This study was produced by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, an affiliate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. The study uses empirical data to measure the quality of local TV news and compare those results with ratings.

SPECIAL REPORT: LOCAL TV NEWS ON THE ROAD TO IRRELEVANCE

Quality can be the compass to bring viewers back

ournalism, if nothing else, should Most news directors say they want School of Journalism and funded by the reflect its time. In the last year, to get back to proven basics, though Pew Charitable Trusts. America has been attacked, begun after thirty years of consultants there is In the stories that follow, the Project a new kind of war and seen its confusion about what those basics are. offers news directors’ perspective on stock market and business sector Perhaps more fundamentally, the data their industry (Pessimism Rules in TV spiral into crisis.nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn show more conclusively than ever that Newsrooms), evidence of the impact of In response, local television news viewers actually prefer quality — even quality (How Strong Is the Case for Jhas scarcely changed. the younger viewers advertisers covet. Quality?), a breakdown of what prac- Crime coverage actually increased last They just don’t see enough of it. tices demonstrably attract viewers (Five year. Reporting of national defense went There are also some things that local Ways to Build Viewership), a sobering up, while coverage of everything else — TV newsrooms can do that are proven look at how local news did not change even the economy — shrank. to win viewers. They are not costly, but after September 11th (After 9/11, Has In a survey of 103 local news direc- they require commitment. Anything Changed?), a detailed content tors, half now think their industry is on These are among the findings of the study of the growing Spanish-language the wrong path. Only a third are confi- final year of the study of local televi- news market (Separate but Equal), a hard dent about the future. sion by the Project for Excellence in look at watchdog journalism in local TV With viewers tuning out but profit Journalism, a think tank affiliated with (Investigative Journalism Despite the demands unyielding, what gets on the the Columbia University Graduate Odds), and more. • air is demonstrably thinner. The average local TV reporter is now asked to pro- duce roughly two stories a day, the 50% highest ever in our five years of re- MOST SERIOUS OBSTACLES TO 48% search, even though data show such 40% demands drive viewers away. And with PRODUCING QUALITY NEWS the government moving to allow even 30% greater concentration of ownership, 20% what’s thin is likely to get thinner. There are signs of hope, according to 10% the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s unprecedented five-year study of local Percent of News Directors 0% 11% 1% 6% television news, which has now analyzed 8% some 33,000 stories from 50 markets, 4% 4% TOO NOT TOO TOO BIG A NOT ENOUGH OTHER more than a million pieces of data in all. NOT ENOUGH LITTLE ENOUGH LITTLE NEWSHOLE INDEPENDENCE While enterprise and investigative STAFF TIME MONEY TRAINING work has nearly vanished, what is left is better than it was five years ago. PESSIMISM RULES HOW STRONG IS THE CASE IN TV NEWSROOMS FOR QUALITY?

