Did Washington Post Series on Chandra Levy Lead to Suspect’s Arrest?

Who says investigative journalism is dead! Yes, it may be getting cut right and left but this is a great example of why newspapers/investigative reporting (in one form or another) are so important…

From Poynter.com:

A Sacramento TV station is reporting that Chandra Levy’s parents received a call from authorities Friday afternoon notifying them that an arrest would be coming soon in the 2001 murder of their daughter.

A Washington, D.C., station said D.C. police “submitted evidence to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in an effort to get an arrest warrant” for Ingmar Guandique, identified in a 13-part Washington Post series as a suspect whose possible role in the crime was given less attention by law enforcement than the possible role of then-California representative Gary Condit.

In published notes about the series, the Post says, “The reporters discovered that the police investigation was overwhelmed with the white-hot media coverage fueled by the possible involvement of Rep. Gary Condit, a congressman from California.”

Condit granted his first interview about the Chandra Levy case to Post reporters Sari Horwitz and Scott Higham.

The reporters also spoke with officials involved in the original investigation, two women attacked by Guandique, and Guandique himself.

France to help its failing newspapers

From NPR.com:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he will give $800 million in emergency aid for the country’s failing newspaper industry. He wants to boost the newspaper reading habits among young people in France, but many of them think the French press has too much opinion and not enough reporting.

Listen to their report HERE.

New model for j-survival?

Interesting story this week on NPR on the failing state of journalism and new models for potential survival. Listen to the NPR report HERE.

Also a related report in TIME “How to Save Your Newspaper.” Read it HERE.

Christian Science Monitor shutting down print edition

The Christian Science Monitor is becoming the first national newspaper to quit a printed edition of their newspaper. They will move the focus to online content instead. More info at csmonitor.com.

How soon will it be for other major newspapers to follow suit? What does it mean for journalism?

A TV version of Facebook?

TV is feeling left out of the popularity of social networking.

From The Wall Street Journal:

The movement was pioneered in part by videogame-console makers such as Microsoft Corp. as a way to connect hard-core gamers for competitive matches, and it is gaining momentum as those companies and others seek to entice a broader audience to chat with friends, share photos and recommend movies and music over their television screens.

Analysts say social networking has the potential to play a key role in shaping what people watch and do on the biggest screen in their homes. They say that eventually could pay off — perhaps in terms of subscription revenue or advertising — for the companies involved in these mostly nascent ventures, as efforts to marry the Internet and the TV gain traction.

Will this work? What do you think about interactive TV?

I’ve long been a proponent about interactive TV news. My plan is a simple one and would work much in the way that TIVO works. The viewer would input his or her favorite topic areas. The TV news station would shoot a “top stories” segment and then every other story would be shot/packaged individually with the anchor intro and tag. These stories would be categorized by the stations into topic areas. Then every viewer would have a customized newscast when they wanted at just the push of the button based on the choices they set in their TIVO-like box or the way Comcast On Demand works. Customized yet doable.

Juicy TV News anchor scandal

Gotta love juicy TV news anchor gossip! Here’s a goodie from MediaBistro.com today, who in turn foudn it at the New York Post:

New Philly TV News Scandal (P6) - Another lurid scandal involving news anchors in Philadelphia has erupted – and it promises to be juicy. Lori Delgado, the sexy morning news presenter on WCAU-TV, quit this week — days after she and the station were hit with a legal notice from the NBC-owned channel’s ex-afternoon anchor, Vince DeMentri, that he intends to sue the station for slander.

Newspaper of the future

What will the newspaper of the future look like?

According to the American Journalism Review it will look like this:

A smaller, less frequently published version packed with analysis and investigative reporting and aimed at well-educated news junkies that may well be a smart survival strategy for the beleaguered old print product.

Read the rest of the AJR article HERE.

This is a great topic for discussion for newsrooms (newspaper and TV) and in college classrooms. How would students change newspapers to save them with the threat of the internet? How will the changing media affect TV news and what would students do to make it competitive?

Moonves – death to newspapers so CBS can make more money

Here’s an interesting look at how the CBS head honcho views newspapers and what his real concerns are… not news values, not being the watchdog, MONEY MONEY MONEY… Is there anything that can be done about this type of view of the media to save journalism?

From this morning’s media roundup on MediaBistro.com:

Les Moonves Wants to Put Newspapers Out of Business (Wired/Epicenter)
CBS chief Leslie Moonves says the purchase of CNET instantly made CBS a “major player” in the digital realm — and delights in his company’s contribution to the death of the daily newspaper. The CBS CEO plans to position his company as a one stop shop for news and information. “One of the advantages of the Internet is we’re taking money away from the newspapers,” he said.

