Local TV News Is A Joke

[The Voice of Reason]

Watching local television news makes me wonder how some of these so-called news reporters ever graduated from high school let alone college. One station in particular features the typical dyed blonde female news anchor who can not pronounce names correctly to save her life. (ie: Mis-Chief instead of mischief, and Coop instead of coup) She once referred to Benjamin Franklin as a U.S. president. I especially get a chuckle when watching certain reporters at the scene of a vacant house fire (there is a real story for you) and saying to the audience, and I quote, “as you can see behind me fire has engulfed this vacant structure.” How insightful those words are considering that TV is a visual medium and it obvious that the story is dealing with a fire. Reporters are not the only ones apparently hired for just their looks and not their abilities. While a few veteran news anchors have creditability, others, especially on the weekends should go back to Elmira and brush up on elementary news delivery. If these new hires are the future of TV news then I will be spending more time gathering my news from the internet.
Critics of local TV news should not tone down their rhetoric but instead become more even more vocal when these ‘Stepford People’ appear on television and spoon-fed us pabulum under the guise of being news. Decisions once made in the newsrooms are now made in the boardrooms. News Directors take their orders from the sales department. How many times have you witnessed stories that at best are nothing but commercials for advertisers neatly portrayed as hard news? What ever happened to real reporting of the news? I will tell you what happened; Madison Avenue happened. Consultants, otherwise known as people who failed as broadcasters are now in the profession of consulting, have infected news with a needle called entertainment. Let’s us entertain the audience by showing video of some 100 year old lady blowing out candles at her birthday party. Or let the affiliate of a network use local news time to pimp an up coming network show. Let’s say Dancing with the Stars. Wouldn’t it be a great idea for some of the local news anchors to start dancing as well? Or feature our anchors and reporters pretending to be in another profession like a conductor of an orchestra or a karate instructor.
Until the viewing public says “enough” this garbage will fill our airwaves.
Local news is on life-support. Someone please call a paramedic before it is too late.

 

[Mark Giardina]

Watching local television news makes me wonder how some of these so-called news reporters ever graduated from high school let alone college. One station in particular features the typical dyed blonde female news anchor who can not pronounce names correctly to save her life. (ie: Mis-Chief instead of mischief, and Coop instead of coup) She once referred to Benjamin Franklin as a U.S. president. I especially get a chuckle when watching certain reporters at the scene of a vacant house fire (there is a real story for you) and saying to the audience, and I quote, “as you can see behind me fire has engulfed this vacant structure.” How insightful those words are considering that TV is a visual medium and it obvious that the story is dealing with a fire. Reporters are not the only ones apparently hired for just their looks and not their abilities. While a few veteran news anchors have creditability, others, especially on the weekends should go back to Elmira and brush up on elementary news delivery. If these new hires are the future of TV news then I will be spending more time gathering my news from the internet.
Critics of local TV news should not tone down their rhetoric but instead become more even more vocal when these ‘Stepford People’ appear on television and spoon-fed us pabulum under the guise of being news. Decisions once made in the newsrooms are now made in the boardrooms. News Directors take their orders from the sales department. How many times have you witnessed stories that at best are nothing but commercials for advertisers neatly portrayed as hard news? What ever happened to real reporting of the news? I will tell you what happened; Madison Avenue happened. Consultants, otherwise known as people who failed as broadcasters are now in the profession of consulting, have infected news with a needle called entertainment. Let’s us entertain the audience by showing video of some 100 year old lady blowing out candles at her birthday party. Or let the affiliate of a network use local news time to pimp an up coming network show. Let’s say Dancing with the Stars. Wouldn’t it be a great idea for some of the local news anchors to start dancing as well? Or feature our anchors and reporters pretending to be in another profession like a conductor of an orchestra or a karate instructor.
Until the viewing public says “enough” this garbage will fill our airwaves.
Local news is on life-support. Someone please call a paramedic before it is too late.

There are a number of dedicated professional people working on Rochester television stations therefore I would not be that harsh to claim that TV news is a “joke.”

Granted there have been some stories I questioned why they aired in the first place; but that’s not my decision to make. Besides I have a remote button on my TV that I can use to switch channels.

As for the premise that “hard news” has been replaced by a more entertainment venue, that’s something that’s been around for a few years now.

Let’s be honest here viewers, especially in Rochester, seem to gravitate towards certain TV stations for their news because either of the anchors, weather, sports, or they just like the product. Granted there are a few people on TV today that I also wonder how they managed to get employed, but once again I am not in the position of hiring personnel.

Personally I watch just the A segment to get the latest news then after the weather the TV is switched over to something else. I am not a sports enthusiast, except for football, and the last portion of the news normally is for the fluff pieces.

 

[Baldecki]

There is only so much news you can report in a hour, or in the mornings in two hours. People become bored when you just read the news for 2 hours, and keep reporting the same stories. You have to add something in to make the mood better. Im sorry, I dont want to hear about the IRAQ situation 24/7. I like how they add new stuff and have the anchors do stuff. I like 13WHAM. They report the news and have fun as well. There is nothing that says you have to watch a certain channel. In rochester there are 4 stations you can watch, and all are different. You can watch Channel 13 if you want news and experience, but fun at the same time. You can watch channel 10 for the latest news and investigations. Also you can watch channel 8 if you want less experience and some so called news and some so called fun. You can watch RNEWS if you want repeated news every half hour.

I like channel 13, and channel 10 as well. They have experience but also add some brighter things to the news so it isnt depressing. I am also young, so I like the fun stuff better because it makes news less boring. If you want boring news i suggest watching RNEWS or NEWS8NOW. Rochester actually does have a lot of choices. If you cannot find one you like, then I suggest you start your own news.

