commentary

Journalism has never been the most admired of professions, and in recent years the rap on its practitioners has only gotten worse. But there are many journalists, both veterans and newbies, who share these admirable attributes: persistence, decency, the ability to be both tough and fair. But are journalists too negative? That’s not the problem. Our role is not to cheerlead for the people we cover. Are our ranks jammed with immoral con artists? Not in my experience. But could we — must we — be much better? I can’t argue with that.

Society expects journalists to fill several important functions: check on government power, community watchdog, reliable source of basic information. But there’s one role we really don’t need from the news business — life coach. And yet, as Americans move out of the pandemic and into more normal lives, reporters, editors and producers are flooding the media universe with a heavy stream of soft stories filled with trite advice on everything from how to hug again to the safest method for dipping back into the habit of gossipy behavior.

Margaret Sullivan: “You may have a hard time understanding how Dr. Seuss, Mr. Potato Head and Tom Hanks are connected, but that probably just means you haven’t been watching nearly enough Fox News recently.”

Technology companies’ blithe disregard for consumer desires is an outgrowth of decades of permissive or nonexistent government oversight. Regulators ought to consider how Big Tech’s monopoly power further empowers the companies to ignore their own customers, in part by gobbling up competitors that offer more consumer-friendly services. Whatever the outcome of the Arizona case, if Google and others are willing to continue offering users choices, they should also be willing to respect them.

Despite all the impassioned pleas to salvage local news coverage, the reality is there’s a demand-side problem.

In just a few shorts years, esports has exploded onto the scene, attracting massive viewership and generating revenue in quite distinct ways. Will its exponential growth continue, or are there unknown risks in its uncharted territory?

TV news began as public service programming that broadcasters had to carry as a condition of getting a license from the FCC. The television news business eventually turned profitable, but it will soon face an existential crisis as to how to remain so.

With the return to pre-pandemic behavior in newsrooms, critic David Zurawik reflects: “Adaptability, resilience, being nimble and the willingness to improvise are some of the lessons TV can teach us from the last 15 months. But there are deeper aspects of our relationships to the screen that bear further thought, such as how important those screens and the stories told on them have become to our lives.”

Broadcast shows like NCIS (which just finished its 18th season), ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy (17 seasons) and NBC’s Law & Order: SVU (21 seasons) continue to have massive staying power and tremendous fan bases. And because they boast such large episodic libraries, they’re all among the most-watched acquired shows on streaming. In the world of the Emmy Awards, however, these shows seem to no longer exist.

Yesterday’s cyberattack on Cox Media Group is part of an alarming trend of such assaults on American institutions. Media companies need to be braced and ready for more to follow.

Zixi’s Robert Poletiek: “Over the past five years audiences have begun a mass migration towards consumption of IP-based content streaming services at an accelerated pace. Viewers globally are spending many more hours at home with the choice of an infinite amount of personally curated content on-demand, whenever and wherever they want. In turn, the necessity to recalibrate the broadcast experience for content, services and entertainment by a workforce that is also increasingly remote is vital for the modern broadcaster.”

What happens when companies try to maintain — or even rebuild — their culture during and after a crisis? Is culture something that becomes so ingrained in a company’s DNA that for good or bad, it cannot be changed? Or can and will companies adapt their cultures for a reemergence after a crisis, or even a seismic event such as a merger?

NAB Deputy General Counsel Patrick McFadden discusses Microsoft’s promises to deploy TV white space devices even as Microsoft seeks to overturn recently adopted FCC rules allowing broadcasters to further the deployment of NextGen TV services and improve service to television viewers.

John Oliver exposed an embarrassing practice of using local news personnel to shill products on air. Station groups that participate are playing a dangerous game with viewers’ trust in the process.

The Media Ad Sales Council calls for an industry task force with representatives from both the buy and sell sides and chaired by a neutral party to align on the rapid advancement of new generation ad tech solutions.

A recent consumer survey found viewers turn to streaming for a specific, high-budget experience that fits into their lifestyle, while they look to linear to maximize a passive viewing experience.

This week’s announcement of a mega-merger between AT&T’s WarnerMedia and Discovery must still pass muster with consumers who may not be willing to pay a premium fee for much of what they watch.

