News Managers: Turn Up The Volume On Political Coverage
For some reason, the only time politics gets covered by local TV stations is when there is a seminal moment . Example: The end of the Clinton-Obama battle. But let me tell you that local stations are missing the beat and MISSING THE PULSE OF VIEWERS WHO WANT MORE FROM LOCAL NEWS.
The death of Tim Russert sparked in me a hope that his passing, and what he stood for, promoting and profilerating exciting political coverage, would encourage news outlets everywhere to start covering politics - NOT JUST 15 SECOND SLICES OF TAPE OF CANDIDATES SPEAKING WITH NO SOUND, BUT REAL, AND SOLID ISSUE PIECES.
Is it any surprise to anyone who knows me that I am doing more political coverage now on KYW Newsradio and CN 8, The Comcast Network, than I ever did in 37 years of anchoring the news? The reason is simple - the two outlets are dedicated to political coverage.
And by the way, area viewers are now being cheated out of coverage on the big budget battle in Harrisburg ( YOUR MONEY IS INVOLVED), and other critical political stories that involve you, your children, your communities and your lives.
Again, with fervor, I will be happy to advise News Executives of the CONTENT OF POLITICS:
Food Safety, Education, Highways, Mass Transit, Scholarships, Speed Limits, Drinking Water, Fighting Cancer and Disease, Open Spaces. Corruption, Drugs, The Cost of Health, Health Care Safety, Life, Death, Taxes, TV, Censorship, Fighting Terrorism, State Budgets, Taxes on Everything, War, Peace, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Price Controls, City contracts, Consumerism, Political Appointments, Dirty Air, Clean Air, Mortgages, Foreclosures, Gambling, Regulation, Deregulation, Air Travel, School Bus Safety, Law Enforcement, Gun Laws, Pensions.. and the list goes on.
TV News Executives who don’t understand the value of vibrant and exciting political coverage, and its impact on people, are not doing their jobs.
You are correct Larry! Hopefullly they are listening and if they are smart will bring you back to do substantive segements between now and the election. It’s almost like there is an aversion to covering politics at the three local stations. News FLash; this is the biggest newsworthy election in over 50 years, young people do care about the issues shown above, as evidenced by their ethusisasm for Obama, its what people talk about at work and in bars across the Delaware Valley. Since most people dont read newspapers anymore its all the more reason to put the facts on TV News. Wake up News Directors and give us some substance!
People who watch local news are usually too insipid to appreciate political coverage. Also, with the various outlets from which people can get substantive coverage of national political issues, the local stations would serve as poor also rans, with their feeble “anchors,” who are really just “newsreaders.” Could you imagine Alycia Lane trying to explain the Democratic system of allocating delegates? I can’t. The local stations have a hard enough time covering substantive issues of local politics, breaking stories only when John Street waits to buy an iPhone or when Vince Fumo is hit with a hundred count indictment. The local news should stick to what it’s best at: silly hyped-up stories of fear and violence about the weather, about crime, and about consumer products. The news “product” coming out of local stations is tabloid journalism for the TV medium.
why are there no posts? JR, where are you, did someone put you to sleep at the Vet?
Echo . . . echo . . . echo . . . echo.
Larry, while it would be wonderful if we could get some reasonable coverage of local politics on the local news, I just don’t think it’s going to happen. Leo’s right. The local stations only seem to be interested in appealing to a demographic that tunes in for sensationalism. Why isn’t there coverage of the budget battle in Harrisburg? Because it works better for the local stations to put on emotionally charged but relatively meaningless stories about a high school student being shot after graduation on Temple’s campus. If it bleeds, it leads, right? It’s probably the case that most local news viewers would just flip the channel if “boring” substantive stories were the focus of local news. Instead, it feeds its audience a bunch of alarmist drivel about weather, traffic, crime, health, and consumer products. You’re asking too much of local news. They’re just in it to make a buck, not to carry out any lofty journalistic ideals of educating and informing the populace. They have no journalistic integrity.