Lindsay McCoy is the person who cracks on all of us for video, video, video -- and of course that resonates with us even as Lindsay vacations on a beach somewhere this week. Which means someone has to sit in the anchor chair, even without the phone books to add some height...
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Monday, May 17, 2010
Monday, July 20, 2009
Cronkite & Today's Leaders
I'm likely not going to make many friends with this post, but what the hell.
Someone ought to point out that President Obama's platitude delivered over the weekend after the death of Walter Cronkite, that for generations Cronkite "was the news", was a nice catch phrase and easy to roll off the tongue. After all, it's the kind of thing people want to hear to make us feel better about ourselves and salve the loss we may be feeling.
I think it's the kind of political babble Cronkite may have found distasteful.
Article after article, post after post from my colleagues and far deeper thinkers than myself, comes the message over and over and over again that Walter Cronkite was the "most trusted" because of his energy, wit and desire to make sure what he was reporting was the truth he could stand behind. Not a case of Walter being the news, as some news anchors have become in our day, but Walter reporting the news. Because "the way it is" continues to mean what is says in simplest terms; not the way I see it, but the way it is. Not an anchor's view, but a reporter's delivery of the story.
Cronkite had credibility because he approached the job of television anchor with a reporter's sensibility. There was no consultant peering over his shoulder, advising him on how to part his hair or look thoughtfully over his glasses. That kind of stuff he figured out on his own because it was just him. The important part of the job was telling the story.
Not to say the show business aspect of broadcasting didn't matter; it just didn't matter as much as the content of what he wanted us to know about. As much a managing editor and reporter as an anchor, Cronkite's legacy many of us hold in reverence today was in telling the story. Not being the story.
I was struck by this thought while watching CBS-TV's excellent (for the most part) special on Cronkite that aired Sunday. But I wondered: where was the reaction and thoughts of the last living U.S. President in office during the Cronkite era? Instead of Jimmy Carter or George H.W. Bush, both from the same generation who served as President or Vice-President in the years prior to Cronkite's retirement, we are treated to Bill Clinton, who took office a decade after Cronkite had stepped down from the anchor desk.
Apparently instead of telling the story with the contemporaries in history it was better television to "relate" to a younger audience who likely had no idea who Cronkite was. But hey, wasn't it cool to see Clinton and Mickey Hart!
Part of me wants to think this is because it was easier to get a video clip from the White House or Bill Clinton to do a short-notice sit-down for a quick special, or even pull out the Grateful Dead and Jimmy Buffett clips to showcase how cool Walter could be. It added to the entertainment side, the glitz and show-biz of television. Make the story something we can emotionally relate to. One could almost hear the consultants sighing with pleasure.
For me, the real power -- the real emotion -- wasn't in the words of today's political leaders. It was in the power of seeing Cronkite's work as history. My wife wanted to know why I couldn't talk after watching Cronkite in Vietnam, or his coverage of the Kennedy and King assassinations, or the reporting on the Civil Rights movement. It's because 55 years after those Chicago conventions, 46 years after those shots rang out in Dallas, and 41 years after he came home from Vietnam the weight of those times is sometimes too heavy to lift without emotion.
It wasn't Walter being the news; it was Walter telling our history.
We've become so deadened to what's real; the reality television-style politics played out in today's media. Is the race for the White House really that much different than "Survivor"...maybe Jeff Probst should moderate the next debate in 2012, with the losers kicked off by a show of hands? It made me sad to think our version of reality is now the reality TV of the cable news talk shows, and empty words designed to stir emotion -- but not too much emotion, mind you -- from our political leaders interested more in manipulation and posturing than leading. Perception becomes progress, because we feel so good about it.
- - -
There has been lots of talk about how nobody will ever be another Cronkite, much in the way we would never see another David Brinkley, nor even another Peter Jennings. I'm not sure I buy into that argument. The conventional wisdom is the business has changed, but I think the real truth is we don't want to seriously examine our own credibility in telling the story in a way our viewers, listeners and readers still hope for.