What does this say about the state of the media?

From MediaBistro.com:

Todd and Sarah Palin Unchallenged in Fox Interviews (LAT)
James Rainey: Sean Hannity and Greta Van Susteren produced three nights of infotainment so frothy, slanted and off-point that they challenged even their cable network’s low standards. Given a chance to address real issues, Fox instead condescended to both Palins, with Van Susteren’s cringe-worthy paean to Arctic beauty and Todd Palin’s machismo, and Hannity’s weak-kneed idolization of Alaska’s governor.

A good topic for discussion right now in journalism classes and newsrooms: what does it say when supposedly “hard-hitting” news outlets don’t ask the “hard” questions and instead leave those to entertainment shows like “The View” (re: McCain’s recent interview).

Here’s The View interview:

This is the interview with ABC’s Charlie Gibson:

TV viewership increases online – What could that mean for TV news?

Not surprising to hear, but a new report is out that says more and more Americans are watching TV online.

The Conference Board reports:

Online TV viewing has been gaining in popularity. Nearly one-fifth of American households who use the internet watch television broadcasts online, double the viewership from 2006, The Conference Board and TNS report today. The top two destinations for online broadcasts are the official TV channel homepage and YouTube.com.

Why? That answer is not surprising either:

Most consumers do not like a set schedule. Being able to watch broadcasts on their own time and at their convenience are the top reasons users tune in online. Other reasons include avoiding commercials and portability. Nearly 72 percent of online households log on for entertainment purposes on a daily basis, and one in ten cites entertainment as the most important internet.

Read the rest of the report HERE:

This report makes for a good jumping off point for starting a discussion on the potential for television news. What is its future?  How can it be adapted to meet the changing habits of TV viewers?

Many stations have online components but what about ideas to totally revamp TV news?
Here are a few resources that report some findings that can also be used in this discussion:

marketingcharts.com

Pew Research Center

MSNBC On Air Tension & Drama

Interesting discussion today at Media Bistro involving drama at MSNBC. Anchor Brian Williams was on The Daily Show and Jon Stewart asked him what’s going on.

Check it out HERE. Be sure to read the comments there for added discussion.

Also, check out THIS STORY about the on air drama at MSNBC for background.

From “Gerbil Wheels” to “Lazy”… John Stewart Calls Out Reporters

Add another one to the list of all of the reasons you already love John Stewart. He’s known for lashing out at the media on the Daily Show, but this time he did it in person at the DNC!

Cnn reports Stewart said, “the never-ending television news cycle creates a “false sense of urgency” and forces reporters to “follow the veins that have been mined,” instead of pursuing serious and in-depth reporting.”

Read the rest of CNN’s wrap up of Stewart’s comments on the media HERE.

Jon Stewart: The most trusted person in America?

The New York Times today asks, “Is Jon Stewart the most trusted man in America?” I personally love him. He uts through a lot of the, well, crap, that other “real news” outlets glaze right over.

The NYT goes on to say,

When Americans were asked in a 2007 poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press to name the journalist they most admired, Mr. Stewart, the fake news anchor, came in at No. 4, tied with the real news anchors Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw of NBC, Dan Rather of CBS and Anderson Cooper of CNN. And a study this year from the center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism concluded that “ ‘The Daily Show’ is clearly impacting American dialogue” and “getting people to think critically about the public square.”

What does this say about “real news” if the best source for trusted information is the comedy channel? This would be a great topic of discussion for journalism students. What can “real news” outlets do to regain some of the trust they’ve lost since the days of Cronkite and Murrow?

Read the rest of the NYT article HERE for further discussion material.

IF you ever wondered the power of Car Advertisers…

…Read the story in the New York Times this week about how ad revenue in all media outlets are down by over $414 MILLION dollar in the first quarter this year. Hmmmm. And you wonder why your story busting a car dealer got spiked.

A little snipet of the interesting info you’ll find in this story:

For the year, auto advertising dollars flowing to media outlets could decline by close to $3 billion, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, to about $15 billon for the full year. Auto advertising peaked at close to $24 billion in 2004. Auto sales are at their lowest since 1993, according to Sanford C. Bernstein.

You can read the full NYT story HERE.

I’ve written/researched extensively about advertiser influence on news. You can read about that HERE.

All Platform Journalists

…that’s the new twist on one man bands… and they’re joining the ranks of CNN.

