Local television news has struggled during these tough economic times, more than most people probably realize.  Given that for many people, local TV is the only news they consume -- and given the relative lack of quality found in such "news" -- it bears examining.  Today I came across two interesting pieces:

1.  Fox affiliates, those local stations tied to Fox, are supposedly downplaying their affiliation to the conservative cable network.  That makes sense given the socio-economic breakdown of the local TV audience, which doesn't exactly match that of Fox News.  Smart move. 

2.  TV station profits seem to be increasing, according to this report.  That's good news given that, as mentioned above, many people rely on TV to get an admittedly thin version of what's happening locally.  No idea if this means my college's own station, WNEG, is also actually making money.  One can only hope.  But local TV stations need to remain profitable and providing at least some news to folks who don't read, don't use the Internet, and generally don't pay all that much attention to news in the first place.

TV News ... well, not so much news as TV

A study reported by the LATimes says L.A. TV "news" broadcasts devote only 22 seconds per 30 minutes to local government coverage.  That's sad.  Especially since many people say they rely on local TV for news.

The math is depressing.  In 30 minutes, here's what they found:

• 8 minutes goes to advertising.  Okay, that makes sense.  Ya gotta pay the bills.
• 7 1/2 minutes are devoted to stories outside the local area.  Why?  That's why God made CNN, or the Internet.
• Six minutes go to fluff -- sports, weather, teasers.
• About 8 minutes go to worthwhile news, but a lot of that is soft features, crime, cats in trouble, etc.  Damn little policy or government coverage.

In terms of what people know, local TV news fails miserably to play its part.  That's why in a political scientist's breakdown of the news media: traditional, tabloid, advocacy, and entertainment news, he plops local TV news in the "tabloid" category.  Profit overwhelms coverage, therefore it fails to qualify under the criteria of "traditional" news.  Maybe I'll break this down more later, in a later blog, but local TV news long ago surrendered any claim to traditional journalism and, often, any claim to journalism period.

Local TV News and American Idol

Today's NYTimes has, in its print edition, an ironic juxtaposition -- on the far left and far right columns, stories about the struggles of local TV news and the success of American Idol.

The audience for American Idol continues to shrink, yet Fox manages to squeeze out more and more profit thanks to the aggressive sales of such ilk as trading cards, partnerships with iTunes, and even the disturbing thought of branded of ice cream. While you might be tempted to call this yet more evidence of culture death, you gotta give 'em credit for wringing a few more bucks out of the old franchise.

For local TV news, well, the news ain't so good. With a shrinking audience and shrinking revenue (all those car dealers with no money to spend on local ads), the TV guys look a lot like the newspaper guys -- except with better hair.

So why the irony? Journalism is kinda stuck since it can't easily market its product or use tie-ins (yeah, local TV does this some and it's ethically questionable) or sell trading cards or have Action News Ice Cream. Magazines tread awfully close to what we used to consider ethically questionable behavior (sweetheart deals with advertisers, etc.).

Journalism has a lot of choices to make. We can go the route local TV news and mags have used for years, doing questionable tie-ins with people, placing "stories" for clients, that sort of thing ... or not. Today's NYT front page picture of some military guys involved in a cyberwar game is an interesting example. Right there on the back of the monitor is the Dell label. Holy free advertising, batman! The rules of journalism are simple: never add stuff, never make up, never change what someone said, or what a photo shows. You can't photoshop out the Dell label, so should you instead ask Dell to pony up some bucks for the free advertising?

The journalism guy in me says nope. Never. Not in a million years. But that journalism guy, he's hungry and he's desperate.

American Idol would do it.

Should we?

Why I Sometimes Hate Local TV News

Lots of local TV news is okay. Not great, but okay. And then there's this crap. Follow the link, see for yourself.