Cronkite, Murrow and their peers came up from the reporting ranks to secure their place in journalism. Somewhere along the way the model broke, as network and local broadcast executives looked to short-cut the process and find someone with the gravity of Cronkite or Huntley without the costly grooming to earn those stripes. It became easier to find someone who would act authoritative without being authoritative; never mind they couldn't Q&A their way out of a paper bag with a newsmaker.
As an industry, we somehow need to get back to the idea that reporting big stories, surviving campaigns of war and politics and walking in the shoes of the people we are reporting on matters.
I still remember the sheer force of will of Brian Williams, Anderson Cooper, Robin Roberts, Sheppard Smith and Ohio's own Martin Savidge and others showed during Hurricane Katrina coverage. They felt it was their job, their mission, their duty to make us see what was happening.
In typical American fashion, it is something we've forgotten because it was more than 90 seconds ago, but it doesn't have to be that way.
We know the way it was. We know the way it can be again.
Someone ought to point out that President Obama's platitude delivered over the weekend after the death of Walter Cronkite, that for generations Cronkite "was the news", was a nice catch phrase and easy to roll off the tongue. After all, it's the kind of thing people want to hear to make us feel better about ourselves and salve the loss we may be feeling.
I think it's the kind of political babble Cronkite may have found distasteful.
Article after article, post after post from my colleagues and far deeper thinkers than myself, comes the message over and over and over again that Walter Cronkite was the "most trusted" because of his energy, wit and desire to make sure what he was reporting was the truth he could stand behind. Not a case of Walter being the news, as some news anchors have become in our day, but Walter reporting the news. Because "the way it is" continues to mean what is says in simplest terms; not the way I see it, but the way it is. Not an anchor's view, but a reporter's delivery of the story.
Cronkite had credibility because he approached the job of television anchor with a reporter's sensibility. There was no consultant peering over his shoulder, advising him on how to part his hair or look thoughtfully over his glasses. That kind of stuff he figured out on his own because it was just him. The important part of the job was telling the story.
Not to say the show business aspect of broadcasting didn't matter; it just didn't matter as much as the content of what he wanted us to know about. As much a managing editor and reporter as an anchor, Cronkite's legacy many of us hold in reverence today was in telling the story. Not being the story.
I was struck by this thought while watching CBS-TV's excellent (for the most part) special on Cronkite that aired Sunday. But I wondered: where was the reaction and thoughts of the last living U.S. President in office during the Cronkite era? Instead of Jimmy Carter or George H.W. Bush, both from the same generation who served as President or Vice-President in the years prior to Cronkite's retirement, we are treated to Bill Clinton, who took office a decade after Cronkite had stepped down from the anchor desk.
Apparently instead of telling the story with the contemporaries in history it was better television to "relate" to a younger audience who likely had no idea who Cronkite was. But hey, wasn't it cool to see Clinton and Mickey Hart!
Part of me wants to think this is because it was easier to get a video clip from the White House or Bill Clinton to do a short-notice sit-down for a quick special, or even pull out the Grateful Dead and Jimmy Buffett clips to showcase how cool Walter could be. It added to the entertainment side, the glitz and show-biz of television. Make the story something we can emotionally relate to. One could almost hear the consultants sighing with pleasure.
For me, the real power -- the real emotion -- wasn't in the words of today's political leaders. It was in the power of seeing Cronkite's work as history. My wife wanted to know why I couldn't talk after watching Cronkite in Vietnam, or his coverage of the Kennedy and King assassinations, or the reporting on the Civil Rights movement. It's because 55 years after those Chicago conventions, 46 years after those shots rang out in Dallas, and 41 years after he came home from Vietnam the weight of those times is sometimes too heavy to lift without emotion.
It wasn't Walter being the news; it was Walter telling our history.
We've become so deadened to what's real; the reality television-style politics played out in today's media. Is the race for the White House really that much different than "Survivor"...maybe Jeff Probst should moderate the next debate in 2012, with the losers kicked off by a show of hands? It made me sad to think our version of reality is now the reality TV of the cable news talk shows, and empty words designed to stir emotion -- but not too much emotion, mind you -- from our political leaders interested more in manipulation and posturing than leading. Perception becomes progress, because we feel so good about it.