From MediaBistro.com’s TVNewser (8/11/08):

The all-platform journalists will join traditional general assignment reporters and CNN’s roster of show-based correspondents in 10 new U.S. cities. Those cities include Columbus, Ohio; Denver; Houston; Las Vegas; Minneapolis, MN; Orlando, FL; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Raleigh-Durham, NC; and Seattle. In most cases, the bureaus are expected to be located at CNN affiliates in those markets.

Is this the future for all journalists? Maybe. It’s a good reason to learn a little of everything in school, that’s for sure. For more info on this story, click HERE.

Say Bye to Non-Competes

Big news in the broadcast world…. New York’s governor removed the power of non-compete clauses in broadcaster contracts! That means reporters, anchors, and others won’t have to wait ridiculous amounts of time to appear on a competitor stations in New York. Poynter.org reports that several other states already have limitations on non-competes. Is this a trend in the industry? Click HERE to read Poynter’s story on the topic.

All you need to know about Journalism from Sherlock Holmes?

That’s the advice the Wall Street Journal’s  Winston Wood has for those interested in journalism.

He says:

In “The Man With the Twisted Lip”, the great detective solves the case of a guy who has “disappeared” in London. Neville St. Clair was a reporter who disguised himself as a disfigured beggar to research a story on life in the streets. He set up shop near the Bank of England, capered and quoted Shakespeare, and he quickly found he could make far more money panhandling than as a journalist. So without telling his wife, he quit the paper and became a beggar full time, moving his family to the suburbs and commuting to “business interests” in the city.

Read more of his thoughts on journalism education and the newspaper biz at the Columbia Journalism Review HERE.

Finding a job in TV News

Finding a TV news job can be daunting. It costs money just to get your stuff out there. But it is money well spent and you can write off the job hunt expenses on your taxes.

For students who have just graduated or about to graduate it’s sometimes hard to convince them of the importance of treating a job search like a job itself. But if you do that, you will land a job in no time. Just remember it takes longer to find a job in TV news than in many other professions because news directors have to look over paper resumes as well as tapes/dvds and that just takes time.

I’ll also say this on this topic, as it will make your finding a TV job easier: do an internship at a station you would like to work at either now or in a few years. Treat the internship like it’s a high paying job, be nice, know your place, and always offer to help in anyway you can. People will remember you… and that is how you will get a job there. That’s how I got my first TV job. In fact, while I’ve been offered jobs that I have applied for randomly and even some that I never even applied for… I’ve always taken jobs that I found out about from a co-worker or former co-worker. Never burn bridges. Know that the TV business is all about who you know. But you can get your foot in the door and have a long prosperous career if you play your cards right.

That said, here are some good sites to help you find that first TV job or your next TV job:

The number one site for finding a TV job is: tvjobs.com. Pay the membership fee. You can write it off on your taxes AND you will make that money back when you’re hired.

Other good sites:

http://jobs.journalbroadcastgroup.com/TelevisionJobs/tabid/519/Default.aspx
http://scrippsjschool.org/
http://www.tvspy.com/jobbank.cfm
http://www.journalismjobs.com/Search_Jobs.cfm?Media=TV&IndustryID=2,3

TIP for recent grads: Remember, you don’t have zero experience if you’ve worked for your college TV station or done an internship. You can count from the first time you started shooting for your school on your resume. Don’t lie about what you did, but don’t sell yourself short either.

Magazine Covers

I usually focus on other areas of journalism, but today here’s a little something for those of you interested in being a magazine editor or already working in magazines.

Steve Blacker, a mag exec and consultant has put together a list of eight essential things you need to know to get the cover right… which in turn helps your mag stand out on the news stand and increase sales. Blacker says, “The cover is the most important and only promotional tool a magazine has to sell itself at the newsstand.”

His tips include going with your gut, go out there on the cover image, and don’t overcrowd the cover with words. For more on his story at MinOnline.com click HERE.

State of the News Media

News delivery needs to adapt to new media in order to survive, much less thrive. It seems the traditional media outlets are struggling not only on converting content but also with their ad dollars. This topic gets a lot of coverage in this year’s State of the News Media report. More from Rick Edmond’s Biz Blog at Poynter.org:

Advertising takes center stage in the fifth edition of the State of the News Media report, released Monday by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
The heart of the problem, especially for newspapers, is not loss of audience but “a broken economic model — the decoupling of advertising and news,” the report finds. “Advertisers are not migrating to news Web sites with audiences, and online, news sites are already falling financially behind other kinds of Web destinations.”
A separate report on the future of advertising finds that Madison Avenue is as tradition-bound — or more so — as news outlets. Catching up might involve finding ingenious ways to advertise on news sites.

Read more HERE.