Apr 08
20
Muckrakers
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Some call them muckrakers, others call them investigative reporters….
Nieman Reports have an issue that is devoted to the subject… got some interesting insights there…
Here is some of the essay by Stuart Watson on TV….
Appointment TV is dead; video is more vibrant
than ever. Over-the-air broadcasting is shrinking; journalism is not.
What does all of this add up to for a struggling local TV investigative
reporter, whose work is sporadic already? What comes to mind are the
words “make it relevant.” Better figure out how to tell great stories
and how to sell them hard, inside and outside the newsroom. Otherwise,
what is a struggling breed will be headed toward extinction.
Traditional (analog) broadcasting in the United States has less than
one year to live. On February 18, 2009 broadcasters will move their
signals from the analog spectrum—the channels we’ve traveled through
during our lifetimes—to the digital spectrum. It’s not like your
favorite department store moving from downtown to the suburban shopping
mall. It’s worse. Instead it’s like all the department stores moving
away at the same time. I can hear us now: “Please join us in our new
location. Pleeeeeease, for the love of God, join us in our new
location,” because like these stores that are competing with online
entities like Amazon and discount places like Wal-Mart and Costco as
they’re also relocating, local TV news will be competing with online
sites like washingtonpost.com (and its local equivalent) and with
YouTube and Tivo in the midst of changing its location.
than ever. Over-the-air broadcasting is shrinking; journalism is not.
What does all of this add up to for a struggling local TV investigative
reporter, whose work is sporadic already? What comes to mind are the
words “make it relevant.” Better figure out how to tell great stories
and how to sell them hard, inside and outside the newsroom. Otherwise,
what is a struggling breed will be headed toward extinction.
Traditional (analog) broadcasting in the United States has less than
one year to live. On February 18, 2009 broadcasters will move their
signals from the analog spectrum—the channels we’ve traveled through
during our lifetimes—to the digital spectrum. It’s not like your
favorite department store moving from downtown to the suburban shopping
mall. It’s worse. Instead it’s like all the department stores moving
away at the same time. I can hear us now: “Please join us in our new
location. Pleeeeeease, for the love of God, join us in our new
location,” because like these stores that are competing with online
entities like Amazon and discount places like Wal-Mart and Costco as
they’re also relocating, local TV news will be competing with online
sites like washingtonpost.com (and its local equivalent) and with
YouTube and Tivo in the midst of changing its location.