JESSELL AT LARGE
Stations Need More News, Not More Opinions
Most TV stations don’t editorialize. For years I thought this was a mistake. Now I see it as a virtue. That local broadcasters mostly avoid opinion may be one of their strongest attributes, one that they can exploit in a media ecosystem where it is increasingly difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. Surveys confirm that local broadcasters are a widely trusted source of news, at least relative to other media. Given that, they should step up the breadth and depth of their reporting. Crimes, fires, accidents and the five-day forecast are not enough.
