Journalism

It may be time for journalists to acknowledge that they write from a set of values, not simply from a disinterested effort at truth. This will not be easy. There are worse things than being widely disliked.

WPIX New York News Ddirector Amy Waldman is leaving the Tribune CW affiliate after four-and-a-half years in the lead role. Walman is being replaced by Vickie Burns, who has been named the station’s vice president of news and content. She has also been consulting for the station for the past year.

The Democratic National Committee has decided to exclude Fox News Channel from televising any of its candidate debates during the 2019-2020 cycle as a result of published revelations detailing the cable network’s close ties to the Trump administration.

The Scripps Howard Foundation will present more than $170,000 in prize money to the winning organizations and journalists at its annual awards show on April 18 in Cincinnati honoring the best in journalism. Broadcast/cable/multiplatform winners include KNTV San Jose, Calif.; MSNBC; NBC News; National Geographic, BBC Frontline PBS; and Vice News.

Television has a bright future if it can adapt to the times and focus on its brand, its consumers and the technology its viewers have chosen, says a veteran industry executive. “The brand is not television,” Hank Price said. “Television is an extension of the brand. We are not in the television business but in the local information business. That is why people are watching us.”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Monday launched a massive investigation into the Trump Administration, including of potential abuses of power that Nadler’s office says include attacks on the press, as well as the judiciary and law enforcement agencies.

Broadcasters continue to look for ways to do more with less with automation at the forefront of many of the changes sweeping the industry. However, the need for content creation continues to rise, thanks in part to a variety of evolving OTT and streaming platforms, even as the manpower to produce it diminishes. Alex Bassett, a director and technical consultant, who has worked on an array of studio automation projects for broadcasters such as Euronews NBC and NBC Signal, talks about the current state of broadcast automation.

The style and substance of traditional local television news stand at odds with the emerging practices and sensibilities of digitally native video news, the kind that is often preferred by younger audiences on mobile and web platforms. What to do? A new study suggests the right track may be closer than you think.

Fox News has always been partisan. But has it become propaganda? As the president has been beset by scandals, congressional hearings, and even talk of impeachment, Fox has been both his shield and his sword. The White House and Fox interact so seamlessly that it can be hard to determine, during a particular news cycle, which one is following the other’s lead.

With viewers increasingly able to screen out ads with digital video recorders or turning away altogether, TV stations have tried to find new ways to increase revenue. One answer has been magazine-style programs that seamlessly blend the look of informational and news programming with outright salesmanship, leaving viewers to figure out which is which. In other words, the “news” is actually an ad dressed up to look something like the news.

Preaching to the conservative choir, Vice President Mike Pence echoed President Trump’s attacks on the media, news and entertainment. Pence, himself a former radio broadcaster, was speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington Friday, March 1.

Nielsen estimated that 15.8 million on eight different networks between 9:45 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Wednesday watched the former Trump lawyer appear before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. The number contrasts with the 20.4 million who watched the daytime testimony of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh before a Senate committee last September.

Darren Pieh has been promoted from local sales manager to general sales manager, and Craig Anderson has been hired for the newly created position of director of content development.