoned editions last summer while I was there to provide community news for the three counties in the metro area, and while this may not be the best journalistic concept out there, it sure as heck is making a lot of money. I'm guessing that was the primary purpose for creating the zoned editions.
He is also correct in his assertion that the news has become little tidbits and quick hit type news, rather than the traditional in-depth features. I know that may not be the most appealing thing for the intelligent minds of America, but there there are a lot of media consumers who don't care for sitting down and spending 10-15 minutes reading a 1,500-2,000 word piece. They just want the "wham, bam, thank ya, ma'am!" quick hits, and much of this is due to the development of the Internet and wireless messaging. New technology has driven the market to want everything now now now. I'm not sure how long it will be before traditional in-depth reporting will return as the primary media product, but probably not anytime soon.
I think he is hitting on something with reaching the young market, those 18-34. It seems like when people are in college and when people just get out into the workforce they are at the point in their lives when they most tend to question everything, voice their own opinions without fear of recourse and develop their own perspectives on key issues in the world. That's why Fox News has become so popular among the younger crowd, because they have a lot of young people on there and they are constantly bringing in "experts" or the "insiders" to debate issues and argue back and forth about whose perspective is right. There is very little actual, force-fed news reporting on Fox, and young people seem to hate being told what to believe. They love bickering, because they do a lot of it themselves. There is
even an online Fox News fan group at Ole Miss with over 200 members, but there aren't any for the other news networks. (It may also be due to the fact that Fox's top news anchor,
Shepard Smith, is an Ole Miss graduate). The local TV stations are so strapped with not having enough reporters to do the job that they have to be sensational to grab attention.
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=wq.welcome
posted by Steven G. at
9:32 AM
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