(Editor’s Note: The following is from a letter printed this Saturday in the Erie Times-News by former journalist and talk show host, Mark Guy Findlay. One thing that Mark can’t be accused of is being shy. I agree with a lot of what Mark says, but I also think that in certain areas, Erie’s TV journalism has made some improvements. For the most part, most stations and the newspaper seem to have staked out a specific point of view and audience they are trying to reach. More on that in a future post. Mark deserves his say)
Erie's local television stations have deteriorated almost beyond redemption. Their efforts at news reporting have become uniformly dull, repetitious and uninspired. Apparently there is no new news, or there is no effort being made at uncovering it.
Worse, the poor reporting effort comes at a time when the local stations have decided to expand their "news" broadcasts by two and three times the previously allotted time slots.
The result is a mishmash of often-repeated nonsense.
The reason for the expanded news broadcasts is obvious:
It's a lot cheaper than buying quality franchise programming and it's much easier than producing quality locally originated television
shows.
The Jeanne Carneses, Bea Canfields and Pappys of Erie's broadcasting past provided a rich tapestry of local color, talent and variety. Certainly, our town and area are blessed with a plethora of personalities who could bring a true gift to regional viewers. After two and a half hours of rehashed drudgery, the local stations begin the next day with early morning rebroadcasts of the same stories.
They might as well tape the first newscast and just keep the previously recorded cast running on a loop. (Hate to tell you this Mark… but they do exactly that.)
It's just plain awful, and the bad news is that they are all equally tiresome.
Folks should start complaining to the Federal Communications Commission.
These stations are licensed to be of service to the community in which they broadcast, and the renewals of their licenses require demonstration of that service. Hour after hour of low-grade newscasts is a disservice. Let's challenge the local television stations to become all that they should be.
Cut back on the times of local news broadcasts, improve the quality of the local news broadcasts and give the viewers some real choices in the non-prime-time viewing hours.--Mark Guy Findlay--
"Congress passed a law on February 1, 2006, setting a final deadline for the DTV transition of February 17, 2009. Most television stations will continue broadcasting both analog and digital programming until February 17, 2009, when all analog broadcasting will stop.." FCC http://www.dtv.gov/
According To The FCC Official Time Clock, 868 days to Digital!
28 comments:
This is really an interesting article by Mr. Findley. It appears to be a true depiction of the Erie TV Media. Someone should do a similar article on the Erie Times News. The Erie Times News must think their readers are dumber than dumb. Have you ever read their on line poll questions which are perfectly worded to excite the mind of fools? Between the TV Stations and The Erie Times News, the citizens of Erie are really being cheated in regards to their choices in media.
AMEN!!!
Media outlets in this town are bad. The newspaper leads the parade of pathetic attempts at covering news, but the tv channels aren't far behind.
Erie needs more competition - that's the problem. Between the tv channels, there's two completely separate ownerships (you have the ties with WICU and WSEE and the ties with WJET and the Fox channel). And who does the paper compete with? That's why it sucks - it has no competiton.
"but I also think that in certain areas, Erie's TV journalism has made some improvements"????
I would not call "Behind the Kitchen Door" an improvement. Anyone (that isn't lazy) can go to the health department and see this information for yourself. I agree with Mark Guy Findlay that Erie TV News is terrible! I can't for the life of me believe that Channel 12 is supposedly number 1!
"...uniformly dull, repetitous and uninspired." FINALLY!!! someone who isn't afraid to tell it like it is! Maybe Mark should have his own blog?
I just wish Mark mentioned that Channel 12 and 35 have no news on Sunday's at 11pm. At least WJET cares!
"According to the FCC Official time clock, 868 days to Digital"???? You should have said 868 days until the end of Erie TV!
You can't handle the truth!
The complaint that the newspaper in Erie has no competition has been a long held gripe. However, this complaint holds no basis in reality. What is the newspaper's product? News. With that said, their competition is quite intense. News comes from TV, radio, Internet, blogs, etc. To single out the newspaper isn't fair. I would more than agree that the general state of the news media in Erie is somewhat lacking. With that said, you are not held hostage to it. There are options out there.
I do realize Erie hit the pause button on the space time continum sometime around 1986, but if you are really that upset about the local media, get online. There are thousands of sources of news, even local news. With the advent of the Internet, you are in control of your news consumption. Set up an RSS feed for every topic you are interested in. Find the best ones, delete the rest. You don't have to live at the mercy of a local product or agenda.