BY DEBORAH POTTER ing to produce quality news in leaner In terms of market size, the only catego- BY ATIBA PERTILLA AND TODD BELT flect commercial success? times by setting new priorities. “If we were ry in which news directors split almost our proxy for economic success. We created Broadcasters themselves have begun to use uperficial reporting, tabloid hype, good at ten things five years ago, we have evenly on the right track-wrong track ques- or years, news consultants have a three-year ratings trend — 12 Nielsen ratings new measurements, and for the last two years style over substance: complaints to be really good at five things now,” wrote tion were those in medium-sized markets. told broadcasters that the spinach books — to determine whether stations the study has collected data for two of them: about local television news are one manager. “We’ll get better at the News managers were most pessimistic in in local TV news mattered, too. were gaining or losing viewers over time. In viewer demographics and audience retention. nothing new. But now, some of things that are really important.” the smallest markets, where resources are Certainly they advised clients all, we found that 47 percent of stations with Most programs — news and entertainment the deepest concern is being ex- The financial picture overall appears most strained. “Too much news to fill. Too about whom to hire, how to write the highest quality — “A” stations — were ex- — now rank themselves by how many viewers S F periencing ratings success, a higher percent- pressed inside TV newsrooms, not just by better than last year, when half of all sta- little staff,” wrote one news manager. “Too teases, and even the most audience-friend- they get between the ages of 18 and 54, the the troops but by their leaders. tions faced budget cuts or staff reduc- much ‘sameness,’ for which we can blame ly hairstyles. But they also warned that ageMeanwhile, than in any we other have grade. also gathered data demographic valued most by advertisers. In a survey of 103 news directors nation- tions. This year, the figure was 40 percent. consultants. Local news is not what it while gimmicks can get viewers to sample a on share — the percentage of all television In addition, keeping or even adding to wide, fully half said they felt their profes- The majority said their budgets were flat should be.” station, it’s content that keeps them. sets in use that are watching a program — as the audience a broadcast inherits from ear- sion was heading down the wrong track, (30 percent) or had gone up (29 percent). Today, in harder times, newsrooms have another measurement of commercial suc- lier programming, the so-called lead-in, has while only a third felt that it was on the Of the news directors who did have to Where are the optimists? The survey found more problems than ever — budget pres- cess. Here the data from the last five years also become nearly as important as ratings. right track. make cuts, only about a quarter said the a few at network-owned-and-operated sures, the transition to digital technology, show that 52 percent of “A” stations were (One trade publication ad boasted of a The survey, conducted by mail during reductions hampered their stations’ news- stations, where half the respondents said declining viewership, and now the likely building market share over time, a better court show’s ability to gain 15 percent on its the summer of 2002, reflects the views of gathering ability. “Smaller staff means less things were on the right track. Only one coming of duopoly and cross-ownership record than in any other quality grade. lead-in — even though this added up to just a significant sample of the roughly 800 coverage at times,” one manager wrote. person said the opposite, while the rest takeovers, are only a few. And for share, the quality argument is evena lowly 3.9 rating for the station in question.) stations in the country that produce news. “Some editorial decisions have been based had no opinion. But just ten news directors The only thing the newsroom still ab- stronger than for ratings. Not only did the very These additional measures make an even The main reason for the pessimism is solely on saving money,” said another. made up that category, one-tenth of the solutely controls is what it puts on the air. best stations fare better, but even a little qualitystronger case for quality. Stations that did pretty simple, according to one news di- Pessimism among news directors ap- survey sample. Of the other 90 percent, It turns out that the consultants were helped. The higher a station’s quality score, thethe best job of keeping or adding to their rector: “Budget cuts are killing quality.” pears to be based to some extent on most felt the industry was on the wrong right — content does matter. better its gain in market share was likely to be. lead-in audience also scored high for quali- The financial pressures, which are forcing longer-term economic trends. “Wrong track. The margin was particularly wide at A five-year study of local television that Still, some questions remained. For the last ty (380 points on average). Stations that did newsrooms to do more with less, are re- track” answers outnumbered “right track” stations owned by large corporate groups analyzed more than 1,200 hours of news and two years, for example, “A” stations were not a poor job of retaining their lead-in scored flected in one telling statistic. Reporters are by almost two to one at stations that have like Tribune and Gannett, where the ratio more than 30,000 stories suggests that by sev- the grade category most likely to show rat- lower for quality (they average 339). now required to produce an average of 1.8 lost staff over the past three years, and by was more than two to one. eral measures quality, as defined by broadcast ings success. In fact, this year “D” stations This is what researchers call a straight-line packages a day, the heaviest workload re- about the same margin at stations produc- Among the positive thinkers, several ap- journalism professionals, is the most likely fared best, while last year it was “B” stations. correlation. Even a small boost in quality is like- ported in the five years that PEJ has been ing more news than they did three years peared to be looking for a silver lining. path to commercial success, even in today’s With local news ratings nearly everywhere ly to help a station retain more lead-in audience. studying local TV news and surveying news ago. “We now practice assembly-line jour- “We’re doing what we can in a changing difficult economic environment. falling, has the relationship between quality What about demographics? Here too, it directors. nalism in most shops,” one news director economic environment,” said a small-mar- How do we know? and commercial success weakened? Or is it The news directors are fully aware that wrote. “With staff limitations and budget ket news manager. Wrote a news director In the first three years, we used ratings as that ratings alone no longer adequately re- CONTINUED ON PAGE 95 the increased productivity comes at a cost. constraints, it is a struggle to ‘fill’ news- in a top-50 market, “Still need more The No. 1 obstacle to producing quality casts, much less look for quality content. time/support for serious in-depth issue RATINGS AND QUALITY DEMOGRAPHICS SHARE AND QUALITY news, they say, is “not enough staff,” ranking We look for easy stories — just add water pieces, less emphasis on sexy or sensation- it well above “not enough money” and “too and stir.” al stories.” 50% 1998-2002 50% AND QUALITY 60% 1998-2002 little time.” Two-thirds of news directors said they Is there any way out? Even some of 47% 2001-2002 believed that the economic outlook for the pessimists say there is. “Get back to 40% 41% 40% 50% 52% More than half the news directors, 55 per- their stations was improving, but their pos- basics and bring back the lost viewers,” 39% 39% 38% 40% cent, said the mood in their newsrooms itive view did not extend to TV news in one wrote. “Strong local content attracts had suffered because of budget con- general. Almost half of those who said viewers,” said another. But many fear 30% 30% 33% 40% 43% straints or layoffs industry-wide. And in their own stations’ financial picture looked those goals will remain out of reach as 40% 37% 38% those newsrooms where morale was low, better for the year to come also said that long as “profits take precedence over more than twice as many bosses said over all, the industry is on the wrong track. quality.” 20% 20% Percent of Stations Percent things in general were going in the wrong With a few notable exceptions, the neg- The survey’s message is sobering. De- of Stations Percent 19% 19% 30% direction than said the direction was right. ative attitude cuts across market size and spite the improving financial picture, of Stations Percent 10% 10% “Low pay, long hours, no raises,” one news station ownership. “Ratings, style, story- news directors still feel besieged. Things 0% director wrote, explaining why his em- count, pacing, hair and clothes seem more aren’t as bad as they were, but there’s no A B C D F A B C D F 20% AAB CB D C F (worst) ployees felt the way they did. Said anoth- important on a given day than content and reason to believe they’ll get much better (best) (worst) (best) (worst) (best) 0% 0% Quality Grade er, “People come to work every day won- issues,” wrote a Montana news director. And any time soon. • Quality Grade Quality Grade dering if they’re going to be fired.” a news executive from a big city in Texas ob- Percentage of stations with improving Percentage of stations improving 10% Percentage of stations with improving rating trends, by quality grade in key demographics, by quality grade share trends, by quality grade News directors who say things are on served, “Owners even from top media com- Deborah Potter is executive director of the right track see the effect of tight bud- panies . . . have very little interest in the NewsLab, a non-profit TV research and gets differently. They believe they’re learn- quality of their broadcast product.” training center. 0%

