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defrogITEM: A USC Norman Lear Center study concludes that Los Angeles television news stations manage just 22 seconds of local government coverage for every half hour on the air.
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps says he is "flat-out alarmed" by the USC report, not least because the FCC does require that broadcasters operate in the "public interest," airing "programming that is responsive to the needs and problems of its local community."
On the other hand, who’s to say the local community isn’t more interested in car chases, cute animals, the Guitar Hero championships and Tiger Woods’ sex life than municipal legislation issues?
Anyway, I can’t say I’m surprised by the results. The study only covers LA, but when I visited my family in small-town East Tennessee in 2007 and 2008, I watched the local TV news and was amazed at how much news they reported – provided that you count weather and sports scores as “news”. If not, then 22 seconds sounds about right.
I’m exaggerating, of course. But not by much. Seriously, weather and sports comprised at least 90% of every broadcast, which didn’t leave a lot of room for actual news. Of course local murders and car crashes and robberies will have priority, but between that and whatever national headlines there are to report, there’s no room for local govt stories.
Compare that to the local Hong Kong late-night newscast, which is 15 minutes long, devotes about 12 of them to news, and frequently kicks off with local govt stories.
That said, we have a somewhat greater interest in what our local govt is up to, considering we don’t get to elect all of it at the moment. In the US, I suspect most people’s interests probably are better served by national stories, local sports and celebrity news. Local govt is boring ... or at least bad television. If you want to keep up, and if yr local newspaper hasn’t already died, you can find local govt stories there.
Still, it’s times like this that you realize Edward R Murrow was right.
No news is good news,
This is dF
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps says he is "flat-out alarmed" by the USC report, not least because the FCC does require that broadcasters operate in the "public interest," airing "programming that is responsive to the needs and problems of its local community."
On the other hand, who’s to say the local community isn’t more interested in car chases, cute animals, the Guitar Hero championships and Tiger Woods’ sex life than municipal legislation issues?
Anyway, I can’t say I’m surprised by the results. The study only covers LA, but when I visited my family in small-town East Tennessee in 2007 and 2008, I watched the local TV news and was amazed at how much news they reported – provided that you count weather and sports scores as “news”. If not, then 22 seconds sounds about right.
I’m exaggerating, of course. But not by much. Seriously, weather and sports comprised at least 90% of every broadcast, which didn’t leave a lot of room for actual news. Of course local murders and car crashes and robberies will have priority, but between that and whatever national headlines there are to report, there’s no room for local govt stories.
Compare that to the local Hong Kong late-night newscast, which is 15 minutes long, devotes about 12 of them to news, and frequently kicks off with local govt stories.
That said, we have a somewhat greater interest in what our local govt is up to, considering we don’t get to elect all of it at the moment. In the US, I suspect most people’s interests probably are better served by national stories, local sports and celebrity news. Local govt is boring ... or at least bad television. If you want to keep up, and if yr local newspaper hasn’t already died, you can find local govt stories there.
Still, it’s times like this that you realize Edward R Murrow was right.
No news is good news,
This is dF