- - -
There has been lots of talk about how nobody will ever be another Cronkite, much in the way we would never see another David Brinkley, nor even another Peter Jennings. I'm not sure I buy into that argument. The conventional wisdom is the business has changed, but I think the real truth is we don't want to seriously examine our own credibility in telling the story in a way our viewers, listeners and readers still hope for.
Cronkite, Murrow and their peers came up from the reporting ranks to secure their place in journalism. Somewhere along the way the model broke, as network and local broadcast executives looked to short-cut the process and find someone with the gravity of Cronkite or Huntley without the costly grooming to earn those stripes. It became easier to find someone who would act authoritative without being authoritative; never mind they couldn't Q&A their way out of a paper bag with a newsmaker.
As an industry, we somehow need to get back to the idea that reporting big stories, surviving campaigns of war and politics and walking in the shoes of the people we are reporting on matters.
I still remember the sheer force of will of Brian Williams, Anderson Cooper, Robin Roberts, Sheppard Smith and Ohio's own Martin Savidge and others showed during Hurricane Katrina coverage. They felt it was their job, their mission, their duty to make us see what was happening.
In typical American fashion, it is something we've forgotten because it was more than 90 seconds ago, but it doesn't have to be that way.
We know the way it was. We know the way it can be again.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Back In The Swing Of Things
I go out of town and look what happens; the people who hate the mayor complain the rules of engagement have changed when he starts firing back; students and non-students at Kent State try to burn the street down (gee, that's so 70s...); Chrysler takes the road to bankruptcy...oh, and more people get the boot from a certain big radio empire.
Any surprises in the above?
The story making the rounds today is death threats supposedly flooding city hall by some who signed recall petitions, now upset the mayor's supporters are tracking them down and trying to get them to change their minds. The good-natured clerk who took the calls didn't exactly describe a flood, more like a trickle (definition: under five) calls she got from city hall critics who didn't exactly cotton to having their opposition tracked down to this point. That's what I call hardball politics, hardly a surprise from supporters of the mayor who don't like the recall. I wouldn't call it dirty politics, however; those signatures on those petitions are public documents.
You wanna dance with the big boys? Don't be surprised when they step on your toes.
On the KSU riots: as I write this the esteemed president of Kent State and Kent's city manager are holding a news conference to discuss their plans for keeping the peace this weekend. Would've been nice to have seen Dr. Lefton take a more up-front approach after students and non-students alike turned Saturday night into an episode of Burn This last weekend, but I guess mere mortals should be happy we get at least this much.
My favorite coming out of this: Commerce, as expressed by a KSU student who knows a good thing when he sees it. At left is just one side of the t-shirt he's selling via Facebook as well as here on eBay for a mere $15.00 to help remember when beer-fueled riots at Kent had nothing to do with Laos or Cambodia. Many thanks to former RCRG news anchor/reporter Shelley for the tip -- and I'm very proud the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Golden Flash Nation.
Here's hoping the proceeds go to the bar bill. Or a PR course for the big bosses at the University.
On Chrysler: this whole thing makes me sad. The Twinsburg stamping plant is just four miles from my house and represents 600 jobs in Summit County and a huge chunk of that city's annual budget. Aside from the normal greed of losing tax money, it should be noted Chrysler has been a damn fine partner for plenty of local initiatives in northern Summit County, as most auto manufacturing operations are in their respective communities. There are an awful lot of people who went to college and took a non-auto career path because their mothers and fathers worked at auto plants in this country, and there's probably no greater engine for the power of America (other than a World War -- let's be honest) than the domestic automotive industry.
I don't know the answer other than more of us buying more of the cars they make, but all the pro-buy America rhetoric aside it's our buying decisions, joined with big business and big union short-sighted manufacturing decisions, that led us down that path. It won't be fixed by marketing.
Which brings me to my friends up and down the road in the radio industry. Much has been reported the past few months as big broadcast companies slice jobs and try to convince audiences it'll make the product they rely on stronger. This is the ultimate insult to any listener with a brain, and I still think all of our listeners have lots more brain power than the marketing gurus give them credit for.