90 CJR/PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM November/December 2002 CJR/PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM November/December 2002 91 FIVE WAYS TO BUILD VIEWERSHIP Simple and Proven Steps Every Station Can Take

BY TOM ROSENSTIEL age lead-in retention (2.5 on a 5 point The data clearly show that the “water on stations with better demographic and In the first four years of our study, only gories accounted for 62 percent of all stories; AND MARION JUST lead-in scale), while those in the highest The cooler” approach — doing more stories lead-in trends are five seconds longer. 16 percent of the stories included com- now they account for just 37 percent. 20 percent scored significantly above aver- most common story format now is the an- that have buzz factor — doesn’t work. Now the case for longer stories is fur- ments from an appropriate “expert.” ever mind how you define quality. age lead-in retention at 3.15. chor voiceover, averaging 29 seconds. Four Unfortunately, that approach domi- ther confirmed by the more rigorous sta- This year, however, the use of experts Are there certain things stations We measured the enterprise level of years ago anchor voiceovers made up 9 per- nates. Stations today are three times more tistical analysis. rose to 22 percent. Some of this increase can do that will attract viewers? every story — from original investigations at cent of all stories; that figure has now likely to report national stories without a Even though fast pacing is assumed to can be attributed to the number of sto- Last year we tried to outline the top, to sending a reporter and not just a leaped to 29 percent. local context (13 percent of all stories) attract viewers, stations that air more ries about the war in Afghanistan, a cam- Nsuch a “magic formula.” We used camera in the middle, all the way down to There are other signs that enterprise is than they are to report national stories long stories are likely to improve their paign reported largely through on-cam- a method common in business — identify- using video press releases. declining. Satellite downloads have risen with an explanation of the local conse- demographic trends by 4 percent. era briefings by Secretary of Defense ing models of success. Using four years of The statistical model shows that all to 23 percent of all stories, up from 14 per- quences (4 percent). The Blake case and Put another way, viewers like stories Donald Rumsfeld and others with mili- data, we found stations that were building kinds of enterprise helps retain audience. cent in 1998. Original investigations, tough the dog mauling trial were among the they can sink their teeth into. tary expertise. viewership and isolated what distin- Doing substantive on-camera interviews interviews, and even reports on other peo- biggest “buzz” stories in the 2002 study. Why? Longer stories tend to contain The challenge is finding ways to get guished them from stations failing to win alone can add 4 percent to the rate at ple’s investigations have nearly disap- That type of reporting loses viewers. more points of view, involve longer sound- more authoritative sources into the kind viewers. It was basic “benchmarking.” which a station holds its lead-in audience. peared, especially on late-night newscasts. Some news directors apparently have bites, show viewers more pictures, go more of stories local news does more often — This year we are adding a second approach. To retain viewers, do more original stories, Is there a silver lining? Yes. When sta- reached the same conclusion. One news places, get into more detail, and give view- not just Pentagon press briefings. Rather than just comparing one group of sta- not just the daybook. Don’t air so much tions did stories with original reporting, director told our survey that more “com- ers more time to comprehend their points. tions to another, we also used regression feed tape. Connect events to your commu- over the past four years their stories scored munity impact” is his strategy for improv- Rather than throwing facts at people, HIRE MORE REPORTERS AND analysis, a statistical method that tries to pre- nity. Send a reporter, not just a camera, and increasingly higher for relevance to the ing ratings. Placing “emphasis on issues af- long stories can tell a tale. GIVE THEM MORE TIME dict outcomes, to isolate what works. your audience will stay engaged. local audience. Stations know how to do fecting the community,” wrote another. “It At a certain commonly accepted level of Unfortunately local news is moving in the work that viewers care about when they may sound cliché but our previous man- SOURCE STORIES BETTER Stations that invest their money in more statistical significance, this method can opposite direction. Even sending a reporter have the time and resources to do it. agement got away from that and our rat- Viewers notice sources. people do better. identify practices that are particularly ef- out to cover a breaking story or an event ings took a turn for the worse.” Last year we found that stations with This finding has been reinforced in fective in attracting and holding viewers. from the daybook has become the exception COVER MORE OF THE COMMUNITY Last year, using benchmarking, we also successful viewership trends were less several ways. Three years ago we discov- We measured these approaches against rather than the rule: in 1998 these two cate- Newscasts that air more locally relevant found that stations with better ratings, likely to air stories citing