local news

The Great Local News Heist

Stevie Converse — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:37:16 -0400

Full article: SavetheNews.org
Libby Reinish
The Fox station in Charleston, S.C. is airing one set of news at 10 p.m., and then the CBS affiliate across town is broadcasting the same news — same anchors, same scripts, same everything — an hour later. Covert media consolidation is happening in 50 percent of American TV markets, and the FCC has so far failed to so much as study the matter.

Media Minutes: August 26, 2011

Candace Clement — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:56:41 -0400

St. Louis — the largest urban area in Missouri — is getting less news reported by fewer journalists, thanks to covert media consolidation. And the music industry will be shaken by a policy put in place in the 1970’s that could put copyrighted songs back into the hands of the artists who actually created them.

Related Stories

Sentinel's Changes Will Increase Local News Focus

Stevie Converse — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:23:42 -0400

Full article: Orlando Sentinel
Mark Russell
The editor of the Orlando Sentinel responds to readers' unhappiness with the paper's new format that cut news pages to reduce expenses. The paper now combines the Main, Local and Business sections, eliminates some national and world news and places greater emphasis on local reporting.

Broadcasters Cash in with Political Ads

Stevie Converse — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:33:19 -0400

Full article: SavetheNews.org
Megan Tady
Thanks to Citizens United v. FEC, corporations can now spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns, and they're paying for TV political ads in record numbers. A new report by Moody's Investors Service predicts political advertising sales will continue to soar — even in the face of a double-dip recession. Are corporations using their record-breaking profits to rehire journalists and produce quality news and entertainment?

Comcast-NBC: Six Months Later

Stevie Converse — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 08:53:19 -0400

Full article: Fierce Cable
Samantha Bookman
How is Comcast doing six months after the FCC approved its merger with NBC? The media giant saw a six-percent increase in cable revenue in the second quarter. But there are underlying concerns about the conditions that Comcast agreed to meet to seal the deal.

Free Press Blasts Newport TV's Attempt to Intimidate

Stevie Converse — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:44:52 -0400

Full article: TVNewsCheck
Harry A. Jessell
Free Press says that Newport Television's demand that it stop using station logos as part of its campaign against virtual duopolies is not a violation of copyright law, but "a clear and outrageous attempt to intimidate Free Press, and to silence commentary on this important issue."

RTDNA-Hofstra Study Finds More Jobs, Higher Profits in Local News Last Year

Stevie Converse — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:16:02 -0400

Full article: Media Bistro
Merrill Knox
Local news employment has not fully recovered from 2008, when a flailing U.S. economy led to the loss of 1,200 jobs, but a RTDNA-Hofstra study finds that anticipated hiring in 2011 could bring the industry back to its pre-recession peak of 27,817 total employees. Station profitability was also up, the study shows -- 57.4 percent of local stations turned a profit last year, up nearly 10 percent from 2009.

Gannett Shutters Hyper-Local NJ Sites

Stevie Converse — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 07:54:22 -0400

Full article: Media Post
Erik Sass
After much talk about the future of news relying more on user-generated contributions, Gannett's early experiments in crowd-sourced local news content has fizzled. It shuttered the company's 17 "hyperlocal" news sites in New Jersey, which operated under the umbrella InJersey.com site. The local news sites were scuttled by layoffs among Gannett staffers, who were still contributing the lion's share of the content.

Media Minutes: July 1, 2011

Candace Clement — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:47:56 -0400

What do you do if you live in one of the almost 80 communities across the country where media companies are quietly merging their TV newsrooms, cutting staff and sharing news content? ChangetheChannels.org is calling attention to this growing problem. And an interesting case that could affect the future of documentary filmmaking is unfolding in an unlikely place: tax court.

Collaboration or Collusion in Chicago TV News?

Stevie Converse — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 09:56:29 -0400

Full article: Chicago Reader
Michael Miner
Local TV news operations across America have been merging their newsrooms -- circumventing media ownership rules. Chicago is the poster city for this kind of covert consolidation with a local news sharing agreement between four stations -- CBS, NBC, FOX and CW -- that combines journalists, crew and editorial staff to produce a single newscast.