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Cuts Coming To ABC News

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

Saw this earlier this morning in the Wall Street Journal. One thing that stuck out at me was that "a number" of overseas ABC bureaus would be phased out--no specifics though. Is this really that ABC/Disney doesn't need as many bureaus, or is it another way to cost-cut their way to making themselves (and/or their stock) look good?
 
They're making a strategic mistake. I may be in my 20s, but I trust a TV newscast far more than the Internet as a news source. After last week's viral story spread through Twitter that Gordon Lightfoot had died -- which was blatently false -- I realized just how much social media is a farce. A couple of traditional media outlets picked the story up from Twitter without verifying it first - but at least in traditional media, there's a chain of responsibility for making mistakes. Social media is responsible to no one.

If the future of news is the Internet, we have a lot to fear.
 
M.J. said:
They're making a strategic mistake. I may be in my 20s, but I trust a TV newscast far more than the Internet as a news source. After last week's viral story spread through Twitter that Gordon Lightfoot had died -- which was blatently false -- I realized just how much social media is a farce. A couple of traditional media outlets picked the story up from Twitter without verifying it first - but at least in traditional media, there's a chain of responsibility for making mistakes. Social media is responsible to no one.

If the future of news is the Internet, we have a lot to fear.
Click to expand...

Therein lies the problem: relying on social network sites. I do not utilize such sites for my news or anything else.
 
DToTheJ said:
It is being reported that anywhere from 300 to 400 staffers from ABC News - or close to roughly one-quarter of the operation - are to be let go in a reorganization that will concentrate more on journalists that produce their own stories.

Full story:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ent...cturing-as-many-as-300-jobs-could-be-cut.html

Memo from ABC News President David Westin:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ent...uts-will-not-impede-firstrate-journalism.html
Click to expand...

What does it cost to run ABC News Now? I started watching (on and off) when it was an affiliate sub-channel (WMAR & WPVI) and watched again when I got Verizon FiOS. I rarely tune in unless I'm surfing through or wondering if they're still on.

BTW: How many of you knew ABC News Now is still 24/7? On Verizon it's between BBC World and C-Span. I wonder if they're still taping segments in the green screen closet. :D ;)
 
JayR said:
Many people, myself included, get most of their newstories from the internet.
Click to expand...

And where does "the Internet" get it's news stories from?
It's gonna be either aggregated from real journalists' stories (usually a TV station, network, newspaper or something like the AP), or it's from the infamous "blogosphere", where anyone can claim to know what they are talking about.

I'm waiting for the day when Media Credentials have to be issued to anybody with a cell phone.
 
face it, the death notice for the traditional media was written the day Newsweek decided to spike the
Clinton-Lewinsky story but Matt Drudge ran with it anyhow. It has all been spinning beyond their control
ever since.
 
And it would be fair to say - no pun intended - that the obituary was written on the day Michael Jackson died - the story was broken by TMZ.com.
 
Drudge Wins....TMZ wins....this is a pattern.
bottom line: nobody under the age of 30 will
(or does) get their info from TV/radio/newspapers.
those things are like land-lines. do you have one?
 
FreddyE1977 said:
face it, the death notice for the traditional media was written the day Newsweek decided to spike the
Clinton-Lewinsky story but Matt Drudge ran with it anyhow. It has all been spinning beyond their control
ever since.
Click to expand...

DToTheJ said:
And it would be fair to say - no pun intended - that the obituary was written on the day Michael Jackson died - the story was broken by TMZ.com.
Click to expand...

Both statements are absolutely correct, not to mention how the MSM spiked the John Edwards story when the National Enquirer ran with it and Drudge featured their articles. And Climategate, and others. Now that there's more of a free-flow of news, it's much easier for the public to pick and choose their sources of news. In doing so, the flaws of the 'old boy' networks have become exposed.

turkeydance said:
Drudge Wins....TMZ wins....this is a pattern.
bottom line: nobody under the age of 30 will
(or does) get their info from TV/radio/newspapers.
those things are like land-lines. do you have one?
Click to expand...