anonymous ered that stations putting more of their four different criteria of economic success stories are significantly more likely to hold share, demographic, and lead-in trends sources or no sources at all. They were budget toward staff, and less toward — ratings, share, retention of lead-in audi- onto or attract a larger audience than the were more likely to air a wider range of also more likely to air stories with multiple equipment, had better ratings trends. ence and demographics. (The share and rat- THE PEJ preceding program. Statistically, producing topics in their newscasts. That still holds sources and to feature sources with higher Last year, we made a related discovery, ings data are for five years. The analyses of LOCAL NEWS important local stories can add 1 percent to true with the fifth year of data. However, levels of expertise. that stations that give people more time lead-in audience and demographics are just STUDY the audience lead-in retention rate. the pattern was not reinforced by the re- With the fifth year of data added, this to work on stories have better ratings for 2001 and 2002.) The statistical correlation here was gression analysis. We cannot show statis- finding is still true, though the margin of trends. Using this more rigorous statistical ap- strong. It didn’t apply to ratings and share, tically that adding more topics to a news- difference shrank slightly. This year we again found evidence that proach, some of our findings from last year 2002 but making stories locally relevant clearly cast will itself help add viewership. In addition, this year’s more refined sta- giving the reporter more time helps — in were strengthened, others were not, and helps keep lead-in audience. But the statistical analysis did find tistical analysis shows that viewers partic- both ratings and share. The most success- additional findings emerged. 7,423 stories Does this mean local stations should do something else. Stations that air the most ularly like hearing from people who know ful stations assigned an average of 1.5 or 530 newscasts only local news? Hardly. But it means that there highly substantive stories — those that what they’re talking about. Stations that fewer stories to reporters each day, while DO MORE ENTERPRISE REPORTING is clearly a right and wrong way to do national focus on ideas, issues, or policy, or investi- relied on more authoritative sources in the average overall was 1.8. Effort pays. 53 stations and regional news that will build audience. gate public malfeasance — are significant- stories improved their hold on their lead- We have another new finding related to Over five years, stations with better rat- 17 markets While it may surprise some broadcasters, ly more likely to retain their lead-in audi- in audience by 10 percent. budgeting. Stations that had not asked re- ings and shares do more special series. Sta- the right way is to “localize” national issues ence. Similarly, stations that avoid unattrib- porters to do multiple versions of their tions with better audience retention and key FIVE YEARS by finding community examples, getting This doesn’t mean you should just air uted or unsourced stories improve audi- stories this year and were spending more demographics do more tough interviews. local comment and clarifying the issue’s more political stories. Rather, it relates to ence retention and build key demograph- on production staff were also having more When the more involved statistical 33,871 stories local impact: How does President Bush’s how you cover your community. Look for ics. commercial success. On average, they analysis is applied, the case for enterprise 2,420 newscasts “Leave No Child Behind” education bill af- the long-lasting impact and deeper issues We measured the authority of sources were one full point higher on the five- becomes even stronger. 242 stations fect the community? in stories. Don’t be afraid to investigate the by noting their level of expertise for a point scales used to measure rating and Stations that do more enterprise of all The wrong way is to find stories that powers that be. The audience pays atten- given story — from an appropriate “ex- share. • sorts are more likely to build on their lead- (154, plus repeated stations) aren’t necessarily significant from a civics tion. pert,” to a participant, to citing no source standpoint but may contribute to the “water in audience. Enterprise alone added 6 per- 50 of nation’s 210 markets AIR MORE LONG STORIES at all. Thus a doctor with the right special- Tom Rosenstiel is director of the Project for cent to the rate at which a station held its Reaching 60% of cooler” discussion at the office the next day ty is an expert in a medical story. A com- Excellence in Journalism. Marion Just is a lead-in audience. — the Robert Blake murder case, say, or the Every year of the study, we’ve found that muter may be the expert for a story on professor of political science at Wellesley Conversely, stations that produced the U.S. population San Francisco dog mauling trial. These sto- successful stations were more likely to air traffic congestion. College and a research associate at the fewest enterprise stories (the lowest 20 ries, the thinking goes, are so fascinating that longer stories. There is plenty of room for improve- Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, percent of stations) had worse than aver- they require no localizing. On average, for example, the stories ment here, as well as reason for optimism. and Public Policy at Harvard.

