Coming up... News at 11... L.A. Local TV Examined

Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher and other members of the Los Angeles Civic Alliance commissioned a study from the Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism to examine LA local news over a two week period, last summer.

Basically, they recorded all local newscasts from eight stations, around the clock and broke them down into more than 11,000 stories, which some of the averages per half hour were as follows;

Sports & Weather: 3:36 min.
Crime Stories: 2:50 min.
Human Interest/Oddball/Fluff: 2:26 min.
Teasers: 2:10 min.
Local Economy: 29 sec.
Local Government: 22 sec.
Stories from Outside the Local Market: 8:17 min.

The Lear Center also looked at the Los Angeles Times over the same fourteen day period, which they compare to local television news as a percentage of the news hole.

Because broadcast television is supposed to serve in the public interest, the Civic Alliance are using the study's findings to draw attention to what they consider TV's shortcomings and though it's unlikely to bear fruit, they're making noises about weighing-in on license renewals.

Semi-Related: Pew/PEJ - State of the News Media - Local Television
Update: An LA Times article about the study.

Sheriff May Charge News Copter

Throughout the initial investigation, the KING-5 helicopter hovered over the scene where four Lakewood (WA) police officers were killed.

Twice the Pierce County Sheriff's office called the station and asked them to back off because the noise made it hard to hear and twice the copter flew away only to return a short time later.

Now in the the aftermath of the tragedy, the Sheriff's Department has forwarded information to prosecuters with the idea that the station could be charged with interfering in an investigation.

Two More Palins

The other day I embedded a clip from KEPR-TV in Pasco, Washington and poked a little fun at the station with my rhetorical headline;

3 Mins, 46 Secs on Sarah Palin: Rock Star?
Today, I'll follow-up with two more clips from the enamored station; The first shows that so many people came to the signing, her mother and aunt also autographed books and it includes a postscript about a high school student, who had the honor of interviewing Sarah's parents.



The second anecdotally mentions her economic impact.

Answering Howie

Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post and CNN's Reliable Sources did a segment on his show about a perceived "turn" in the Obama coverage and around the four and a half minute mark of the embedded clip, the following exchange took place between him and Chrystia Freeland, U.S. managing editor of the Financial Times.

From the show's transcript;

KURTZ: OK, but let's look at another possible failure, Chrystia. Is it possible that with the 10,000 stories that have been written in broadcast about health care, the public option, the trigger, opting in, opting out, all that, that the press missed the boat on the story that most Americans really care about, and that's jobs?

FREELAND: Well, I work for "The Financial Times," so we write about jobs and the economy constantly.

KURTZ: Right. But look at the broad media landscape.

FREELAND: I think the press has really focused on jobs, and I think, actually, it would be a mistake for us to be short-termist in how we look at the health care debate.

Personally, I don't think Howie widened the media landscape quite broad enough because if you get below the networks and the national newspapers, especially in the areas experiencing the greatest losses, I'm sure he'd find countless stories about layoffs, company closings, economic uncertainty and a regular diet of stories suggesting people start their own businesses, helpful hints toward that goal from non-profit agencies and occasionally something explaining eBay.

I also don't believe Mr. Kurtz has been paying a lot of attention to the situation in his own industry because the trade press and media blogs have been all over the job losses and rumored staff reductions.

Perhaps, President Obama's lower poll numbers is a reflection of the public's concern over jobs and it, along with the recent flood of media layoffs has alerted, possibly even angered the national media about a situation, they may have been more insulated from in the past.

After all, unemployment is bigger issue, when you fear for your job or know people who have been affected.

3 Mins, 46 Secs on Sarah Palin: Rock Star?

Quickie: Saving CNN

It's not very long and not very deep, but a television writer for the Spokane Pacific Northwest Inlander suggests that CNN should let others brand portions of their primetime lineup. The concept sort of reminds me of the old Texaco Star Theater with Milton Berle or The Chase and Sanborn Hour of early radio, but Mr. McGregor suggests CNN turn it into newsmagazine(s).

With print having more problems than electronic, it might prove difficult to get sponsors capable of producing quality content on a regular basis, but just like product placement, the shows could also serve as extended commercials.