We know when you take local people off the air it means we aren't getting anything remotely resembling something relevant anymore. It doesn't take an MBA with a side order of marketing to understand we're getting a raw deal from someone doing news, or talking about community events, or even delivering a weather forecast from a thousand miles away and two days ago.
We struggle with the same issues in our own business model here in Akron, and I'll be the first to admit we don't always get it right. But the argument over what to do should start with "what's in this for the customer?"
If we are truly serious about establishing credibility with our listeners then shouldn't we be prepared to correctly pronounce the cities they live in, and give them information they need to protect themselves, their families, and their property when storms/natural disaster/man-made tragedy threaten? These questions matter, and not when the smaller spokes outside the hub have to deal with an emergency. We used to have managers in the broadcast business who seemed to understand public service should be more than just a box to check off on a government filing, not the current crop of "metrics analysts" who pass for news ownership.
Has it really been that long ago when radio learned this painful lesson after a quartet of kidnapped aircraft froze the nation?
Any surprises in the above?
The story making the rounds today is death threats supposedly flooding city hall by some who signed recall petitions, now upset the mayor's supporters are tracking them down and trying to get them to change their minds. The good-natured clerk who took the calls didn't exactly describe a flood, more like a trickle (definition: under five) calls she got from city hall critics who didn't exactly cotton to having their opposition tracked down to this point. That's what I call hardball politics, hardly a surprise from supporters of the mayor who don't like the recall. I wouldn't call it dirty politics, however; those signatures on those petitions are public documents.
You wanna dance with the big boys? Don't be surprised when they step on your toes.
On the KSU riots: as I write this the esteemed president of Kent State and Kent's city manager are holding a news conference to discuss their plans for keeping the peace this weekend. Would've been nice to have seen Dr. Lefton take a more up-front approach after students and non-students alike turned Saturday night into an episode of Burn This last weekend, but I guess mere mortals should be happy we get at least this much.My favorite coming out of this: Commerce, as expressed by a KSU student who knows a good thing when he sees it. At left is just one side of the t-shirt he's selling via Facebook as well as here on eBay for a mere $15.00 to help remember when beer-fueled riots at Kent had nothing to do with Laos or Cambodia. Many thanks to former RCRG news anchor/reporter Shelley for the tip -- and I'm very proud the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Golden Flash Nation.
Here's hoping the proceeds go to the bar bill. Or a PR course for the big bosses at the University.
On Chrysler: this whole thing makes me sad. The Twinsburg stamping plant is just four miles from my house and represents 600 jobs in Summit County and a huge chunk of that city's annual budget. Aside from the normal greed of losing tax money, it should be noted Chrysler has been a damn fine partner for plenty of local initiatives in northern Summit County, as most auto manufacturing operations are in their respective communities. There are an awful lot of people who went to college and took a non-auto career path because their mothers and fathers worked at auto plants in this country, and there's probably no greater engine for the power of America (other than a World War -- let's be honest) than the domestic automotive industry.
I don't know the answer other than more of us buying more of the cars they make, but all the pro-buy America rhetoric aside it's our buying decisions, joined with big business and big union short-sighted manufacturing decisions, that led us down that path. It won't be fixed by marketing.
Which brings me to my friends up and down the road in the radio industry. Much has been reported the past few months as big broadcast companies slice jobs and try to convince audiences it'll make the product they rely on stronger. This is the ultimate insult to any listener with a brain, and I still think all of our listeners have lots more brain power than the marketing gurus give them credit for.
We know when you take local people off the air it means we aren't getting anything remotely resembling something relevant anymore. It doesn't take an MBA with a side order of marketing to understand we're getting a raw deal from someone doing news, or talking about community events, or even delivering a weather forecast from a thousand miles away and two days ago.
We struggle with the same issues in our own business model here in Akron, and I'll be the first to admit we don't always get it right. But the argument over what to do should start with "what's in this for the customer?"
If we are truly serious about establishing credibility with our listeners then shouldn't we be prepared to correctly pronounce the cities they live in, and give them information they need to protect themselves, their families, and their property when storms/natural disaster/man-made tragedy threaten? These questions matter, and not when the smaller spokes outside the hub have to deal with an emergency. We used to have managers in the broadcast business who seemed to understand public service should be more than just a box to check off on a government filing, not the current crop of "metrics analysts" who pass for news ownership.
