There Are Flickers Of Hope For Local Journalism. But Not Nearly Enough
Despite some flickers of good news, local journalism remains in a state of emergency. Increasingly under the control of corporate chains backed by private equity firms, far too many American newsrooms are hemorrhaging staff. Fifty-five news outlets have closed for good since the pandemic began — and that’s on top of more than 2,000 newspapers that have folded since 2004. Thousands of local journalists have been fired or furloughed.
Voting machine companies, including Antonio Mugica’s Smartmatic, threaten defamation lawsuits against Fox, Newsmax and OAN.
Exclusives
NTF 2020 | Local TV News’ Longer-Term Future Needs More Relevance And Inclusion
Executives from NBCU Owned Stations, CBS Television Stations, Graham Media, SmithGeiger and the Local Media Association envision a future for TV news in two years’ time that is more inclusive in its coverage and among its decision makers, holding on to the heightened sense of relevance it struck with viewers in the pandemic. “It’s incumbent on news departments not just to serve facts, but relevance, perspective and helpfulness,” said CBS’s David Friend at last week’s NewsTECHForum.
NTF 2020 | TV Reporters Grapple With Heightened Hostility On Social
Social media experts at newsrooms including those of Gray, Fox, Graham and Scripps stations and national outlet Newsy says viewers have ramped up aggressive attacks on their social posts this year. At TVNewsCheck’s NewsTECHForum on Dec. 18, they said a more polarized audience has heightened their need to be more circumspect on social and to diffuse often hostile salvos they receive.
NTF 2020 | Broadcasters Explore Cloud Options For News
TV broadcasters are aiming to move live production workflows to the cloud, but executives from Sinclair, ABC News and Vizrt said at last week’s NewsTECHForum it will take faster tech development from vendors and possibly new financial thinking from customers.
NTF 2020 | Broadcasters Hold Firm On Remote Workflows
Tech leaders at E.W. Scripps, Meredith and Hubbard Broadcasting as well as at tech vendor Avid say that remote production workflows are getting more refined, while vaccine promises also have them hopeful of a return to newsrooms. “The adrenaline that goes through a newsroom is hard to duplicate at home,” said Scripps CTO Ray Thurber at last week’s NewsTECHForum.
Al Michaels (left) is being pulled from Sunday Night Football this weekend “in accordance with NBCUniversal COVID-19 safety protocols,” NBC Sports said on Friday. Mike Tirico will replace Michaels on the primetime play-by-play.
The new communications appointments include a former on-air reporter for TV stations in Nashville and Oklahoma, a former CBS News intern, and former spokespeople and communications strategists from the Mike Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders campaigns.
WeatheRate, an independent weather research company, today announced that 17 Telemundo owned stations have received the “Most Accurate” forecasting certification for 2020. The stations: WNJU New York, WSCV Miami, KTMD […]
Fox Business Network (FBN) ended 2020 by notching its highest-rated year in network history across total day and business day dayparts, while nine FBN programs delivered milestone viewership highs, according to […]
The NBC Nightly News anchor frequently ends his broadcasts now with commentaries, an unusual departure for network evening newscasts that have more than a half century’s track record of playing it straight. Holt’s essays, many of them pleas for unity in troubled times, can seem mild to viewers used to the rhetorical warfare of cable news. He says he’s filling a need for voices of empathy in public life.
TVNewsCheck Editor Michael Depp talks with writer Paige Albiniak about TV’s rethink on how to collaborate amid the pandemic’s forced virtualization as well as lessons learned by station groups like E.W. Scripps, Tegna and Fox.
Graham Media expands its ambitious campaign to develop a membership program for Graham stations and potentially pave a new path to sustainability for local TV news.
One of the most recognizable figures in sports news, ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt announced on his Twitter account Thursday that he has contracted the coronavirus and will be taking some time off.
NEW YORK (AP) — The American Journalism Project said Thursday that it was awarding $2 million in grants to three nonprofit newsrooms, including one based in New York City that […]
The investigative reporter-turned-freeform celebrity is now a seasoned pundit delivering a firm message to Trump fans about the 2020 race: “It’s over.”
Journalists, It’s Time For A Cold-Turkey Breakup With Trump
Margaret Sullivan: The media should not allow Donald Trump “to become a self-styled president in exile, the golf-cart version of Napoleon on Elba. Do not set up a Mar-a-Lago bureau. Don’t have entire reporting beats dedicated to what he and his family members are up to. And for God’s sake, stop writing about his unhinged tweets.”
NTF 2020 | News Storytelling Sees Creative Flourish In Pandemic Year
Journalists from AJ+, NBCLX, NBCU Owned Stations and Graham Media said 2020’s confluence of major stories prompted a surge of creativity and experimentation in video news storytelling. They told a NewsTECHForum panel that working conditions prompted the acquisition of new skills and more elasticity in their story length.
NTF 2020 | Digital News In 2021? Personalization, Data And ‘Authentic’ Streaming Reporting
News leaders from CNN, BBC News Labs, ABC Owned Stations, Gray Television and The Weather Company foresee improving news personalization and story versioning, expanded data journalism and a less polished, more authentic look to reporting on streaming channels, they said in a NewsTECHForum panel on Wednesday.
