MediaZone4K

https://tvnewscheck.com/journalism/article/local-tv-news-recruitment-problem-has-a-solution/ On the topic of recruitment author Sean McLaughlin blames universities for the lack of prepared applicants into tv news. He says gone are the days of rooms full of applicant tapes, nowadays a position can go unapplied for months. He says the applicants they do get are unable to pitch stories or write well. He has a point. From my experience, many journalism schools are only focused on writing for print or digital platforms rather than preparedness for an on-air role. My j-school teacher didn't even know the big station ownership groups (outside of Sinclar due to the controversy at the time). McLaughlin is right. News writing today is very "and this happened then this happened then this happened".- No wit, creativity etc.. The author suggests that a new model might be to find eager and creative talent from someone local to the market who is passionate about the community, rather than hiring randoms who have to start off through small markets and risk burnout along the way. Im not opposed to this method. What McLaughlin ignores is low wages also cause low recruitment . If I'm born and raised in NYC, I can get a decent paying nursing job right out of college in the same neighborhood as my family. If I want to go into journalism I'd have to work my way up through smaller markets, accepting low wages for many of those years, and hopefully get a job back home in 10 years. College students aren't settling for that in this economy. They especially don't want to obtain student debt in exchange for a low paying career. Moreover, the social relevance of working in the news has diminished, so many young people may opt to be an online journalist, blogger, or influencer rather than a 'dinosaur' TV news reporter. Many things to consider.

I definitely think their previous lower thirds were better than what they have now. More shine gloss and not too flat. Their current graphics arent bad though. I'd still say 11 Alive's current set tops WAGA's overwhelming blue look. The WSB wood set looks a little outdated. I wish the skyline took up their entire background framing. WANF's set is not the worst or best...the overly fluorescent lighting cheapens their look though.

I would love to see updated numbers for the Miami market. From last check, 2022 via nexttv (how accurate are they ?) Telemundo 51 averaged as the top station overall. WPLG comes in as the top English language station ranking at either second or third place overall. https://www.nexttv.com/news/local-news-close-up-south-florida-holds-the-keys-to-successful-local-news It's truly a feat that WSVN was dethroned. From watching, their newscast don't carry the same energy as they used to. Local 10 has incorporated some of WSVN's tabloid penchant for flashy stories and presentation. They also have a good crop of anchors which has stolen my attention from Ch 7. WTVJ's broadcasts are very standard plain clean and corporate. Better than WFOR but not as energetic as 10 & 7.

Newscast quality aside I will say Tegna stations tend to be very good looking, even in smaller markets. The upgrade wasn't all that necessary as 11 Alive has the best set in the market (WAGA has the worst)...we'll see what they do now.

Fair points. It is interesting though when stations completely de-emphasize network branding. It's like they want the benefits of a network affiliation such as primetime programming and live sports, but they want to have the guise of an independent operation. Now for Fox stations, it's obvious why they would want to distance themselves from the brand.

WCBS Jim Jensen 1964 WCBS Jim Jensen 1994, 29 years later. One thing I noticed by the '90s Jim could not sit still and the camera operator constantly had to shift the framing so that the overhead graphic didn't cover his face. Jim was a real talent, to my understanding alcoholism was his undoing. Shame. Even in his more disheveled state by the '90s he commanded a classic anchorman and strong on camera presence. https://youtu.be/ETMkcr-k4AU?si=-lO0scxEv58Sqf0j

Will the flagship WCBS follow suit? Most New Yorkers I know refer to them as Channel 2.

I always get this vibe that WSVN doesn't want to be associated with Fox. Ironically they are the model Fox affiliate. Looking at their coverage of the Biden press conference they did not have any Fox graphics on their feed compared to my local Nexstar/Mission station which does. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I hardly see them use Fox News packages. Very little reference of the Fox network is made on their channel. EDIT: To my recollection the only time they took Fox's coverage was 9/11 My history based assumption is when Ansin ran it he wanted his stations to have strong independent identities so that if they got into another affiliation battle they could stand on their own. WHDH's success post NBC has proven carving out an identity outside of the network is useful.

Looking at KPRC from 2004, it looks exactly like WSVN in the 90s. No doubt that Channel 7 had to have had some inspiration on the formatting in Local 2. WSVN 90s

Was George not aware that he was being recorded? While George is certainly entitled to his opinion off the clock, journalists have to be careful about where when, and to whom they share their opinions. This to preserve their image of neutrality. In George's position, I would have probably said " My lips are sealed as an objective journalist. I have to keep the public away from my stances." EDIT: This was nothing major and George should be left alone. Again...beware of fans and watch what you say around them. You provide perfectly valid and balanced points. Totally agree that we need to be careful of insulting/dismissing the public's intelligence to explain their preferences. Subjective statements ahead lol...I have to maintain that GMA's abuse of "breaking news", "breaking overnight" and constantly speaking in present tense adds a false sense of urgency to the news, which is problematic journalism. GMA and WNT play on sensationalist fear mongering and click baits to maintain an audience rather than informing and educating them. But, GMA is only a small drop in the bucket. Yes, TV news must evolve and change with the times, but let's make sure we aren't deevolving. We don't even necessarily have to look to the past. International outlets like BBC World News and France 24 really hightlights how insulated and watered down many American news programs like GMA are. There has to be a way to preserve intellectual quality while maintaining an audience. CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes' continued successes prove there is an appetite for such. The notion that the continued dumbing down of journalism is just what has to happen to keep up with the times is bad. Meanwhile, audiences will turn to YouTube channels and podcasts to get the in depth reporting and serious conversations they cannot get from the news.