Has it really been that long ago when radio learned this painful lesson after a quartet of kidnapped aircraft froze the nation?
Monday, March 23, 2009
Google Is Not The Enemy
It is quite popular these days to condemn all things massive; the federal government taking bigger chunks of our money, big banks getting big bailouts, financial institutions too big to fail, the big three automakers...it's a big list.
Very common to include big media on that list, including perhaps the biggest media company on the face of the planet these days. Google clearly has supplanted big TV, big radio, big newspapers, big magazines and in many cases even the used-to-be big Ma Bell as the top example of companies and organizations.
What makes Google so unique is the way it organizes and shifts the distribution of ideas not only on the web but also for print, broadcast, and mobile.
The Radio Television News Directors Association and Foundation recently honored Google , along with Cokie Roberts of ABC/NPR, Susan Grant of CNN, and the Knight Foundation (represented by Alberto Ibarguen) with a First Amendment Award; it was, behind the scenes, a call that took some courage because some in the old media think they still own freedom of speech. They don't.
Here's what Dr. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, said about independent voices for newspapers in particular but also in general how getting to an "accurate truth" is something all of us own.
Post viewing: is it just me or does anyone else find it amazing that as every 60 seconds goes by there are 15 HOURS of video uploaded to YouTube? Wow.
Very common to include big media on that list, including perhaps the biggest media company on the face of the planet these days. Google clearly has supplanted big TV, big radio, big newspapers, big magazines and in many cases even the used-to-be big Ma Bell as the top example of companies and organizations.
What makes Google so unique is the way it organizes and shifts the distribution of ideas not only on the web but also for print, broadcast, and mobile.
The Radio Television News Directors Association and Foundation recently honored Google , along with Cokie Roberts of ABC/NPR, Susan Grant of CNN, and the Knight Foundation (represented by Alberto Ibarguen) with a First Amendment Award; it was, behind the scenes, a call that took some courage because some in the old media think they still own freedom of speech. They don't.
Here's what Dr. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, said about independent voices for newspapers in particular but also in general how getting to an "accurate truth" is something all of us own.
Post viewing: is it just me or does anyone else find it amazing that as every 60 seconds goes by there are 15 HOURS of video uploaded to YouTube? Wow.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Tooting Our Own Horn
The news department of the Rubber City Radio Group (WAKR-AM; WONE-FM; WQMX-FM and www.AkronNewsNow.com) has been recognized as finalists in twelve categories by the 2008 Ohio Associated Press Broadcasters Awards. The finalists will learn the actual finish in the awards (first or second) during the OAPB annual convention on Sunday, June 7, 2009 in Columbus, when finalists for Outstanding News Operation will also be announced.
Among the Medium Market – Radio categories where judges awarded either first or second place:
Best Web Site: News Staff, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron “AkronNewsNow.com”
Best Spot News Coverage: News Staff, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron “Fallen Officer Josh Miktarian”; Jim Michaels, WKBN-AM Youngstown “Youngstown Fire”
Extraordinary Coverage of a Scheduled Event: News Staff, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron “2008 Election”; News Staff, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron: “Not Too Fat To Die: Richard Cooey”
Best Continuing Coverage: News Staff, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron, “Bobby Cutts, Jr.”; Tana Weingartner and Gary Scott, WMUB-FM, Oxford, “Windstorm Aftermath”
Best Investigative Reporting: Tina Kaufmann, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron, “Bungalo Five”; Cynthia Sperberg-Hart, WYSO-FM, Yellow Springs, “Springfield Strays”
Best Enterprise Reporting: Tina Kaufmann, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron, “Bungalo Five and Hot Spots”; Gary Scott, WMUB-FM, Oxford, “Sewing for Soldiers”;
Best Anchor: Larry States, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron; Tana Weingartner, WMUB-FM, Oxford
Best Reporter: Tina Kaufmann, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron; Tana Weingartner, WMUB-FM, Oxford
Best Regularly Scheduled Sports: Joe Jastrzemski, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron; Brian Deitz, WOBL-AM/WDLW-AM, Oberlin
Best Sports Broadcaster: Joe Jastrzemski, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron and Brian Deitz, WOBL-AM/WDLW-AM, Oberlin
Outstanding Sports Operation: WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron; WOBL-AM/WDLW-AM, Oberlin; Sports Staff
“We are especially grateful for the judge’s consideration of individual hard work and reporting by Tina Kaufmann, Larry States and Joe Jastrzemski as well as recognition for our entire news staff and operation,” said Rubber City Radio Group Vice-President for Information Media Edward L. Esposito. “Despite much consternation that news may not be valued by our audiences, the strong showing by our news department and excellent work as shown by honors for our colleagues at WKBN, WMUB, WYSO, WOBL and others in the smaller and larger radio markets reflects the continuing commitment of local broadcasters to serve their communities.”
