Why Network News Sucks
Quick– in a half hour, with commercial breaks, produce a daily show that pulls together information from all corners of the globe to tell everyone watching what’s really going on.
Can you do this? No, probably not. Can I? Heck, no. But we assume a news agency, with a producer, team of fact checkers, and reporters can be counted upon to do this very complex job.
Can I say, you’re nuts? Network news is run by human beings. People who bleed blood (I should know! Arrrr. . . ) and eat and eliminate exactly the same way you do. They may be a team, but the amount of work involved to produce a truly good show is immense.
With a large enough team, they could do it. But today, we live in a world of news corporations, bottom lines, and satisfying the shareholders. This means two things for the news: first, you must minimize costs. The most effective way to minimize costs is to eliminate personnel. Second, you must sell advertising – your bread and butter – at the highest possible price. This means you need a high viewership.
So here’s what the structure of a network news team looks like.
- News anchors whose best skills are primping and reading a teleprompter in an authoritative voice.
- Reporters who rise in the ranks according to the juicy stories they bring in. This means no unsexy stuff like junk bond exposes (at least not until the crap hits the fan and the feds are called) and more sexy stuff like Tom Cruise’s baby.
- Producers who fill out scant news with canned stories – films done in a newsy style – sent in by advertisers, pharmaceutical companies, and others with veiled interests – you’ll see at least one of these every night. Can you spot it? Bet not. They are disguised as news.
- Fact checkers who – oh, wait, most of them are gone. At best, your news show will share a fact checker with another show or three, or your producer will check a few facts. Mostly, reporters do this themselves today.
Do you get the idea? All the things we think the news should be doing – do not get done. And things we think they should not do are done routinely.
Watch CNN, Headline News, Fox, C-Span, BBC – anyone besides the regular networks. You’ll be better informed for it.
