As a freshly minted general manager at WTVD in Durham, N.C., I was given what turned out to be sage advice from my former GM and mentor, Arnie Kleiner. He reminded me that beyond protecting the license of the station and leading the staff, I needed to quickly get to know the community I now called home.
Generating ratings and sales required deep knowledge of the people that made the community tick, and there was no shortcut to making that happen. It meant meeting with politicians, community organizers, business leaders and regular viewers and listening to their concerns and aspirations. It meant taking the time to understand their frustrations and occasional appreciation with the way we covered local news. It meant attending local events and joining nonprofit boards. It meant getting involved and putting down roots. As it turned out, my time in Durham was short – a mere two and a half years – and it was not until I settled in Chicago that I fully appreciated how valuable this advice would be.
Admittedly, the successful television stations of the 1990s and 2000s were often huge community boosters, sponsoring countless fundraisers, charity events and public forums that helped knit together the communities they served. A level of trust was established and nurtured with the general manager serving as the de facto conduit to the community, while the anchors and reporters acted as the face and voice everyone knew and mostly loved. Anyone running a local station was bound to run into the other in-town general managers at dinners and events – a friendly rivalry might ensue when one station landed a coveted sponsorship usually designed to raise money for a local nonprofit.
To be fair, stations today continue to commit themselves to this important work although diminished ratings, brought about by cord-cutting, streaming and social media, have disrupted their ability to reach large swaths of a community looking for a connection. While that has not stopped the best operators from performing their civic duties, we know that an inability to reach viewers can lead to a lack of trust and, in turn, contributes to the fracturing of communities unwilling to come together on the most basic of issues.
I am bringing this up now because I fear a new trend might be setting in that could upend the already tenuous relationship stations have with their communities. I am talking about the troubling idea of appointing one general manager to run two or even three stations simultaneously. Admittedly, this has so far occurred in smaller markets where staff size and revenues are too small to sometimes justify a full time GM, but it is also those very markets where the GM might also be acting as the general sales manager, leaving even less time to do any of his or her jobs with any degree of proficiency. My guess is connecting with community leaders and politicians is difficult, if not impossible, for those handling multiple stations.
Earlier this week, CBS News & Stations announced that its GM in Chicago, Jennifer Lyons, will take on double duty running its struggling O&O in Detroit. The announcement used the term “interim,” and I hope that is truly the case because as strong and capable as Jennifer is (and she is one of the best), trying to manage stations in Chicago and Detroit will be a herculean feat.
It is impossible to run back and forth between two or more cities, attempting to lead and direct a staff. It is multitasking of the highest order, and we all know multitasking is a myth because, as it turns out, the human brain is simply not wired to handle more than one task at a time. I certainly wish someone would have told me that when I was working.
I am well aware of the declining revenues and growing costs facing the industry. It is natural to look for “economies of scale” and to consider cross-market responsibilities as has been the case with shared business managers, sales managers and hubbed creative services and graphics. But somewhere amid all this cost-cutting, we need to remind ourselves what we are licensed to do: We must serve the local community by providing local news, public affairs and accountability that informs, protects and uplifts. Every eight years, the FCC requires each station to renew its individual license proving they have done just that.
And yet, panic seems to have set in as television margins continue to decline and network fees continue to rise. Cutting costs and combining jobs has become the order of the day. There are no winners here save for the temporary reprieve granted to companies trying to maintain a margin that is no longer tenable. The better operators are keenly aware of the urgent need to stay close and connected but others are simply pooling their vast station resources with little regard for individual market impact.
Years ago, I was having dinner with a well-respected college professor and political pundit. He did not understand what I actually did (I’m not sure he even owned a television set), but when I explained my role and where I fit within the Disney/ABC organizational hierarchy, he looked at me and said, “Your problem is you have an RFJ, and you never want to have one of those.”
“What is an RFJ, I asked?”
He replied, “A real f#@%$g job.”
Broadcasters thinking of doubling up the workload of their GMs need to think twice before heading down this road. GMs, not to mention their dedicated employees, already have RFJs and expecting them to perform their work across multiple markets won’t work.