92 CJR/PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM November/December 2002 CJR/PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM November/December 2002 93 AFTER 9/11, HAS ANYTHING CHANGED?

BY WALLY DEAN the threat of bioterrorism — stations did economy, a moribund stock market, and a commands most newsroom resources not AND LEE ANN BRADY relatively little reporting (just 1 percent of series of accounting scandals that rocked specifically earmarked for other subjects. the stories), and hardly any of that involved public confidence, economic/business Indeed, the actions of cops, criminals, ow was local television news much enterprise. Only 12 percent of all sto- news fell to the lowest level in the study’s suspects, crime victims, family members, and changed by September 11 — the ries about homeland security were based history: to 7 percent of stories. lawyers made up 27 percent of all stories. BEAT REPORTING IN LOCAL TELEVISION moment American foreign policy on what would generally be considered en- Stories about the job market, perhaps re- And nothing was on for very long. More and the specter of terrorism be- terprise reporting. The rest was coverage of flecting the scores of layoff announcements, than two-thirds (67 percent) of the stories Percentage of News Directors Reporting Specific Full-Time Beats, by Subject Hcame a local story? “threats” picked up from police and fire increased, but still amounted to just 1 per- ran a minute or less, 40 percent thirty sec- 45% Not even the attack on America and the scanners, news conferences, daybooks, or cent of the total. Put another way, coverage onds or less. war on terrorism could wrench local TV official press releases. of the effects of the recession rose while Television at its best can take us to 40% 42% news from “live, local and late-breaking” coverage of the causes declined. Indeed, there was as much coverage of places we cannot go ourselves, be it the 38% 37% coverage of carnage, crime and accidents. missing children, especially the Florida disap- Reporting on politics, government and corridors of power or the mountains of 30%35% Local newscasts did begin to cover pearance of Rilya Wilson, as there was of public policy (9 percent) did not increase, Afghanistan, and it can connect those 25% more of the world in 2002, but only a lit- local homeland defense (1 percent each) — despite the political dimension of the war places to our lives. But local TV news con- 25% 24% 24% 22% tle more. And to make room for that cov- and this was before the media glare focused on terrorism. Consumer and health news tinues instead to be a surrogate rubber- 20% erage of defense and foreign affairs, local on missing children in July and August.

