Rarely has a story and a reporter aligned as perfectly as it did the night of May 30, when the WKBW Buffalo, N.Y., reporter-anchor described what was happening as Western New Yorkers circled Niagara Square to protest the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. Carter’s riveting 75-minute live shot — yes, 75 minutes — illustrated that she was someone to watch not only on that night but also in the future.
A “sobering” study of attitudes toward the press conducted by Knight Foundation and Gallup was released Tuesday. It found that nearly half of all Americans describe the news media as “very biased.” The study found that 71% of Republicans have a “very” or “somewhat” unfavorable opinion of the news media, while 22% of Democrats feel the same way. Switch it around, and 54% of Democrats have a very favorable view of the media, and only 13% of Republicans feel the same way.
Hedge fund ownership of newspaper groups typically spells doom for the newsrooms. But Chatham Asset Management’s takeover of McClatchy — scheduled to be finalized on Tuesday — is actually inspiring some cautious optimism among its journalists. That’s because Chatham has agreed to allow all employees to keep their jobs while honoring existing union contracts under the hedge fund’s plan to pay $312 million for the newspaper conglomerate. It’s a stark contrast to hedge funds’ habit of job cutting when they take ownership of newspapers.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
Nicolle Wallace’s Deadline: White House will expand to two hours and Chuck Todd’s MTP Daily will move to early afternoon as part of MSNBC’s overhaul of its daily lineup.
Exclusives
COMMENTARY
Cable News Now Setting National Agenda
Once upon a time in a far more stable America, our national agenda was largely shaped by network news, The New York Times, weekly news magazines like Time and The Associated Press. Media productions like the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite not only determined what we would talk about, but also how we would talk about it. Today, the Times and AP are still playing an important role in what we talk about in Congress, at the White House podium, in the media and at dinner tables around the country. But cable TV is the medium most responsible for shaping the national agenda. Yes, that cable TV with all its opinionated talk, conflict, vitriol and coverage often based in ideology more than journalism on a channel like Fox News.
COMMENTARY
How Media Could Get The Election Wrong
We may not know the results for days, and maybe weeks. So it’s time to rethink “election night.” The changes the media faces are profound, with technical and political dimensions.
TVN EXECUTIVE SESSION WITH ELLEN CROOKE
TVN Executive Session | Tegna: BLM Will Have Lasting Newsroom Impact
Ellen Crooke, Tegna’s VP of news, says the Black Lives Matter movement has promoted greater “intentionality” in the group’s efforts for diversity and inclusion in its news organizations and leadership. She adds that COVID-19 has also supercharged Tegna’s Verify fact-checking project and data visualization efforts.
Jean Ellen Cowgill, GM of Bloomberg’s soon-to-launch streaming service, will headline TVNewsCheck’s virtualized OTT News Summit in a keynote interview unpacking QuickTake’s approach to reaching a younger, larger demographic for global business news. Register here.
Conventions, election night and the campaign trail will look a lot different on TV to political junkies as the 2020 race heats up.
Sinclair has repeatedly defended the independence and objectivity of the local news reporting that is carried on its many stations. But its nationally distributed news and commentary programs, produced in Washington has stayed largely faithful to President Trump’s pronouncements about the virus. Above, Sinclair TV hosts Sharyl Attkisson and Eric Bolling.
MARKET SHARE
The New Us: Local TV Marketing In 2020, Part 4
Local TV promos that move you, enchant you and convince you of the value of local news are on display here in part 4. It’s a historic moment, and local TV news and its marketing are giving voice to viewers, whether they’re marching in the streets, or searching for answers about COVID-19.
In releasing a draft of a mandatory code of conduct, the government aims to succeed where other countries have failed in making the global digital giants pay for news siphoned from commercial media companies.
A Homeland Security office has disseminated three reports on tweets written by two journalists who published leaked, unclassified documents. Current and former officials described it as an alarming use of a system meant to share information about suspected terrorists and violent actors.
As coronavirus resurges across the country, medical data is no longer just the purview of epidemiologists (though a quick glance at any social media comments section shows an unlikely simultaneous surge in the number of virology experts and statisticians). Journalists reporting on COVID, however, have a particular obligation to understand the data, to add context and to acknowledge uncertainty when reporting the numbers. This guide to common COVID metrics is designed to help journalists know how each data point is calculated, what it means and, importantly, what it doesn’t mean.
A distinctive formula for local news finds a new platform. The Spectrum News App is designed as a “value add” that enhances the value of the company’s broadband service: it’s the first content product to be created for all 28 million Spectrum residential customers, whether they subscribe to its video offerings or not.
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The New Us: Local TV Marketing In 2020, Part 3
Local TV news is where viewers are turning now because the COVID-19 pandemic is a neighborhood story. And it’s not going away any time soon, it appears. Creative services directors from markets in Florida, Virginia and Indiana share their most recent marketing messages. The phrase “information you need” is truer now than maybe it’s ever been.
News executives are adjusting on the fly to nominating conventions for President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden that will be primarily virtual because of the coronavirus pandemic. Much of what is planned is still a mystery, particularly for the Republicans.
NBC-owned WMAQ Chicago (DMA 3) today announced a series of changes behind the anchor desk Michelle Relerford will join Zoraida Sambolin as anchor weekdays on NBC 5 News Today. She is […]
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