Less is less for news biz

When we watch local TV news my wife and I  tend to watch WNYT Channel 13, but apparently much fewer people are joining us. The TU story cites possible causes including the layoff of Lydia Kulbida, and I agree she made more of an impact than whoever they've brought in lately to co-anchor with Jim Kambrich.  But it's the layoffs of other people, most of whose names we've forgotten if we ever knew them, that really hurt. WNYT's Steve Baboulis may be right that Nielsen erred this time, but the overall trend is for viewers to tune in less news.

We were watching a weekend evening newscast recently and it occurred to me there were no -- zero -- local news reports. I hope someone had called in sick or something, because it's hard to see how you can schedule a newscast without any reporters. I remember a generation ago showing up to events where radio reporters were in regular attendance. You hardly ever see one these days, and of course there are far fewer newspaper reporters at places like the LCA in the Capitol and gathering local news for local papers.

There are some new outlets, like the blogs and Time Warner's Capital News 9, but in general there is less news coverage, and much less professional news coverage, as organizations respond to reduced ratings and advertising by shedding staff. That obviously sets up a vicious cycle which gives the public less and less reason to pay attention.

Comments

[Brian]

It's self-cannibalization really. TV news (both local and network) has been on a downward spiral for a long time. I can't remember when I stopped watching it regularly but it was a long time ago. Magazines and newspapers, for their well-documented problems, are now the main outlets for real journalism.

What's interesting is that listenership to NPR, which offers in-depth substantive news, continues to rise while local and network TV news ratings, with their insipid, shallow infotainment, continue to lose viewers.

[Bob Conner]

Yes, public radio is the exception to decline in radio coverage, with, for example, good Capitol reporters in Karen DeWitt and Susan Arbetter.

[Matthew]

Might have something to do w/ what the "real" TV news agencies choose to cover. Its telling that "fake" news is 10x more informative than the "real" news.

[Brian]

Matt, the problem is that local news is incredibly stuck in a 20+ year old formula. Tiny morsels of everything but with nothing substantive of anything (except 20 minutes of weather and sports). This formula may have worked in the 80s before people had access to instant news. I think they'd be better to pick a few topics and do them in a little depth, but I'm not sure most TV journalists know how to do that anymore.