held at 6 percent of all stories even necker, taking us to crime scenes, murder Percent of News Directors TV chipped away at the coverage of every- What didn’t get on the air was notable. Is- though health reports and consumer re- trials, and traffic accidents, where we can 15% thing but crime and disaster. In the 2002 sues directly affecting the lives of huge num- calls were the top two topics in which sta- do little but gawk. local TV news study, a quarter (26 percent) bers of viewers got even less attention than tions exhibited enterprise. Not even a generation-defining event 10% of all stories were devoted to crime, law usual. Some topics became almost extinct, Health/ Crime/ Education Invest- Consumer Government No Much of the enterprise work is done like September 11 has changed that. • 5% and the courts, the most of any single year including education and transportation is- by reporters assigned to specific beats. Medicine Courts igative Full-Time since 1998, when we began monitoring sues (2 percent each). Consider a few statis- According to our survey of news direc- Wally Dean is director of broadcast training 0% Unit Beats local television news. tics from the 7,423 stories we studied in 2002: tors, three-quarters of local newsrooms for the Committee of Concerned Journalists. Subject The events and aftermath of September Only nine stories about aging and Social have assigned beats. Among those beats, Lee Ann Brady is senior project director at 11 did force local TV stations to become Security. medicine/health reporters were most Princeton Survey Research Associates. more international. Over the first four Thirteen stories about welfare and common (42 percent) followed by crime years of the study, foreign affairs and de- poverty. or court beats (38 percent), education (37 fense amounted to just 4 percent of sto- Fifteen stories about the arts. percent), investigative (25 percent), con- HOW STRONG IS THE CASE FOR QUALITY? ries. This year, coverage of those topics Thirty-three stories about race. sumer news (24 percent), and govern- CONTINUED FROM PAGE 91 more than doubled to 9 percent, making it ment/politics (24 percent). appears that quality works, though the statis- the third-most-reported subject. Coverage of social issues was down from With all those beats, why are newscasts tical relationship is not quite as strong as for tempting local newsrooms in a different di- suffered from “too many out-of-town feeds, Yet that figure may overstate how much the average of the first four years, as was still so full of crime news? Apparently the re- lead-in. Stations with the best demographic rection. The success of new genre shows like poor sourcing, and low community rele- local TV news really changed. Half of our flex to cover the “live, local and late-break- the percentage of stories about civiliza- trends — more of that key 18-to-54 audience Survivor has reinforced the sense that vance.” WAMI’s newscast was later shut down study occurred in early March, during the tion and culture. Despite a languishing ing” — usually crime — is so strong that it — averaged a solid “B” for quality. The stations younger viewers are turned off by traditional after less than three years on the air. heaviest fighting of the Afghanistan war. That The evidence suggests that younger people with the worst trends managed only a “C.” programming and want something different. week, coverage of the terrorism war at home In news, one response has been to createwant the same thing most viewers do — and and abroad swelled to 8 percent of all stories. MOST POPULAR TOPICS What if you tie these measurements togeth-broadcasts that are “fast-paced” and “lifestyle-that, believe it or not, is quality. In late April-early May, the second week of BEFORE AND AFTER SEPTEMBER 11 er? We created a Viewership Index by combin-oriented.” Take, for example, the marketing All this should be reason for optimism. the study, coverage of the war on terrorism ing two years of ratings data with the new mea-campaign for The Daily Buzz, a syndicatedContent is the one thing news directors can surements of audience retention and demo-morning news program that premiered in the had dropped to 2 percent of all stories. 2002 control. The first challenge is to believe the 30% 1998-2001 30% graphics (adding share tends to skew the resultsfall of 2002. It touted the new entry by declar- Most of this coverage, moreover, con- hard numbers, not the mythology. The sec- since ratings and share measure similar num-ing that its audience would skew younger thanond challenge is to learn how to produce sisted largely of cut-and-paste stories 25% 25% the morning shows on the Big Three networks. bers). Once again, we found what academic re- more quality with fewer resources. If that from satellite feed footage (97 percent), 24% searchers call a statistically significant relation-“This show will be edgier and funnier, while 25% doesn’t happen — and happen soon — local rather than using local expertise to con- 20% 20% ship between quality and commercial success. providing news content that is relevant to the nect these issues to the community. younger generation,” one news executive de-TV news may be in more danger than news- 15% 15% papers of becoming irrelevant. It is certainly This is predictable with regard to the In other words, quality seems to help clared in a company press release. across the board. While many factors influ- losing more audience, and losing it faster. • Percent of Stories war abroad, given Pentagon restrictions Percent of Stories 10% 10% ence viewership — from anchor chemistry to But there are few successful examples of and financial pressures. But one might 10% 10% 10% 9% 9% 9% 8% promos and teases — quality journalism is this “edgier” approach to TV news connecting Atiba Pertilla is a research associate at PEJ. Todd have expected stations to staff the do- 5% 5% not just incidental. It’s actually good business. with younger viewers. We studied one exam- Belt is a doctoral candidate in political science mestic war on terrorism, especially given 4% Unfortunately, the conventional wisdom is ple, WAMI in Miami, in 1999, and noted that it at the University of Southern California. local TV’s reliance on the public safety 0% community for news. Crime Instead, when it came to the war at Human interest home — from airport baggage checks to Topic Defense/ foreign policy Politics 94 CJR/PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM November/December 2002Social issues CJR/PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM November/December 2002 95 Crime Human interest Defense/ foreign policy Politics Social issues WHO’S BEST IN 17 CITIES? Ratings Trend