The Rubber City Radio Group news and sports departments also won recognition by the OAPB as Outstanding News Operation in 2006, 2007 and 2008. www.AkronNewsNow.com was honored with a national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2008 as Best Website – Broadcast.
Among the Medium Market – Radio categories where judges awarded either first or second place:
Best Web Site: News Staff, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron “AkronNewsNow.com”
Best Spot News Coverage: News Staff, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron “Fallen Officer Josh Miktarian”; Jim Michaels, WKBN-AM Youngstown “Youngstown Fire”
Extraordinary Coverage of a Scheduled Event: News Staff, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron “2008 Election”; News Staff, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron: “Not Too Fat To Die: Richard Cooey”
Best Continuing Coverage: News Staff, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron, “Bobby Cutts, Jr.”; Tana Weingartner and Gary Scott, WMUB-FM, Oxford, “Windstorm Aftermath”
Best Investigative Reporting: Tina Kaufmann, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron, “Bungalo Five”; Cynthia Sperberg-Hart, WYSO-FM, Yellow Springs, “Springfield Strays”
Best Enterprise Reporting: Tina Kaufmann, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron, “Bungalo Five and Hot Spots”; Gary Scott, WMUB-FM, Oxford, “Sewing for Soldiers”;
Best Anchor: Larry States, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron; Tana Weingartner, WMUB-FM, Oxford
Best Reporter: Tina Kaufmann, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron; Tana Weingartner, WMUB-FM, Oxford
Best Regularly Scheduled Sports: Joe Jastrzemski, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron; Brian Deitz, WOBL-AM/WDLW-AM, Oberlin
Best Sports Broadcaster: Joe Jastrzemski, WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron and Brian Deitz, WOBL-AM/WDLW-AM, Oberlin
Outstanding Sports Operation: WAKR-WONE-WQMX, Akron; WOBL-AM/WDLW-AM, Oberlin; Sports Staff
“We are especially grateful for the judge’s consideration of individual hard work and reporting by Tina Kaufmann, Larry States and Joe Jastrzemski as well as recognition for our entire news staff and operation,” said Rubber City Radio Group Vice-President for Information Media Edward L. Esposito. “Despite much consternation that news may not be valued by our audiences, the strong showing by our news department and excellent work as shown by honors for our colleagues at WKBN, WMUB, WYSO, WOBL and others in the smaller and larger radio markets reflects the continuing commitment of local broadcasters to serve their communities.”
The Rubber City Radio Group news and sports departments also won recognition by the OAPB as Outstanding News Operation in 2006, 2007 and 2008. www.AkronNewsNow.com was honored with a national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2008 as Best Website – Broadcast.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
A TV News Geek's Dream
Now THIS is what I call cool. My friend Andrew Finlayson is the VP of News at WFLD-TV, the Fox station in Chicago. While there on a visit last fall he told me about a project they were working on called LiveNewsCameras.com, giving web users the opportunity to see the news from dozens, if not hundreds, of streaming sources thanks to the ability to pull in satellite feeds and video web streams.
This idea of a web aggregator is not new; satellite and cable systems basically provide the same service, but what makes this unique is it is web-based and allows users to watch the mundane to the sublime. From Al Jazeera (which has a technically proficient stream that loads quickly, even seeing the scrolling news updates in Arabic going from left to right as opposed to our version of right to left) to boats sitting in the bay on Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles.