Local news outlets don't even bother to do creative sweeps series ideas, the kind that can easily be promoted during the most watched shows like CSI. Here are a few series ideas that this former TV reporter would love to see done in Erie.
1. An investigative piece on how city parking meters are monitored and maintained. I've seen meter maids roll forward meters with time left and then write a ticket.
Set up an undercover camera and then confront the maid. Then, take it right to the top and confirm that the city has a quota to reach and that is why they are so agressive. You could have someone at the top explain why you get a half hour for .25 in one section of the city and only 20 for the same quarter in others.
2. As a CSI series, send a TV crew to the Kentucky body farm where the FBI pays forensic scientists to study various bodies in various
crime situations and states of decomposition to determine evidence. Fascinating TV that can be easily springboarded from a top
network show. The idea is to grab an audience in primtime and carry them right to your 11PM newscast.
Hey former TV news reporter. I really think those are great ideas and I like the fact that your actually made some positive suggestions instead of just bitch. Thinking like that could have made you a news director. (Naw...not in Erie.)
Hey give credit where it is due. I will agree that getting the information from the heath department is a piece of cake and requires no great effort. But nobody did it until WICU and it is information that a consumer can use. Sometimes the best ideas are those that are right in your face. Who cares if they borrowed the idea from another market? It works.
(Am I defending SJL? I must have really lost it. According to many, I am supposed to hate what they do. Oh well..we all make mistakes. )
I will give anyone a forum even if they don't agree with me. But they have to follow the rules of civil discussion. First you have to send me a post to my email address with a full name and a way I can confirm that you are the real deal
On several occassions over the past, Mark Guy Finlay and I have been from the same view and in others totally apart. Doesn't mean we can't still respect each other. That is called the "old" politics of getting along.
Here's one more and then I'll get back to my real job....
With so many restaurants in Erie and so much local news to fill from 5 until 6:30PM in some cases...
Why not have viewers send in their entries and then have chefs from various Erie eateries show up at their door to cook dinner for their family, only using what they find in the cupboards and frig!
You send a "live" truck and with several hits during the show you take viewers from start to finish. It makes for great "live" TV. And sales departments will have different places lining up. You can have the addresses quailified beforehand so that your crew isn't going to a crack house for dinner. I've seen this work in bigger markets and it is a riot. The reporter once sat down and helped the kidswith their homework while dinner was cooking.
You are kidding me right? This was done for several seasons on Food Network. Same identical idea. If it has been done in other markets, that is where they copied it. But it is live...I got to hand that to you.
I liked it when Channel 12 went "undercover" to a local massage parlor. Hilarious! Freaking Hilarious! Some "HARD" hitting journalism there.
And to think there are people in this town that don't realize massage parlor is a place where you can get a hand job???
Scrap "Behind the Kitchen Door" and replace it with "Inside the Massage Parlor.!" Hell, its better than high school football on Saturday night. (whose stupid idea was that? Ruzzi? Lecorchick? ugh!)
Here's a ballsy suggestion...drop regularly scheduled sports. Some markets do it. Just put sports on when someone makes news. Who cares if the Twins beat the Tigers???
Yes, I too notice that the same news is repeated 3 times in that 90 minute block of news on WICU & WJET. Since moving to Cochranton, I tend to watch the Erie news at 5pm but watch Pittsburgh area news on KDKA from 4-5pm. This is followed by news on WKBN, WYTV or WFMJ out of Youngstown at 6pm or the replay of WYTV "33 News" on MyYTV at 7pm. KDKA carries news from 4-7pm followed by "The Katie Couric Evening News" from 7-7:30. Tom Lavery.
Why do we need 2 hours of "local" news in the morning? They just repeat the same news over and over. Just do 30 minutes of local news at 6am. Keep the noon news (but don't rerun the morning news), get rid of the 5pm and 5:30pm news. Nothing much on these boring newscasts. 12 News going in depth? Please! Keep 6 and 11 but for Christ's sake make the 11pm all new. Don't you have smart people that can find different stories? Don't just say "New at 11PM" and rerun the 6. Come on...give it a try!
According to the "FU" Official time clock, 868 days until Erie TV disappears and Jack is proven oh-so-wrong!
