Views on News • April 8th, 2008

The changing face of news

by Chris Lato

Perhaps this was inevitable, but it is still an interesting development: long considered the pioneering TV news network, CBS News is looking for a partner, and may find it in CNN. For its part, CBS says the story is bunk.

Some may bemoan the continuing consolidation in the news biz. Fewer and fewer entities own more and more news outlets.

And CBS definitely shot itself in the foot with its emphasis on ‘personality’ with the hiring of Katie Couric, who has proved to be an expensive ratings disaster.

Still, in an age of 24-hour news cycles, where you can register for breaking news updates on your cell phone, the notion of an ‘evening news’ broadcast feels antiquated and irrelevant. The shows themselves aren’t breaking stories like they used to. It’s akin to the afternoon newspaper: the nightly network news just doesn’t fit with the way people are choosing to access their news anymore. There are too many options out there, on demand. When news breaks, why wait for the nightly news? Instant analysis is available all over the internet.

So, you may wonder, why do prime-time TV ‘newsmagazines’ continue to thrive? For starters, they are cheaper to produce than series television. Also, they are free to be more sensationalistic, aiming for straight-up entertainment value not bound by the same notions of ‘journalistic integrity’ as the nightly news. Exhibit A: “To Catch a Predator.”

How much longer will the nightly network news survive? As long as they’re generating ad revenue, I would wager. But it’s hard to believe the end isn’t in the not-too-distant future.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 2:27 pm and is filed under Views on News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.