This is the new cable...
This idea of a web aggregator is not new; satellite and cable systems basically provide the same service, but what makes this unique is it is web-based and allows users to watch the mundane to the sublime. From Al Jazeera (which has a technically proficient stream that loads quickly, even seeing the scrolling news updates in Arabic going from left to right as opposed to our version of right to left) to boats sitting in the bay on Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles.
This is the new cable...
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Why Air O.J.?
A nice debate this morning in our newsroom as we kicked around the story everyone says they don't want to hear -- but perk up when it comes on anyway.
What to do about O.J.? He's being arraigned in about an hour (11:00 a.m. eastern, first thing Vegas time) on a host of charges including kidnapping for that Palace Station robbery.
Was it at gunpoint? Was the stuff really his? Should he go to jail because he used bad language in the supposed heist? How the heck did someone get away with recording the whole thing anyway? Do you really care -- or more importantly, will you really ignore it?
These discussions are going on in newsrooms all over the nation now, especially radio and TV stations with plenty of live coverage available. We will be carrying ABC Radio's coverage, expected to last about 10 minutes max, on 1590 WAKR and will also have streaming video on AkronNewsNow. Most of the folks here in our newsroom were conflicted, some downright disgusted over breaking into our regular music program for the live coverage.
In fact, the person with the strongest "no" is Marcy Pappafava -- ironically the one who will be anchoring the 11:00 news on WAKR, now with the added duty of monitoring the network and joining the coverage during her newscast. Just what qualifies a story for breaking into program, she opines? If Bill Clinton were taking his posse to a casino to get political memorabilia it would be a story worth coverage because he was elected, she felt, and a former President. O.J.'s just a dumb criminal, she says (not alot of disagreement on that point) and this doesn't meet the standard we've set with breaking news on wars, political upheaval, AMBER Alerts, major traffic problems and severe weather. Chuck Collins weighed in earlier and feels it isn't worth the live coverage.
Flip side came from Ray Horner, who admits it's not world-changing but this is something everyone is following even if they won't say it. Isn't it our responsibility to report what people are interested in keeping track of, regardless of our personal feelings? Larry States and Tina Kaufmann held similar conflicts; Tina notes that if people wanted to know that bad they'd watch it on TV.
Oddly enough that's the point I considered the tipping point. Have to make a decision one way or the other, I favor bringing the coverage to listeners who aren't able to watch it on TV -- it is a breaking story with great interest.
Most of the time it is the media's job to judge what stories and how much will fit into limited time and space. Newspapers, for example, haven't had to worry about live coverage but they do now with websites; broadcasters have 60-seconds in 60-minute intervals for each 24-hour period. Even on the web there's only so much space on the home page or section front to direct your attention. We strive to make sure it is the important stories you need to see that rise "above the fold" or "in the A block" but sometimes it isn't for us to judge whether a story is deserving.
Ultimately you are the judge of what you hear, see and read -- even if the O.J. saga leaves us feeling a tad bit dirtier for the viewing.
What to do about O.J.? He's being arraigned in about an hour (11:00 a.m. eastern, first thing Vegas time) on a host of charges including kidnapping for that Palace Station robbery.
Was it at gunpoint? Was the stuff really his? Should he go to jail because he used bad language in the supposed heist? How the heck did someone get away with recording the whole thing anyway? Do you really care -- or more importantly, will you really ignore it?These discussions are going on in newsrooms all over the nation now, especially radio and TV stations with plenty of live coverage available. We will be carrying ABC Radio's coverage, expected to last about 10 minutes max, on 1590 WAKR and will also have streaming video on AkronNewsNow. Most of the folks here in our newsroom were conflicted, some downright disgusted over breaking into our regular music program for the live coverage.