Lead-in Local Relevance Retention Viewpoints Expertise No. of Sources Enterprise Focus per Story Topic Range Affiliation Average Points Comments Station Network Quality Grade Quality score LOCAL TV NEWS DENVER 10PM Best in disappointing market. Needs better B KCNC 365.83 21.77 +4% enterprise, sourcing, localism. //// Ratings Trend Good on politics, localizing. But no enterprise, / Lead-in Retention C KUSA 338.81 21.08 +18% Local Relevance too many one-sided stories. No. of Sources Viewpoints Expertise Enterprise Focus per Story Topic Range /// Affiliation Average Points Comments Station Network Quality Grade Quality score Worst in study. Crime, disasters, celebrities. F KMGH 251.58 20.37 -32% Eyewitness News lives. ALBUQUERQUE 10PM

// Best station in worst market. Score down / GRAND RAPIDS 6PM D KOB 286.49 20.43 +12% from 1998, but market has fallen further. ////

Third-best in study. Long stories, very local, // / A WOOD453.59 24.16 +51% A mixed bag. Awful on enterprise, but strong investigative. But crime-heavy. // D KRQE 284.54 21.24 -18% presented a mix of opinions. High “B.” Very local and gets both sides. A cellar dweller. 52nd out of 53 stations. B WZZM393.18 21.91 +59% But 61 percent of stories are canned events. D KOAT 264.40 19.82 +31% Average or below in every category. / Scanner driven. Lots of everyday incidents. //// B WWMT 372.53 21.10 +55% If not breaking, a press conference. BATON ROUGE 6PM // /// Solid “B.” A journeyman, did everything HONOLULU 10PM //// B WAFB 398.40 22.78 +21% well enough, but didn’t excel at anything. // Top 10 station. Good story choices, sourcing. Virtually even with WAFB. Great at local A KHON 413.53 23.29 +91% B WBRZ 375.69 22.48 +14% relevance. Fell down on enterprise. Poor enterprise. News director just fired. In duopoly with rival KHON. Story by story,

BOSTON 6PM //// A KGMB 411.76 24.50 -15% even better but fewer topics. Live, local and late breaking in market not / Once a “D” now best in study. Scored well B KHNL 388.17 20.69 -39% A WHDH463.10 25.28 +5% on almost everything — especially enterprise. obsessed with crime. Least issues. Second in study, best per-story score. /// B KITV 356.64 22.71 +7% Lots of experts. Could have done better A WCVB 459.00 26.02 +9% with broader topic range. Ratings fading fast. / Big step up from 2000. Needs more enterprise. /////// No longer best in Boston but still good. HOUSTON 10PM A WBZ 446.52 24.36 +41% Led the march back to quality in town. //// //// // Avoided everyday crime. Good at getting CHICAGO 10PM B KHOU 372.25 22.79 +3% both sides, but many unnamed sources. / Highest story scores in city. Strong “B” tops Chicago thanks to local relevance. B KTRK 362.66 23.09 +10% //// B WLS 379.27 21.93 +28% But woeful enterprise, like entire market. / investigative. Needed wider story selection. Low “C.” Good at idea stories, science/tech. “Springer” station now a solid “B.” Good //// C KPRC 309.09 21.45 -5% B WMAQ355.54 21.33 -12% sourcing, but needs more localism. Weak sourcing and enterprise hurt. /// CBS O & O in for more tinkering. Fair quality B WBBM353.26 21.65 -25% but where’s the sourcing? KANSAS CITY 10PM ////

COLUMBIA, SC 6PM Missed “A” by half point. Strong story by story.

B KMBC 400.39 23.92 +25% Solid at everything, lacks enterprise. Longtime leader. Big staff, serious approach Decent station. Focuses on ideas, avoids crime. /

A WIS 403.52 21.28 +175% but crime-heavy. B KSHB 366.43 21.85 -38% Needs better sourcing, localism. Gannett dollars boosted reach and ratings. / “C” station hurt by lack of enterprise, weak B WLTX 375.28 21.24 +3% But 40 percent canned events with no reporter. C WDAF 331.39 21.08 +1% sourcing, and one-sided stories. /// Since study, newsroom cut to three reporters. Heavy on crime, disasters, one-sided stories, // B WOLO 364.28 20.60 +51% Shows now produced in another state. /// C KCTV 328.30 21.44 +5% and lack of enterprise. LAS VEGAS 11PM /// CHART KEY

Low “B.” Stories not bad, but topic range / KLAS 361.13 22.99 +23% // LEAD-IN RETENTION OVERALL GRADE RATINGS Up Flat/ Slightly Down Sharply B narrow. Forty percent crime stories. //// ////slightly up down /// //down / Percentage of A = 400.75 or higher (3 YEARS) //// viewers gained (+) B = 353.23 – 400.74 High “C.” Skilled reporters, but narrow story C KTNV 341.87 22.95 +2% selection and lack of enterprise hurt.