868 days from now. Erie TV won't dissappear unless they just go digital SD. I don't think that will happen. And I am not the one that will bring wrong. Grow up and look at the rest of the country. (it begins just past Millcreek) The Congress and the President are what makes me right. Every market in the country that has invested in digital and HD makes me right. the 17 billion spent this year alone on HD receivers...makes me right. Where is your source again? Oh I know. probably Jim Thompson.
We don't tape our morning news and run it on a loop! You need to really check your sources.
WJET is correct. Their news is live at each 5 minute break and updated. It doesn't sound like the same old...same old. Channel 12 does repeat. I have taped them and compared them. Both WJET and WICU have a different focus on the news that may not be obvious to some. WSEE's focus is just to get on the air..period.
You taped Channel 12's morning newscasts and compared them? Really? Are you kidding me!? I think you need to get a life.
As for WSEE's focus to just get on the air, I think they do an OK job with what they have. Just couldn't resist slamming the eye could you?
Erieye and all the other names you use...
All comments, both posted and rejected are read by certain parties in New York. If you are truely looking out for the employees (which I doubt) you need to be very careful.
In my opinion, "Behind the kitchen door" is the one GOOD part of ICU's newscast. I still dont think that digital is all that big a deal for the average viewer in our DMA. Most simply cant afford to buy a HD tv right now. I am glad that you have chosen to write about something else for a change.
Viewers who are frustrated with local news coverage need to realize several things.
#1. Erie aint what it used to be. Its smaller, that means less big stories. The days of mob references and political scandal are about over here. Yes there is still the occasional sandal but its so commonplace nowadays that it aint the newsmaker it used to be.
#2. Corporate budgets. The news budgets are controlled by outside sources now. Do they care if your "big news tip" is covered? NO!! as long as the station comes in on budget and ad rates dont fall, they dont care. Local news crews do what they can with what they are given. YES I do work in local tv news. Part of the problem is industry-wide. There is a common trait in the industry now where they hire inexperienced news producers right out of college because they are cheap. Nobody looks for that great producer now, they look for one that will work for what they will offer and can spell...at least most of the time. Eire has produced some great news producers and reporters...and they go on to be hired in larger markets where that experience is valued. So just as that good reporter starts to hit his/her stride, their contract is up and they move on.
#3. Litigation. Hardhitting investigative journalism is expensive. Retalitory lawsuits are common by those exposed. Corporate news directors are reluctant to get involved in any story that may get them in trouble with the corporate bean counters. Win or lose, defending against a law suit is expensive.
These factors are why Erie TV news is bland.
You are mistaken...what you listed in your post are excuses, not reasons for the poor state of Erie TV news. It is very easy to say that it is an "industry trend". The problem as I see it is that
news and station managers in Erie wouldn't know a good story if it jumped up and bit them in the behind. The reason? they don't care about quality as long as the bottom line is adhered to and "they" look good at the corporate office. This all happened in Erie the day local ownership went away. Thank you FCC for sacraficing quality for quantity. The broadcast group with the most LMAs wins...(and the viewer loses!)
Here I go again. “Behind the Kitchen Door” deserves praise especially in the light of the recent spinach scare. Publicity or bad publicity helps keep food handlers honest. Nobody wants to be on that next segment and WICU and its management took some heat. (That’s called courage)
I also agree that stations could take a bit more risk in their news coverage. There is more “Behind the Door” at city hall and local political parties than the consumer actually knows. The Erie Times-News has taken those risks, sometimes successfully and other times they bit off more than they could chew, but at least their out there. And as was pointed out, they are still local.
Technology is also important but I am always open for ideas for posts.
Debate is healthy and I thank God we have a Mark Guy Findlay who can stir-up the waters. (Did I say that?)
Honest question to my TV colleagues: OK, you have a 90 minute block leading up to the national news at 6:30, right? Why not take some time, more than a 90 second package to develop some stories, ask some questions like "Why do so many Erie-taught college students leave town?" "Who is Erie Development Corp. and why are they dropping $50M at IP?" "What does the Koehler Project's balance sheet and state grant application look like?" "How does Erie stack up to other Great Lakes towns economically?" In other words, challenge our intelligence a little bit and get some conversations started. Take 4-5 minutes and play the feature during the 5 or 5:30 cast. Do a three or five-parter for sweeps.
For me, I'm quite worried about our city right now. I'd like more information about our town moving forward. I'd like to see our elected officials really challenged on camera. Do the stories that will get you the AP & PAB awards and will look great on your demo tape. Great TV gets noticed everywhere, and people who love this town benefit.
