The 3 T’s of TV News:
“Fear sells local television news, followed by anything to do with sex, children or animals. ‘Titillation, Tots and Terriers’ is how TV news insiders sometimes portray their craft. But the most telling one-liner is, ‘If it’s news, it’s news to us!’ That’s the most accidentally accurate description of local television journalism.”
—Drew Shinnick, columnist and tech writer, 2007
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Two days in a row of "The Word" having dog references. The canine trifecta is in play!
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, a couple weeks ago Fields Mosley from KUTV 2 was in the HJ offices getting footage of the video we had of the elk that fell through the ice at First Dam. I asked him if it was a slow news day and he made some comment about animals often trumping "harder" news.
I told him, "Everywhere else, it's 'If it bleeds, it leads', but here in Utah, if it breeds, it leads.
Ted,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your WORD on Journalism. Sometimes your posts are inspiring, sometimes disheartening and sometimes provocative. Today's WORD, "If it's news, it's news to us!" will have me smiling all day.
What strikes me about local broadcast journalists — TV and radio — is that they're lazy. Many of the stories I see on TV or hear on the radio have already been covered in the newspaper.
ReplyDeleteThere's no digging in local broadcast journalism; it cracks me up when TV reporters identify themselves as "investigative reporters." These people wouldn't know how to dig out a story if handed a shovel. It's almost as if none of them have had any journalism training.