Before launching into another rant about how lame WSMV-Channel 4 is during sweeps, let's start off the column with a brief quiz about the station's newscast.
On Monday night, Channel 4 included which of the following in its sweeps-crazed newscast:
a) A simulated break-in and dismantling of a Jeep Cherokee filmed live accompanied by a running clock
b) A simulated break-in and dismantling of news director Andrew Finlayson accompanied by a throng of cheering reporters
c) A simulated shot of a good newscast
d) A simulated shot of the head of news director Andrew Finlayson rotating rapidly in circles
What company had a banner looming in the backdrop of Channel 4's Monday live shot?
a) Allstate
b) WTVF-Channel 5
Channel 4 is hardly a stranger to these kinds of ratings stunts. Two years ago, the station simulated a live burglary at a Nashville home. As Dennis Ferrier stood outside with a stopwatch, ex-con Bob Portenier (a.k.a. "Burglar Bob") crept through the darkened house rifling through credit cards, pharmaceuticals, handguns, blank checks and a can of beer. Here, on what was supposed to be a news program, Channel 4 was airing a cheesy Unsolved Mysteries dramatization that included, as its parting shot, a hapless woman tiptoeing through her open garage door. Channel 4's rent-a-victim called out, "Honey, I'm home," at which point a masked assailant leaped, dragged her by the neck and shoved a gun in her face. Quality.
Here's a news flash to the clueless managers running Channel 4: Simulations of car and home break-ins don't belong on a newscast. This is not debatable, this is not a gray area, this is not something that would vex journalism professors. This is commonsense. You don't stage the news or offer product placement for insurance companies in "news" pieces. These ploys are like ratings crack—cheap and addictive. But whatever viewers you lure with them, you'll lose far, far more in the years to come as people come to realize that the medium of broadcast journalism has degenerated into a glorified dumping ground for crappy mini reality shows and half-baked segments so dumb they're beyond parody. Like daily newspapers, local newscasts all across the country have watched their audience numbers dwindle year after year. Dumbing down the journalism doesn't work.
Extra extra
Sources say that a recent memo from Tennessean managing editor Dave Green basically concedes that the paper treats and looks at news as a way to lure the demographics advertisers want. That's why stories about golf and "Flameworthy" videos land on the front page, while readers often have to shuffle to the innards of the local news section to find important news about local and state government.
In the memo sent last Thursday, Green discusses the mission of the front page, which one would think is self-evident: Cover the big stories from the day before, plus offer occasional enterprise pieces or well-written narratives. But the memo has a different take entirely. Instead, the focus is on Gannett's "Real Life, Real News" initiative wherein the goal is to improve circulation by reporting accessible stories to which people can relate. The problem with this approach is that it appeals to the lowest common denominator and demeans those who want more from their paper than front-page feature stories on elderly graduates. Here are a few excerpts from the memo:
"The top half of Page One is designed to drive single-copy sales."
"Target Audience Daily and Sunday: Single-copy buyers, particularly 18- to 34-year-old males on Sunday...."
"Secondary Audience All readers."
"Key topics: The key topics list indicates news subjects we know are important to this community. They may or may not be represented on any given front page, depending on the flow of news.
1. Education
2. How my tax dollars are spent
3. Growth, development and the environment
4. Health and fitness
5. Places to go/things to do"
"How Page One will incorporate Real Life, Real News
Headlines on stories and promos will be written conversationally and emphasize the impact or potential impact on readers, making it clear why they should care or how they can cope or make a difference.
Stories will tell readers why they should care, give them the context, tell them what's next—for the issue at hand and in the paper's coverage.
Promos will emphasize those inside stories and features that most strongly represent RLRN principles."
Desperately can't imagine being a reporter at The Tennessean and having to pretend to take this memo seriously. The sad thing is that the reporters who rightly scoff at this kind of nonsense have no chance at promotion, while the half-wits who view this as a constructive way to go about their jobs wind up on the short track to be Green's successors.