In fact, the person with the strongest "no" is Marcy Pappafava -- ironically the one who will be anchoring the 11:00 news on WAKR, now with the added duty of monitoring the network and joining the coverage during her newscast. Just what qualifies a story for breaking into program, she opines? If Bill Clinton were taking his posse to a casino to get political memorabilia it would be a story worth coverage because he was elected, she felt, and a former President. O.J.'s just a dumb criminal, she says (not alot of disagreement on that point) and this doesn't meet the standard we've set with breaking news on wars, political upheaval, AMBER Alerts, major traffic problems and severe weather. Chuck Collins weighed in earlier and feels it isn't worth the live coverage.
Flip side came from Ray Horner, who admits it's not world-changing but this is something everyone is following even if they won't say it. Isn't it our responsibility to report what people are interested in keeping track of, regardless of our personal feelings? Larry States and Tina Kaufmann held similar conflicts; Tina notes that if people wanted to know that bad they'd watch it on TV.
Oddly enough that's the point I considered the tipping point. Have to make a decision one way or the other, I favor bringing the coverage to listeners who aren't able to watch it on TV -- it is a breaking story with great interest.
Most of the time it is the media's job to judge what stories and how much will fit into limited time and space. Newspapers, for example, haven't had to worry about live coverage but they do now with websites; broadcasters have 60-seconds in 60-minute intervals for each 24-hour period. Even on the web there's only so much space on the home page or section front to direct your attention. We strive to make sure it is the important stories you need to see that rise "above the fold" or "in the A block" but sometimes it isn't for us to judge whether a story is deserving.
Ultimately you are the judge of what you hear, see and read -- even if the O.J. saga leaves us feeling a tad bit dirtier for the viewing.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Loading Up The Inventory
Welcome to my blog...and thanks to my pals Eric Mansfield and Kevin Mason for kicking me in the kiester to post the blog content I update on AkronNewsNow to my very own blog page. I've reposted content from the past few weeks to build an archive, so posting dates aren't writing dates but that'll change after this posting when I'll use not only the ANN site but also this site as well.
Comments always welcome -- feel free! It's free!
Comments always welcome -- feel free! It's free!
Looking For News From Home
The Time Warner empire now fully extends from the suburbs of Canton, past the Pro Football Hall of Fame, through Akron and the Inventors Hall of Fame, to the lakefront and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Why can't northeast Ohio's dominant cable TV system work it out so Summit County residents can watch the local news?
It's not as though we don't have plenty of choices; Fox 8, NewsChannel 5, Channel 3, 19 Action News, CBS, NBC, ABC, both PBS stations, enough cable news to choke a horse, even the TV Guide Channel -- but still no Akron/Canton News.
How long does it take to flip a switch?
Up here, way to the north of Akron (almost as far north as you can go and still be in the county) in Sagamore Hills Township, we have cable channel 23 for Northfield Center and Sagamore Hills Townships (usually text messages and ads with radio playing in the background) and occasionally government meetings. Every once in a while we're graced with a local high school game or drama production. Macedonia, Twinsburg and Aurora all have their own channels, too, a virtual cornucopia of the workings of local government.
But no space to put their own partnership product online?
I know such things are very complicated, but given the advanced state of Time Warner's digital infrastructure and the ability to provide video on demand (VOD) services it is hard to figure out why the Time Warner Akron/Canton News isn't available to all Time Warner customers, at the very least in Summit County.
It's not as though we don't have plenty of choices; Fox 8, NewsChannel 5, Channel 3, 19 Action News, CBS, NBC, ABC, both PBS stations, enough cable news to choke a horse, even the TV Guide Channel -- but still no Akron/Canton News.
How long does it take to flip a switch?
Up here, way to the north of Akron (almost as far north as you can go and still be in the county) in Sagamore Hills Township, we have cable channel 23 for Northfield Center and Sagamore Hills Townships (usually text messages and ads with radio playing in the background) and occasionally government meetings. Every once in a while we're graced with a local high school game or drama production. Macedonia, Twinsburg and Aurora all have their own channels, too, a virtual cornucopia of the workings of local government.
But no space to put their own partnership product online?
I know such things are very complicated, but given the advanced state of Time Warner's digital infrastructure and the ability to provide video on demand (VOD) services it is hard to figure out why the Time Warner Akron/Canton News isn't available to all Time Warner customers, at the very least in Summit County.
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