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WBEN vs. Buffalo News

J

jas2525

Wow. I just heard one of the more ridiculous promos I've heard in a while.

A promo on WBEN just explained to me that I can save about a dollar a day by NOT going to The Buffalo News website, but should visit instead WBEN's site for all my news and information! Really?

How dumb do they think the audience is? Not only does the Buffalo News go into substantially more depth than WBEN...or any other radio news station for that matter, but WBEN, like most other stations, has just a token minimum of content, yet they promote it heavily. Who do they think they're kidding? If you're going to make such a fuss about your site, you better be dedicating more than basically one person to it's content. As it is, it seems their news dept is slowly evaporating through attrition.

Seems to be a microcosm of radio in general these days: Give a cheap product but hope and pray that the audience doesn't notice. Guess what? They do notice. Maybe not by direcly voicing "I don't listen anymore because...", but instead they just slowly go away and never return because of a subconsciously perceived lack of quality.
 
Maybe what they meant to say was that they summarize the content of the Buffalo News site for you. How convenient! ;)
 
what they meant to say was that they summarize the content of the Buffalo News site for you.
Click to expand...
;D

Dang I want to say SOMETHING.....but Rox stole the show!! :p
 
Actually, "Jaz," I think WBEN's website is quite good. It's always updated with the latest breaking news. There is plenty of audio, and even some national video. There is value added content, such as schedules, maps and menus for the Taste of Buffalo this weekend. In fact, the WBEN website has been awarded the top prize for websites by the New York State Associated Press Broadcasters for two years now. So, they must be doing something right to be so honored by their peers.

I would add that both WBFO and WNED-AM do credible jobs in updating the latest news on their respective websites. But as you mention, "Jaz," it's a daunting challenge because of the demands the web puts on already stretched local newsrooms.

I wholeheartedly agree with you though about the silly promos WBEN has been running for several years now. Indeed, such promos are an insult to an intelligent audience. The Buffalo News website is clearly superior to any other entity in Buffalo. The News has succeeded in adding audio and video to its in-depth articles. I'm not sure why WBEN continues with such silliness when such respected journalists as the News' Dan Herbeck have publicly criticized the station for its promos.

That said, some other posters on this board have argued in separate threads that WBEN and other broadcast media outlets get most of their news from the Buffalo News. That's simply not true. It used to be the case years ago. I heard stories from insiders that there was a radio newsroom 20 years ago that would routinely have their "reporters" rewrite stories from the News and present them as their own each morning. But that's really not the case anymore. News is news. When a story breaks like the Iraqi vet who fell off a coaster at Darien Lake, you're going to read it in the paper, see it on television and hear it on the radio. It doesn't mean broadcast stole it from the News. Any listener to WBEN's morning show knows they select their own themes to focus on each morning. Yes, there are perhaps one or two enterprise stories the News carries each week that are taken by broadcast outlets. And if they have any ethics, they'll credit the News. But sometimes these stories develop into something so big that they become part of the community conversation. So, it's only natural for broadcast outlets to begin following them. Then, it is no longer necessary to credit the News once you've sourced it on your own.

I know I'm going off topic here. But I thought it was important to put this entire controversy in the proper context. Yes, WBEN is silly with its promos taking on the Buffalo News. And while the News is the big behemoth, all of the local broadcast outlets at one time or another have done some journalism that is enterprising and worthy of praise.
 
Philip_Airtime said:
Actually, "Jaz," I think WBEN's website is quite good. It's always updated with the latest breaking news. There is plenty of audio, and even some national video. There is value added content, such as schedules, maps and menus for the Taste of Buffalo this weekend. In fact, the WBEN website has been awarded the top prize for websites by the New York State Associated Press Broadcasters for two years now. So, they must be doing something right to be so honored by their peers.

I would add that both WBFO and WNED-AM do credible jobs in updating the latest news on their respective websites. But as you mention, "Jaz," it's a daunting challenge because of the demands the web puts on already stretched local newsrooms.

I wholeheartedly agree with you though about the silly promos WBEN has been running for several years now. Indeed, such promos are an insult to an intelligent audience. The Buffalo News website is clearly superior to any other entity in Buffalo. The News has succeeded in adding audio and video to its in-depth articles. I'm not sure why WBEN continues with such silliness when such respected journalists as the News' Dan Herbeck have publicly criticized the station for its promos.

That said, some other posters on this board have argued in separate threads that WBEN and other broadcast media outlets get most of their news from the Buffalo News. That's simply not true. It used to be the case years ago. I heard stories from insiders that there was a radio newsroom 20 years ago that would routinely have their "reporters" rewrite stories from the News and present them as their own each morning. But that's really not the case anymore. News is news. When a story breaks like the Iraqi vet who fell off a coaster at Darien Lake, you're going to read it in the paper, see it on television and hear it on the radio. It doesn't mean broadcast stole it from the News. Any listener to WBEN's morning show knows they select their own themes to focus on each morning. Yes, there are perhaps one or two enterprise stories the News carries each week that are taken by broadcast outlets. And if they have any ethics, they'll credit the News. But sometimes these stories develop into something so big that they become part of the community conversation. So, it's only natural for broadcast outlets to begin following them. Then, it is no longer necessary to credit the News once you've sourced it on your own.

I know I'm going off topic here. But I thought it was important to put this entire controversy in the proper context. Yes, WBEN is silly with its promos taking on the Buffalo News. And while the News is the big behemoth, all of the local broadcast outlets at one time or another have done some journalism that is enterprising and worthy of praise.
Click to expand...

There is no question the Buffalo News does most of the leg work where news gathering and reporting is concerned in this town. WBEN simply does not dedicate the same amount of resources to covering this region the way the News does. That is reflected in their websites, which is why I don't understand why WBEN would even draw attention to their site vs. the News site.

And it would be "Jas" not "Jaz.
 
At least there's some form of competition in Buffalo when it comes to news. I still miss WGR's news radio days. When News broke out...THEY broke in! :)
 
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