local news

In an apocalyptic advertising downturn, ideas that would have been unthinkable weeks ago deserve immediate consideration.

WCPOCinccinnati’s Evan Millward: “If you told me three weeks ago that I would soon be anchoring a newscast from my living room, I would have laughed. Maybe rolled my eyes. Said, you clearly don’t understand how my job gets done. Well … joke’s on me.”

Viewers are able to tap into a curated 24/7 channel featuring COVID-19 segments from local stations across the country.

Kantar has just released findings of what it says is the largest-ever survey of consumers about the fast-moving pandemic, checking in with 25,000 consumers in 30 markets around the globe. Among the findings: People are doing 70% more web browsing, 63% more TV watching, and spending 61% more time on social media. WhatsApp has become increasingly more important, with an overall 40% increase in use.

Graham Media-owned WDIV in Detroit now has about 90% of its staff working from home, shifting quickly on the advice of its health reporter (who is an ER doctor) and a senior producer with a public health background.

While all news media are practicing social distancing and adapting to working outside the office, WBBM Chicago went a step further Tuesday. The CBS-owned station originated its entire 5 p.m. newscast away from its Loop newsroom, studio and control room.

According to data from Nielsen, live viewing of local news in the top 25 markets was up 52% in the first week of March among 18-34 year-olds compared to the same week in 2019, and up 83% in the second week of March.

Journalists from a variety of Chicago TV stations explain how they are making doing their jobs by working from their homes.

Layoffs. Canceled print editions. Weekly papers and small dailies across the country face peril as the coronavirus cuts off ads and live events.

Nielsen analyzed viewing data across its Local People Meter markets, which are 25 of the largest local markets. For persons aged 2 and older, local news experienced a 7% viewership lift between early February and the week of March 9. Among persons 25-54, the spike was higher, at more than 10%. Perhaps most interesting however, is that the lift among younger persons aged 2-17 was 20%.

As the world adjusts to coronavirus-related changes at a rapid pace, many in the Twin Cities have grappled with this question: When your job is to talk about sports, what do you do when there are suddenly no games?

The group’s second Facebook Watch show, Field Notes, features pandemic stories from Hearst stations in 26 markets cross the U.S.

Like every other newsroom, WRAL-TV is grappling with the unique challenges of covering the coronavirus. But the Capitol Broadcasting station in Raleigh is also exploring those challenges publicly in the latest episode of a new podcast called How to Commit Journalism.

TVNewsCheck‘s Paul Greeley: “I follow more than 500 TV stations’ Facebook pages and what I see every day are countless examples of news coverage about the coronavirus. All necessary, all important. But what I want to share are examples of the more practical posts on how to cope with the disruptions, and the measures some are taking to help each other.”

Readers are flocking to news sites during the coronavirus pandemic. The media has a basic commodity — information — that people are craving as they try to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. And yet, financially, the crisis is delivering a punishing blow to already struggling local publishers.

Big news stories can dominate the entire news cycle for weeks, months, even years. But very few are as earth shaking as the recent coronavirus outbreak, which is dominating the news cycle and changing the way news organizations work.

Life during wartime is littered with changes. One small, yet indelible sign of the coronavirus pandemic is hitting home every day on Detroit TV screens. The local TV news anchors, usually seated within elbow-rubbing distance, have moved farther apart. It’s one of many precautionary steps being taken by the big three of Detroit broadcast news — Fox 2 Detroit (WJBK), Local 4 News (WDIV) and 7 Action News (WXYZ) — and at newsrooms across the country.

Of all the newsroom jobs, producing newscasts would seem to be one of the toughest to do from a kitchen table, but Wednesday, for the first time, WSMV Nashville producer Jules Marcantonio did just that. “It went fine, on both ends,” Marcantonio said, “from both my perspective and the station’s.”

Fox News and Fox Television Stations will provide unlimited access to facilitate public availability of latest COVID-19 information.