 

[newscool]

There is only so much news you can report in a hour, or in the mornings in two hours. People become bored when you just read the news for 2 hours, and keep reporting the same stories. You have to add something in to make the mood better. Im sorry, I dont want to hear about the IRAQ situation 24/7. I like how they add new stuff and have the anchors do stuff. I like 13WHAM. They report the news and have fun as well. There is nothing that says you have to watch a certain channel. In rochester there are 4 stations you can watch, and all are different. You can watch Channel 13 if you want news and experience, but fun at the same time. You can watch channel 10 for the latest news and investigations. Also you can watch channel 8 if you want less experience and some so called news and some so called fun. You can watch RNEWS if you want repeated news every half hour.

I like channel 13, and channel 10 as well. They have experience but also add some brighter things to the news so it isnt depressing. I am also young, so I like the fun stuff better because it makes news less boring. If you want boring news i suggest watching RNEWS or NEWS8NOW. Rochester actually does have a lot of choices. If you cannot find one you like, then I suggest you start your own news.

You make a good point. Channel 10 use to have fun in the mornings, but the morning show is very repetitive. They use to go on the road and eat at a different restaurant every Fridays, making the morning show fun. Now, all they do is repeat every half an hour and go to the weather and traffic. It's too serious. The earliest i can get up is a 6:30 becuae I have have to be to work in an hour. I know for a fact the last segment that I catch is actually repeated from the first quarter of the show. And why the hell does the show goes off at 6:55 instead of 6:59? They keep making changes. I don't watch the show much anymore I just catch the top story at 6:30, the weather and traffic and I turn away.

 

[Sxottlan]

I am also young, so I like the fun stuff better because it makes news less boring. If you want boring news i suggest watching RNEWS...

Hey, I can't help it if management didn't go for my wild animal co-anchor idea. :'(

 

[The Voice of Reason]

Hey, I can't help it if management didn't go for my wild animal co-anchor idea. :'(

What I am waiting for next is what I call the "cleavage wars." That is when some consultant will suggest that a Barbie-doll anchor start showing more cleavage in order to attract a larger male audience. Once one station starts that, and it proves successful, then the others will follow suit.
If I am correct then expect to see a number of 40+ year old female anchors and reporters looking for jobs.
:

 

[SirRoxalot]

What I am waiting for next is what I call the "cleavage wars." That is when some consultant will suggest that a Barbie-doll anchor start showing more cleavage in order to attract a larger male audience. Once one station starts that, and it proves successful, then the others will follow suit.
If I am correct then expect to see a number of 40+ year old female anchors and reporters looking for jobs. :

Or boob jobs...

 

[Sxottlan]

What I am waiting for next is what I call the "cleavage wars." That is when some consultant will suggest that a Barbie-doll anchor start showing more cleavage in order to attract a larger male audience. Once one station starts that, and it proves successful, then the others will follow suit.
If I am correct then expect to see a number of 40+ year old female anchors and reporters looking for jobs. :

Or boob jobs...

Either way, it's a win-win situation for the guys in the newsroom. :-*

 

[BobRoss]

Channel 10 use to have fun in the mornings, but the morning show is very repetitive. They use to go on the road and eat at a different restaurant every Fridays, making the morning show fun. Now, all they do is repeat every half an hour and go to the weather and traffic. It's too serious.

My guess is that channel 10 did some research (whether it be through focus groups or some kind of phone/mail surveying) and "enough" people said they'd prefer to see more hard news in the morning. It's rare for stations to make major changes like that without having some kind of reason... after all, if the ratings go south, a News Director better have a good explanation for the changes that led to the ratings decline. Unfortunately, as with any "study" a survey or focus group can't possibly include the entire audience, but rather just a slice of the audience. If the study is done right, that sample should be representative of the entire market, but ya never know. Hit the wrong people, and your results aren't going to be quite right -- and thus, you wind up catering to a crowd that's not as big as you thought.

It could also be a matter of being different. If 10 was doing the same kinda stuff 13 has been doing, and 13's still winning, then obviously 10 just isn't doing it as well. Sometimes, doing different stuff to set yourself apart from the pack can help attract viewers. Usually, it is the 2nd and 3rd place stations in this position. Other times, it's the 1st place station, evolving to stay one step ahead of the copycats before some hot trend wears out.


Onto the issue of being repetative, that's pretty common in lots of stations in many markets. Why? Most morning viewers don't have the time to sit there and watch the entire 2 or 4 hours of the show. They're just half-watching/half-listening as they go through their morning routines, getting showered/dressed, eating breakfast, getting the kids ready, running out the door.

Most people watching at 6:00 AM were still in bed when the lead story aired at 5 and 5:30, and they'll be out the door before it runs again at 6:30. That same strategy applies to each half-hour. If you don't have your best and biggest stories every half-hour, there's a chance some viewers will miss them, and nobody wants to feel "out of the loop" when they get to the office water cooler. You can't ignore a big story at 5:00AM just for the sake of saving it to be "new at 5:30." That works in the evening, when people DO watch for the entire 90 minutes, but not in the morning where people just want the headlines and then get on their way to work. Some of the "not-as-urgent" stories may differ throughout the show, but unless you're in a major market, chances are that there just isn't enough good local news to make each half-hour dramatically different. Add to this, the fact that most stations only have 1 or 2 producers working overnight... much, much fewer than the number of bodies available to assemble the newscasts that will air 12 hours later. The trim overnight staff simply doesn't have the time to write enough stories to have a completely "new" show every 1/2 hour.