Couldn't have said it better myself. Who under the age of 50 depends solely on Brian Williams or the girls on CBS and ABC for their national news fix? The answer is: almost no one. That question, posed in 1975 about Walter Cronkite, John Chancellor and Harry Reasoner, would have resulted in an answer that was approaching 50% (the remainder depending on the morning newspaper).

Times have changed; whether it's for the better or not depends on how old you are and your political persuasion.
 
M.J. said:
They're making a strategic mistake. I may be in my 20s, but I trust a TV newscast far more than the Internet as a news source.
Click to expand...

Not even news sites such as cnn.com or nytimes.com?
 
I have noticed that at times, CNN TV is ahead of their website. Not sure if that is intentional, or just a function of staffing and importance. So at this point, I agree, I would still trust the TV broadcast over the internet. I think most broadcast outlets consider their broadcast as more important than their website. This could change very quickly in the next few years.
 
stationless listener said:
I guess Charlie Gibson knew when to step away from the anchor's desk.
Click to expand...

Or perhaps he wanted to retire at this point in his life regardless?
 
I'm with homerjay on this one. It's just coincidence that Gibson retired right before these changes; though, I wonder if he'd been a casualty had he stuck around at this point.
 
I'd be happy if they simply get rid of White House "reporter" (aka glorified production assistant) Sunyen Miller. She occasionally files a report for "World News Now" and is simply awful. I cringe everytime I see or hear her on when I'm getting ready for work. How she got a network job is beyond me as her talent is better suited for a sub-100 market.

And she can take Fox News wannabe-anchorette Karen Travers with her.
 
mescutia said:
M.J. said:
They're making a strategic mistake. I may be in my 20s, but I trust a TV newscast far more than the Internet as a news source.
Click to expand...

Not even news sites such as cnn.com or nytimes.com?
Click to expand...

The problem I have with legitimate news websites is that they are dominated by comment sections, which have turned into Wild Wests. Most news websites I've seen have reader comments attached to every story, often with nonfactual or unverified information added to the story, outrageous opinions, mud-slinging between posters, anti-religious, and sometimes racist comments. Most sites allow one to report offending posts to a moderator, but I can't say I've ever seen a moderator ever delete such a post that I've ever reported. About a year or so ago, CBC in Canada came under fire by Aboriginal groups for allowing anti-Native messages to be posted on certain stories related to the Native community on their website.

Newspapers with Letters to the Editor often present a limited number of letters, which include the real name of a person and their location, and often these letters are enlightened opinions, even if I don't agree with them. There is sometimes more opportunity for outrageous comments on call-in talk radio, but there is no anonymity, which forces comments to remain relatively civil. News websites don't select a few comments to post online, but instead allow virtually everything, with anonymity. When I worked for a local media outlet, we didn't have a comments feature on our website, we only accepted letters. Of course, the powers that be felt the need to allow a comments section to be added, like everyone else was doing. Fortunately I believe they moderate a little more heavily than other media outlets, but I don't know since I was on the newsgathering side, not the Internet side.

People's opinions should be influenced by the facts, and not what a bunch of anonymous comment writers write. That's the problem I see with online news.
 
DToTheJ said:
I'm with homerjay on this one. It's just coincidence that Gibson retired right before these changes; though, I wonder if he'd been a casualty had he stuck around at this point.
Click to expand...

I'd wager no. I don't think you're suddenly going to see a bunch of anchor retirements or layoffs in the near future, and I don't think had Charlie still been there that he would have been pushed out (whether they offered a sweet incentive that got someone already at that stage in life to start living their golden years is another question). More likely some correspondents and a fair number of behind-the-scenes types (as they've already outlined, through steps like consolidating the weekday/weekend production staffs for World News and GMA). Which is more likely--getting a correspondent to add shooting & editing to his/her job or having a shooter/editor who's capable of doing a good job on air presenting a package? Seems more likely it's the former.

With one gig open--This Week host--they could double up and save part of a salary; say, have Terry Moran take over This Week while continuing to contribute to Nightline (as one rumor has gone).
 
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