I agree that those channels have become useless rerun vats. Not to verge too off-topic, but what is the future of cable television? Non existance?

Watching WSVN's 10pm Sunday newscast. I'm noticing the anchors tracking multiple packages throughout the newscast. I haven't really seen this on any other station. From observation a lot of those packages seem to be regional, not local stories. Perhaps this is how they have to do it because Sunbeam only has two stations, so they simply track wire service stories. Moreover, I haven't seen them run many Fox News packages.

WZVN/WBBH is an interesting duopoly as its an ABC & NBC station that share talent with newscasts on at competing times. How was this allowed by the FCC?

Minor observation: Since the rebrand, WCBS and the other O&Os have are having their reporters use stick mics less and going for the lav chest mics more---much like the national correspondents do. From a production stand up why have national newscasts traditionally opted for a more hands free look during stand up shots?

Per his IG, WFTV's Raphael Pires (a WSVN alum) is leaving tv news after only 8 years. He is one of many 'day in the life of a news reporter' vloggers that I have followed. Almost all of them, namely Clancy Burke, have left the industry. He has not stated his reasons for doing so but all his fellow vloggers have stated pay, conditions, deadlines, work environments and industry trajectory and are bowing out early. Can't blame them.

I suspected it was a temporary set because the anchors are seated differently...but their standard set, which is 9 years old, is not much better. The bad camera quality is more obvious on a blown up flat screen tv than a cell phone screenshot but here it is:

Yikes sounds like the job my assistant ND was already doing. Dont know where else to put this; ex Graham but still uses the look... What kind of cameras are WPLG using? Their in studio shots looks like SD, the lighting is very incandescent orange and the camera sharpness looks too high. Almost looks like the anchors are sitting infront of a green screen. WPLG is probably the best news product in the Miami market right now but their set isn't

To simplify the busy background I would either dim those virtual screens or have a blur effect over the feeds. Something like this the put the focus more on the speaker.

Similarly, employyes at WROC (CBS 8 Rochester, NY) are picketing over Nexstar's refusal to recognize their union. https://rbj.net/2024/06/10/wroc-union-plans-picket-over-stalled-contract-talks/ From my experience, you need about 75% of Staff support for the union to be recognized. According to the article, Nexstar tried to claim that producers are ineligible for unions because they serve in a management capacity. The National Labor Relations Board however ruled producers were union elligable. Do you all think the unionization attempts will be successful?

Maybe thats the answer because Im baffled as to how GMA is still number one! I like him but Michael would make more sense as a sports rather than news anchor. His presence makes Lara's role redundant. CBS Mornings & Saturday Morning are significantly better news programs. Mornings is stuck in third because it hasn't been on the block as long as GMA and Today. Lets not give Today a pass. It's been significantly dumbed down since its 2014 rebrand. It's third and fourth hours are overdue for cancellation but syndication options are in short supply, so that's unlikely. Overall, GMA along with 20/20 & WNT embody ABC News' biggest problem: tabloid sensationalism. Journalistically, CBS News is the better of the big three. ABC & NBC are better at developing on air talent who can succeed future vacancies.

Surprising there isn't a long term thread for this program. What is your impression of Margaret Brennan as host? On the one hand I like how she holds politicians feet to the fire, right and left. However, in many interviews she comes across very combative. She interrupts guests, gets stern in tone and expression. One could say bias but again she has done this with Republicans like the South Dakota Governor... ...and Democrats like Wes More when she challenged him on Biden's cognitive state after the debate.

CBS 24/7 has debut it's new VR set to be used for its flagship streaming news show (according to LinkedIn). IDK if this will stabilize the streaming brand but it's a pretty cool concept. Almost a CNN News Central kind of feel. As much as I love Norah's current set, it would be cool to see a format like this on CBS Evening News to differentiate it from NNN and WNT.

Subjective statements ahead... Ratings don't necessarily translate to quality. The PBS Newshour is a journalistically stronger show than World News Tonight but it has lesser ratings. People might think GMA is a good show. They may also be watching it out of habit. People may have abandoned Today after the Ann Curry incident and never looked back. People could be unaware of CBS's Morning Show because the network has switched programs so frequently over the years. Keep in mind, everyone is not as journalistically literate as the people on this website. Im calling 2024 GMA hot garbage because I've seen how superior the show was in the 70s to early 2000s. Regular viewers may not have that frame of reference.

Ues, people act crazy when the see the station camera much less the vehicle. People are less likely yo try to vandalize, steal or break into the car if they think its a regular civilian vehicle.

What highlighted the lack of flow with Lori is that she was a straight laced newswoman who came from a station that is mostly hard news. Rosanna is very loud and opinionated. Good Day can be great again. Mike, Inez and Tina are fine. It's Rosanna's co-host and the revolving door at Wake Up they can't get right. If Mike Jerrick weren't probably close to retirement, and willing to move, he'd be great. Curt's hire is another attempt to duplicate Michael Strahan on GMA.