Facebook and Google lead the media industry as companies being most heavily targeted by the FTC, Congress and even the Biden Administration. The central question at the heart of scores of lawsuits files in the past year:  Have companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft become too powerful, and do they exercise anticompetitive practices?

There are constant fights among powerful digital companies over what streaming video apps appear on our living room TV sets. It shows how the overlords of new TV are falling into the same bad habits as old TV. Here’s why fights over money, power and our personal information are popping up all over streaming entertainment, and how we’re caught in the middle.

Media companies don’t need to compromise on security when leveraging IP technology, nor should security compromise speed, latency or efficiency.

WTXL’s Vicki Bradley: “Being a news director is a privilege. It’s also a position for many that wasn’t the easiest to achieve, especially for African Americans. That’s why I’m sharing my perspective of the challenges that some Black newsroom leaders face today, at a time when many in our communities are hurting.”

Tara Lachapelle: “It’s hard to imagine Discovery+ surviving the streaming wars as a stand-alone product. But its immense library would improve the value proposition of any of the leading apps faster than the occasional big-budget movie can.”

Adding employees while you are working remotely, and hiring for remote-work positions are something of two sides of the same coin: as the hiring manager, you need to virtually present your company as a great place to work, either to prospective employees who may soon return to the office, or to new hires who may work remotely. Here are some tips for both situations.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s call to harass people with masks exemplifies the danger inherent to the political variety show, a cross-bred new TV product that has moved from entertainment to action catalyst, our contributor argues.

With automation and robotics making interaction far less frequent between control rooms and talents, fortifying those relationships is more important than ever. Here are some ways to do so.

He and his guests questioned the fairness of the Chauvin verdict shortly after it came in. That irresponsibility seems OK with his bosses.

NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan: “The FCC should not simply saddle broadcasters with this needless obligation — or rather, multiple needless obligations — because it can regulate broadcasters but not social media companies. That is regulation at its worst, and it should not make a return. If the commission can’t address a widespread problem that occurs almost exclusively on other platforms, why not ask Congress to step in with regulations that actually meet the problem rather than reflexively burdening over-the-air broadcasters? If anything, the Commission should be reticent to add burdens on one industry that are wildly asymmetrical to the regulation of other industries and that will barely address the actual problem.”

The Media Financial Management Association’s Media Financial Focus annual conference is just around the corner. There are some strong advantages to its being held virtually again this year. If you’ve not registered yet, today’s the last day to do so before rates increase.

A new study, “A New Way of Looking at Trust in Media,”from the Media Insight Project, a collaboration between API and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, finds that only one of five core values touted by journalists also shares the support of a majority of Americans. Support for these values does not break cleanly along party, demographic or ideological lines but rather seems to be driven by “moral instincts.” Given that trust in the news media has fallen from about 70% in the early 1970s to about 40% now, according to Gallup — it seems worth viewing this report with an open mind.

The Video Advertising Bureau accuses Nielsen of a “systematic undercounting” of TV program viewership since last March. Nielsen needs to respond to the accusation with more than a white paper.

Some in the right-wing media keep doing their utmost to make the trial of Derek Chaubin for killing George Floyd about Floyd’s drug use and troubled life, in what seems like an attempt to absolve Chauvin long before the jury reaches a verdict. In effect, they are putting Floyd on trial. The “no angel” narrative, and its variations, are racist smears. Unlike George Floyd, they deserve to die.

Features like AR and VR, social media integrations with synchronized streaming options and personalization are key to capturing fans’ imaginations and driving more active, engaged consumption.

Attitude, accountability, education and lack of role models explain many of the reasons for entry-level difficulty and long-term broadcast careers.

If defamation suits, even valid ones, are successful, long-standing First Amendment protections could be weakened; aggrieved subjects of news stories, especially those with deep pockets, may be encouraged to go after media companies of all kinds, not just hyperpartisan ones. And long, expensive court battles could put them out of business.

Diversity and inclusion within the media industry were moving ahead at a respectable clip. Then the pandemic happened. How should organizations get back on track with their hard-fought efforts?