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MONDAY, JULY 14, 2014
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Television news needs to adapt to survive
MEDIA
The past year has so far been a blur of economic shifts in the wind, upheavals and disasters. It's really been like any other year. The TV news cycle jumps from one to the next like Tom Hanks on the giant piano in Big. The stations can't keep their footing straight, they're laughing the whole way, and the melody is awful.
The news cycle has been the brunt of many a critic, myself included. But like superpowers and burritos, it can be used for good and bad. The biggest problem is simple: that we more or less forget about the issues as they're replaced with fresh ones. That sort of cultural ADHD can be attributed to issues grander than channel 5 news, but anchors do have a special responsibility.
Keeping up with a 24-hour news cycle sounds daunting, but we all know that the same four stories get
replayed every 30 minutes until words lose their meaning. Nonsense.
This is the most popular model but my guess is that it's the most efficient and engaging. It's much simpler to cover the same three stories for writers, producers and anchors alike. It's the McDonald's model of news.
The issues above can be solved in a million different ways. All of them rely on a response from the programs themselves.
A great starting point lies with the National Public Radio model. At
the top of every hour, the headlines are read and bylines are gone over. The rest of the time is spent with special interest and debate programs. Replace those specialty programs with ongoing coverage of healthcare, Syria, Ukraine, and you might keep the issues covered until they aren't relevant.
That will cost money though. If we want quality news, the stations have to put some money down. That's the unfortunate fact. Without the proper funds going in, the best we can hope for is more of the same.
I'm shocked that television hasn't adopted that model more. The internet does their job on the consumer's schedule and it does it without the vitriolic fluff. My guess is that those who are over 50 years old and who don't know a keyboard from an inbox prop up the stations' viewship. Nielsen data points from January of
this year reveal the median age of the Fox News viewer as 68. While at CNN and MSNBC, the median age is barely better at 60.
Once they're gone, change is inevitable. The eyes simply won't be on the ads anymore. Cable news will be forced to adapt or die.
The challenge I propose to CNN, Fox and MSNBC and to TV students everywhere is simple: adapt your model to one that keeps tabs on all issues and not just the sexiest or the freshest. Journalists have a responsibility to inform the public.
If business gets in the way, at least make a concerted effort. Get ahead of the information curve. Without it, TV may be left in the dust.
Wil Kenney is a junior from Leawood studying English. Find him on Twitter @wilkenney.
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