TV Station News Not Irrelevant, Despite Web Media Onslaught, Waldman Says

Those concerned that the wide-ranging report could stifle free speech, because it will examine areas including the Internet that are outside the commission’s jurisdiction, can take comfort that “a good chunk of the study is a self-assessment of the FCC,” Waldman told the event, which was on the First Amendment. As in another recent speech (CD April 7 p7), he tried to tamp down industry fears, saying Thursday that the First Amendment is “near and dear to me.” After more than 500 interviews, and many filings, “we are really attempting to pull together some research that will be of use both to people who disagree with us” and those seeking a resource, Waldman said.

Waldman found more “positive” things about online media than detractions, he said. “The Internet has actually improved journalism in a number of ways -- it’s not just about mouthing off” in stating opinions and not facts, Waldman said. “While there are some really important gaps, much of the media landscape is very vibrant,” he said. Network news staffs been halved in the past three decades, and there are fewer reporters in other areas, Waldman noted. “You have an abundance of outlets and a shortage of reporters -- both things can be true simultaneously.” Executives representing commercial and nonprofit TV stations agreed on a later panel that their industry wasn’t in crisis when it comes to news, while outlining challenges.

The Internet hasn’t changed some things about broadcasting, including that TV stations, along with local newspapers, still account for the production of the most news in a market, Waldman said. “The dominant online player for local news was the local newspaper or the local television station. So they are really in the position where they can make the transition to a new world, taking advantage of the trust they have” established with consumers, he said: “Arguably local TV news is the best business model in local media now,” though “some would say that’s having the best room on the Titanic.” Waldman rejected that view. Local TV is “more important than ever,” partly because “the contraction of newspapers and the gap that has left in local media ecosystems,” he said.

Broadcasters and other local media outlets face a “challenge,” not crisis, NAB Senior Vice President Jerianne Timmerman said on a later FCBA panel. “TV stations, especially those in smaller markets, and those that are not among the highest rated in their markets, are struggling,” she said. Some analysts have projected that ad revenue may not return to the levels last seen in 2006 for several more years, Timmerman noted. “More-profitable stations and stations in larger markets, which tend to be higher-rated stations, provide more local news."

"Rather than a crisis, we're in the middle of a revolution” of broadcasters going from a news model that’s “one-to-many” to being “more networked and shared,” said Professor Barbara Cochran of the University of Missouri’s journalism school. That was evident in coverage of the death of Osama bin Laden and of the recent tornadoes that hit many parts of the U.S., where blogs and Twitter posts from non-professionals were quite informative, she said. “This still is not a substitute for professional journalism.” Association of Public TV Stations President Patrick Butler said his members are trying to use broadband and interactive journalism “to reinvent the service that we provide.”