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Aug. 28, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

MEDIAOLOGY: TV news looking over its shoulder

STEVE BORNFELD
MEDIAOLOGY

Beyond the arrogance lies ... irrelevance? The former could portend the latter, TV news-wise.

Seemingly forever now, KVBC-TV, Channel 3, has boasted that "we're watching out for you," condescending to viewers as if they're a protective lioness and we're the helpless, hapless cubs. It's a patronizing attitude -- hey, just give us the news and we'll look after ourselves, OK, Dad?

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But it's a mind-set shared by many local stations throughout the nation to varying degrees of self-aggrandizement -- and self-delusion -- that they can no longer afford in the a la carte media world forged by instant info online, bloggers, galloping technology and shifts to news with 'tude.

Media critic Howard Kurtz nailed it when he wrote: "Reporters may once have been champions of the little guy. Now they're part of a smug insider culture that many Americans have come to resent."

Newspapers also are flailing around in this fractured media-verse, hemorrhaging advertisers and readers. But television is the news biz's most pronounced public face, and multiplying newscasts until we're numb won't inoculate them from dizzying media trends spreading like a fever.

Traditional TV news is an institution to older viewers, complaints notwithstanding. It's a passive experience with an implicit acceptance of imbalance: Those in the know hand down knowledge to those who want to know. Simply being on TV bestows special status on news-givers.

But younger news consumers were raised peeking behind the curtain, savvy to marketing ploys and aware of media not as some mysterious monolith, but merely an array of info-gathering tools. They create and control their own info flow. YouTube, webcams and reality shows democratize being on camera. In this media environment, TV news as Voice of Authority and Protector of the Realm is pompous, pretentious and easily dismissed.

Teasers are less tolerable to a generation getting quick news hits off BlackBerrys, laptops and cell phones. Who'll patiently abide by stories spooned out in a prescribed order by old-school TV when a menu of choices turns information consumption into all-you-can-eat news buffets? Alarmist headlines crafted out of maybes -- fires that could spread (the headline) but actually don't (the story) or downpours that could drench the valley (headline) but really don't (story) -- are nakedly transparent to these viewers so hip to hype.

And beyond how news is watched are rumbles of what news may become. Though they're still no ratings match for network news and are ideological echo chambers allergic to objective debate, the advocacy journalism bubbling on cable, such as Fox News on the right and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann on the left, consistently trend upward, especially among younger viewers.

Yes, newscasters are "watching out for you." They're like someone who pushes you out of the path of a car to safety, turns around and gets flattened by a truck.

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: matt headley wrote on September 03, 2008 09:03 AM: I live in Philadelphia and totally agree with Robert Lentz. After reading this article everyone should look up Mendte's speech given after he plead guilty. It just makes all the higher-ups in local TV news look worse than you even expected. The movie Anchorman isn't really a farce, it's a documentary! JIM DOOLITTLE wrote on August 28, 2008 07:31 PM: its funny my local news channel feels the need to remind me every day at six that feb 9 my tv will go dark.because they are shutting down the analog signal.I am going to miss not seeing the same car commercial 7 times in 30 minutes!but hey i go to thier web site and theres the car add.so ill survive Ben Dover wrote on August 28, 2008 09:43 AM: So, what do you expect from local television news? It's one of the greatest cases of mass naivete when consumers (not viewers) believe that local tv stations are "watching out for us", "on our side" "digging deeper" or any of that other nonsense. If the presdient of Smith's Foods came on tv and announced they were putting bananas on sale solely because they wanted us all to be rich in potassium, we'd laugh at him. But when a news anchor or reporter delivers some drivel about wanting to better the community and keep us informed, we buy right into it. Station licensees are no different than any other business. they exist to make money. It's okay you guys...just admit it and quit pretending to be something you're not. And, don't think that they're in business to sell information...they're in business to sell you, the viewer, to whatever sponsor will pay top dollar. So I guess I used the wrong term when I referred to viewers as consumers, because ultimately, the brains of those of us who are part of the audience are the real product...being sold to advertisers. Robert Lentz wrote on August 28, 2008 09:34 AM: Steve, so true, especially here in Philadelphia. Our anchors fell they are bigger than the news. To wit, some have become headlines themselves. Our CBS affiliate has lost BOTH lead anchors to legal issues, the female lead to a fight with a New York cop (and fresh on the heels of her sending racy pictures to an NFL Network anchor) and the male lead for "hacking" into HER e-mail (did I mention HIS wife anchors at the FOX affiliate?). Add that to various shenanigans (fights, car keying, non-monogamous liasons, etc.) and one can see why TV News has lost a lot of credibility. Add that to other sources where one can get "just the news" (that is, without prejudice or bias) and the Morning News is nothing outside of the weather and sports. And even that leaves a lot to be desired. After all, if I am going to track a hurricane, I'm punching up The Weather Channel, certainly not KVBC. I have my websites for straight news and for opinion. Really, who needs local, or network, news anymore? br wrote on August 28, 2008 09:20 AM: I only watch local news channels for what's going on in our community. Even those can make me crazy. Channel 13 wants me to have the weather FIRST and second and last. Hey 13, just give the basics in five minutes or less and move on. I want more only when something special happens locally. Anything more is available on the weather channel. There is a newscaster who keeps telling me about his dogs. I think he happens to be a weatherman. No matter. I love dogs but I don't want to keep hearing about his. Now, about the big boys and girls of the alphabet national/world news channels... I quit watching them years ago. They have become biased advocates of every liberal drivel versions of "news", real or imagined. Even Fox is straying from it's generally balance reporting. Thanks to the internet, cable news 24/7 it's harder and harder them to feed the public a diet of Bovine Secretions. Just ask Dan Rather or Katy Colon. I used to have great respect for 60 Minutes, but they let me down too. I did watch their segment on the Haditha "murders" by mad dog marines. During the commercials I google the incident to refresh my memory. The guy interviewing the young sergeant was ruthlessly in his biased attack. He ignored anything negative about the terrorist. No mention was made that the marines involved have been cleared except the sgt. He is expected to be cleared also. This was a re-run of the original broadcast triggered by DOD legal action for complete interview records. CBS is fighting that case. The mainslime media is dying by it's own hand. Long live the internet bloggers in pajamas and 24/7 cable news!