The distinct difference between cable news and what broadcast stations provide is the unique value of localism. There is already more than a little national creep present in some local newscasts simply because it provides filler for understaffed newsrooms. If stations lose their grip on what their communities want and need, this could be the final blow for localism, trust and community. Then where will we be?
Emily Barr is the retired CEO of Graham Media Group and currently serves on the board of The Maine Monitor, an independent, nonpartisan investigative and explanatory journalism digital outlet focusing on public interest issues that impact Maine.
Murph
Yes, yes, yes to your column! I always joke that I started in the television business the day after the “good old days” ended. Sadly, local stations aren’t truly local anymore. I live in a market where the big four are all owned by major broadcast companies – Nexstar, Tegna, Scripps, and Sinclair. Based on the content shown on these stations, there’s no longer a compelling reason to have a figurehead to personify the intent of the license – to serve local communities.
Back in the day, a GM’s community involvement also extended to and through their Department Heads. These days, a Regional Marketing Manager picks a slogan, a centralized department cranks out graphic templates, and a Digital Content Center crafts locally irrelevant yet clickable stories to funnel across social media. News initiatives are determined by a guy in a suit whose only time in the market was for a budget meeting six years ago. When golf runs long, you can’t exactly walk down to Master Control to figure out how to save that big money spot you’re about to lose in 60 Minutes.
Stations all look the same, sound the same, and feel the same. If you are transported from Orlando to Des Moines, you’d recognize the same catchy music, the same all-important announcer, the same red and blue graphics, the same desk, and the same caricature of a news anchor. Every station now has the obligatory “infotainment” show, complete with a glaring lack of disclosure that most, if not all, of the segments were paid for.
To your point about “national creep,” I’d argue that national and co-owned content has gone from a creep to a gallop. It’s common to see a story about electric vehicles featuring a dealership in a market thousands of miles away or “breaking news” about a major traffic issue…from another state. One of my favorites was when a primary anchor at a major market Ohio station introed a story with, “And in Ohio this morning, a tragic fire…” Um, Ohio? We’re in Ohio – could you narrow that down a bit?
Many station websites are a joke. Anchors regularly encourage visitors to head to the station website for “more on this story,” only to find that “more” means a transcript of the package and, if you’re lucky, a link to the :20 story preceded by a non-skippable :30 ad. It has come to the point where one needs to hunt and peck between clickbait articles (framed as “local” but simply a package from another market) and gems from the Taboolas and Outbrains of the world. It’s hard to take a station website seriously when a story about the murder of a treasured local teacher is wedged between “Place an ice cube on a burger, here’s why!” and “Neurologists AMAZED over this shoe!”
And how about the companies who have removed live streaming from their websites? Catastrophic tornado bearing down on your house? Sorry, but “In order to fulfill our obligations to our cable, satellite, and telco partners…” we’re not playing anymore. While watching live coverage of a mass shooting on a station website a few months ago, I was stunned to see ads running every 10 minutes on the nose, half of which were promos for that owner’s cable news channel. Don’t bother watching us — watch cable! We’ll make more money there!
It breaks my heart to see the demise of local television. Sadly, I don’t see anything that leads to the belief that it will get better. However, there is potential for positive change. Stations could focus on truly serving their local communities by hiring and retaining local talent, engaging in meaningful community involvement, and producing content that resonates with local audiences. Transparency in advertising and a commitment to high-quality journalism could and should begin the process of restoring trust and relevance in local news.
Thanks for your always thoughtful commentary on the industry.
Bob Gold
Emily Barr’s column is a gift to us all. She is a delightful read, and just plain inspiring. Reading her column puts on my bucket list of people I would love to know personally. She’s right up there with folks like Robert Downey Jr, John Malone, and Sam Altman. Yup! Right up there!
Cosmo
…and in Murph’s day he walked to school 10 miles each way…both uphill.
Murph
Gosh, Cosmo, you ok? I’m sorry if my observations of local news are offensive to you. Evidently, you have all the solutions…how about you offer them up? Or is it simply more convenient to sling juvenile darts at others comments?
[email protected]
I saw a message on a Michigan media forum/message board that Wood TV did stream the tornado warning on the website 10 days ago I guess now 11 days. I had was watching the coverage on TV.
Hopeyoumakeit
EB is surly missed at Graham.