For the last 15 years I’ve watched the slow death of news,
as we knew it. News consumers have left
broadcast and print news in droves. They’ve escaped to Internet bloggers and
vloggers for their information.
Left behind are the folks that simply never learned
computers or even smart phones. Because
they’re technophobes they’ve become a captive audience for television and print
news. Then there are the illiterate and
poor. Few of these folks are great
targets for advertisers other than drug and reverse mortgage companies.
I think print is failing as society has moved away from
reading or even writing to video or voice.
Its sad but simple literacy has been on the decline in America since the
invention of radio and TV.
Despite vast technology changes TV news has changed little
since the days of Edward R. Murrow. A TV
news anchor sits at a desk and drones on from a teleprompter. Reporters in the field tell their stories all
in identical fashion. In this mix is
nearly zero originality or creativity. Every
channel is virtually the same! To add insult they even run their segments of
news, weather and sports at the same time.
Even the commercials are run in identical time slots.
Murrow has been dead for over five decades! Since then technology and our capabilities
have changed dramatically. Still the
suits running TV news are too cowardly to change with the times.
However ownership of big media has introduced massive
amounts of political propaganda. The
endless talking heads claiming to be experts in government do little more than
alienate 50% of the audience. Today you get a little news while the
talking heads tell you who to hate!
Anymore, it’s never a case of, “We deliver and You Decide. “ It’s more about, we tell you what to think.
The lack of creativity along with the over-abundance of
Leftist opinion is killing broadcast news.
The serious decline in literate Americans at the same time is destroying print news.
YouTube has really broken the mold. They’ve somewhat democratized the process of
just who is allowed to produce video content.
It’s true that most offerings are experimental crappy video made by those
that don’t yet have a clue. However some
have developed both terrific video making skills and personality. Over time they’ve learned the craft quite
well.
There the Internet standouts that became millionaires like
Casey Neistat. They don’t provide news, just diversions and entertainment. Others run the gamut of the political
spectrum. Nobody seems to provide pure
news anymore.
Because of serious competition TV News business must be like
Barnum and Baily’s Greatest Show on Earth, or it will simply fail today. TV news must learn from talented bloggers
like Neistat who can make a creative and interesting story out of something as
boring as paint drying. Our audiences
that advertisers count on are not sophisticated or particularly wise. There is that thing called, the lowest common
denominator and they need to be entertained with serious eye candy and music.
If TV news wants to survive they need the millennials. TV news has no choice but to quickly learn
from Casey Neistat and move forward.
Avoiding controversial editorial opinions is also something
that can unify rather than divide and jettison your audience.