An old Erie radio guy once said that the only difference between Erie and a big market is that you get paid more there...you've got a camera and microphone, you can be truly amazing now...don't wait until you get to the "show".
JoJo..,.
I think you said a mouthful and I remember that Erie radio guy and hearing that same story. There is a lot going on in Erie that needs to be uncovered. Newspaper shouldn't have to do all of it. But the corporate structure at Erie TV today does make it more difficult but the rewards could be plenty.
Radio Free JoJo:
I always enjoy your comments on this board and have admired your Erie radio work for years. As a former member of Erie's television news corp, allow me to give my thoughts on why those great story ideas will never, ever make Erie airwaves...
Let me begin by saying, I agree with each idea mentioned in your post. The problem is that not one Erie affiliate newsroom would dedicate the time and staff to enterprise these stories. Why? First, there aren't many reporters with the "Hutspah" (my apologies to my yiddish friends for the spelling) to tackle such a meaty topic. And the producers in this town are all barely old enough to be driving after midnight.
Second, Erie TV newsrooms follow the lead of the corporate front office and do exactly what consultants like Frank Magid tell them to do. An in-depth story longer than 1:45 would never fly, 20 years ago yes, but not today.
I once worked for an Erie news director who would nod in approval at all the suggestions from a consultant, then put him on a plane and do things his way. Why?
as he put it, "How can some suite from Dallas with a bad hairpiece tell me what my viewers want to see in Erie!" This guy was a Golden Quill award winning news writer who was in touch with his market and all its quirks and I learned alot from him.
Erie is and always will be a unique TV market. The moment the local affiliates stop treating it like every other city is the moment quality will return to the airwaves.
Sorry for the typo I meant to say "suit" not "suite".
Consultants have long been the death of broadcasting in general. I wasn't in TV, but radio. Remembering as a kid, listening to JET radio's 20-20 news, it always caught my ear even though I was listening for the music.
The problem is what's been described before. A consultant in some glass tower doesn't know Erie. Doesn't know what makes Erie tick.
Granted, people come and go in and out of the market all the time to better their careers. But, the success in this town has always been the news directors that KNEW Erie or, GOT TO KNOW Erie. The same can be said for any market prior to consultants telling ND's what to do.
When I was on the air in radio, my career began in the 70's knowing what our listeners at the stations I worked at wanted to hear. As the 80's and 90's dawned, saw consultants enter the picture and absolutely ruin the business IMO.
That's why I got out of radio in 1997. The consultants weren't answering the phones and hearing the listeners bitch because we played the same songs over and over. Or, the consultant was there to answer the phone and tell the listener we couldn't play their song because it wasn't on our playlist.
Thank goodness I'm not on the radio nowadays. All my listeners of 10 years ago, 20 years ago probably have XM and Sirius now.
I hear ya Erie DJ Guy! I imagine that it is alot worse in radio, with dayparts, contests, stop sets and a much more segmented audience.
God forbid that Erie ever goes "metered" as a ratings market. I worked in a top 30 TV market that went metered and it was insane. We had an ND who would find out where the highest concentration of metered homes were located and then put three live trucks and a lead story centered around that area in order to spike ratings. To hell with what really truly mattered to viewers. It got so bad that after reviewing the overnights, consultants called telling the anchor not to wear certain colored ties because "they had low "q" ratings with female viewers". Spooky!
Hi Jack,
Here's a voice from the past. My son shared your blog with me and I have enjoyed perusing your media . insights. I don't think anything will get better in the Erie Media unless they all make a more concerted effort to embrace the internet. I'm an old stinker with ink in my blood but my eyes are still good enough to see where the future is headed.
Most newspaper websites produce websites with a "web press" deadline. The beauty of the internet is that it is alive and current. If the news isn't alive and current the audience will shrink. Take a look at Post-Gazette.com . They are at least trying to keep current by regularly posting breaking news. I have noticed that GoErie is also making the attempt. With that, I have a suggestion for you. There is no doubt that Matt Drudge has found a successful model in the Drudge Report. Why not the Tirak Report? It sounds as if you may have some time on your hands and you'll probably never retire... right?
Keep up the fine effort... I'll be visiting regularly. Oh, and by the way, tell Mark Guy that there is no such word as "alot".
Ted Benson, Jr.
Murrysville, PA
tbenson2@hotmail.com
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