Newspapers and talk radio

[KFodor]

You guys are speaking of newspapers and the interent as if they are mutually exclusive of each other.

Most people I know READ the newspapers info ONLINE.

To gather your info from blogs is irresponsible and leads to the incredible dissinformation that has become commonplace on talkradio.

Newspapers are staffed with actual professional journalists---most of whom make a concerted effort to research and report stories as objectively as possible. There are exceptions, but generally this is true.

Limbaugh uses the phrase "drive-by" when referring to many established meadia outlets, which connotes a lack of accountability. How ironic, considering newspapers and TV networks ARE held accountable when they get something wrong. There are many within these organizations who are VERY conflicted and consciencious when it comes to journalistic ethics. If you don't know that, then you don't know any real journalists.

Limbaugh, on the other hand, makes no attempt to be objective, honest or fair. He just throws bricks from the shadows, having no accountability whatsoever. What's more "drive-by" than that?

If we start to rely more on internet and talkradio spinmeisters than on actual journalists, we're in very big trouble.

"Professional Journalists". Yeah...I've known a few in my time. Most of them are dead now. What's the difference between right wing blogs and newspapers with left wing blowhards who don't even attempt to report objectively?

 

[KFodor]

If radio News-Talk fails, the autopsy will show the cause of death as "Internet Poisoning".

pardon me if i call bs on that statement.

news talk radio is failing because the talkers that are widely available are completely out of touch with their listeners. limbaugh has over 500 stations. he's also a multimillionare. you think that he REALLY gives a damn about the lives of his core audience? and i don't think you can rightly blame local news talk stations for this because very quickly, there aren't any more of them left. and what is left is a comedic shell in some cases. most of these radio stations are essentially becoming a terrestrialized satellite radio with relevant spots, news, weather, and traffic inserted in the appropriate places. radio stations in two different parts of the country are quickly becoming the same station in every way other than the local spots when they used to offer different content. a partial example of this is the spread of ryan seacrest's show. its nothing that the old morning guys did except that running syndicated seacrest saves money. for these people, it's all about the money.

and despite what many people are telling you there are some people who don't want to listen to this garbage anymore. if news talk radio fails, the autopsy will read "death by greed and self exfixiation". people are flocking to the internet to find their preferences. i don't think that its any surprise that podcast listenership and internet listenership is exploding.

Here's what's wrong with your thinking:

Stations pay for Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, etc. Rights fees. Thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. If Ryan Seacrest was barter, it would show you what the ownership and syndicator thinks of him. If so, he needs a better deal...and a better lawyer.

It could be some are tired of political talk. In my market, though, Limbaugh was above a 15 share 25-54, so
it's kind of hard to make that claim here.

And yeah. You're right..It's all about the money. We're in business, remember??? A creative one, perhaps. But still a business. I don't make excuses about it. If you're a pro, you shouldn't either.

 

[amfmxm]

Being as old as dirt, I began my media career as a reporter for one of the smaller Gannett dailies, did TV for five years and (allowing for some cross-media overlap) have been drawing a radio paycheck for 40+ years. And, oh yeah, run four websites, too. One of my kids is a newspaper reporter and another is a TV producer. We talk about this shit around the dinner table on a regular basis.

The role of newspaper reporters--actually covering stories as they develop & digging for info & corroborating info & making sense of it all for public consumption--is getting a lot more play since the death of The Rocky and the impending death of the Seattle Intelligencer... and the assumption that more news rags are hearing the death rattle, as well. This past weekend I read three (3) separate editorials in three (3) separate newspapers about how American society is in danger of losing its only legitimate monitor of crime, deception and goverment malfeasance.

Radio, TV, and the web have all been stealing news directly from newspapers since the inception of radio, TV, and the web. There is no denying that. Newspaper reporting has been the true source of nearly all--not completely, but nearly all--"electronic journalism." Sometimes we've credited the ink-stained wretches, and other times not. Mostly not.

But times do change. As GRC eloquently pointed out, the Berkeley Bards figured out pretty quickly that they didn't need no stinking billion-dollar presses to get their opinions out. And the rest of us will figure out pretty quickly that if the Dead Tree Press leaves a reporting vacuum, it will represent opportunity for New Media to hire reporters to cover stories and monitor our trusted elected officials.

Maybe it will be TV. Maybe radio. Most likely it will be the web. Maybe all three will make a run a Legitimate Journalism.

But journalism won't die with the newspaper industry. The jobs will just shift addresses.