or lost (-) from C = 305.72 – 353.22 ICONS Average story score for a station by variable. preceding program. D = 258.20 – 305.7 1 Highest Second Mid-range Second Lowest Classic tabloid. Triple national average on / F = 210.69 – 258.19 score highest score score lowest score D KVBC 269.22 20.51 +11% celebrities and feeds. Poor sourcing. Ratings Trend

Lead-in Retention Local Relevance No. of Sources Viewpoints Expertise Enterprise Focus per Story Topic Range Affiliation Average Points Comments Station Network Quality Grade Quality score SEPARATE BUT EQUAL LOS ANGELES 11PM

Best in LA is faint praise. Gets both sides of Comparing Local News in English and Spanish C KCBS 322.53 22.55 -36% story. But four in ten stories crime-related. //// Below national average in every category. C KABC 314.97 21.24 -23% Real lack of connection to community. /// Station reneges on “police chase ban.” //// C KNBC 312.45 21.28 -24% Few issues. Sends cameras without reporters. BY LAURIEN ALEXANDRE WHAT’S DIFFERENT, WHAT’S NOT Spanish and English newscasts aired similar AND HENRIK REHBINDER Let’s start with basics. numbers of stories and demonstrated a When it came to overall scores for similar — and not particularly impressive — MIAMI 11PM //// t’s the mid-point of the 6:30 p.m. broad- quality, we found no significant difference level of enterprise. For both, more than cast, time for the day’s financial update Lots of policy, social issues. Least crime in /// between Spanish-language stations and two-thirds of the stories came from pre- B WTVJ 364.98 23.19 -21% mayhem-heavy market. on the local news. Co-anchor Eduardo English-language stations. arranged events or satellite feeds from // Quezada of LA’s KMEX fades into the If you calculated a GPA for the two gen- elsewhere. Fox station is super-local, owns spot news. background as a scroll-down list fills As one gets into details, the distinc- B WSVN 360.57 21.61 -31% Lots of disaster and accident coverage. I res, neither would make the dean’s list. In //// the screen. the markets where both English-language tions become more pronounced. Good on investigations and covering civic The Mexican peso is up, Brazil’s real is One-fifth of Spanish-language stories C WPLG 341.03 22.68 -9% and Spanish-language stations were evalu-

institutions. Too many unnamed sources. down, and so is Venezuela’s bolivar. From ated, on average, they all earned “C’s.” cited three or more sources (20 percent) Crime and irrelevant national news. I-team / Los Angeles to Miami, one of the nightly In their average-ness, the two media compared with only 15 percent in Eng- D WFOR 290.98 21.27 -10% aims to be CSI, but mostly Miami Vice. features of Spanish-language news is not the worlds were quite comparable. Both the lish. Dow but Latin America’s currency prices. NASHVILLE 10PM The 35.5 million Hispanic people in the United States are the fastest-growing seg- ment of our population, yet local Spanish- SPANISH-LANGUAGE NEWS IN 4 CITIES Music City’s best had broad topic range. A WTVF 407.61 22.12 +13% A good watchdog, but loves pop culture. language television and the two networks /// that own most of the stations are largely Solid “B” with rising ratings. Good on invisible to the majority of Americans. B WKRN 379.80 21.97 +3% sourcing, but too much police blotter work. //// Local Relevance What is on Spanish-language TV news Viewpoints Expertise No. of Sources Enterprise Focus per Story Topic Range Affiliation Average Points and how does it compare with and differ Station Network One of the study’s worst. Awful on sourcing, / Quality Grade Quality score D WSMV285.12 19.47 -1% loves feeds. Dropping ratings. from the English-language variety? To find answers, this year’s local news HOUSTON 10PM NEW YORK 11PM // study examined eight Spanish-language stations in the four largest Hispanic mar- C KTMD 317.08 20.25 “B” is up from 2001. Good on issues, ideas. // kets: Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and B WNBC 366.12 21.57 -19% Weak enterprise, like Big Apple as a whole. // Houston. Two weeks of programs were an- F KXLN 235.91 19.64 - Lost news director to WNBC. Score similar to alyzed — one sweeps, one non-sweeps — C WABC 341.53 21.46 -4% 2001. Good opinion mix, but likes feeds. during the most popular time slot for LOS ANGELES 6PM news in each market. Started news director musical chairs by C WCBS 329.47 20.69 -33% / In a multicultural media marketplace, grabbing from WNBC. Loves everyday crime. C KVEA 344.15 22.33 //// Spanish-language local TV news is separate SACRAMENTO 5PM but essentially equal. It demonstrates similar news values and ranks with its English-lan- B KMEX 360.05 22.95 Powerhouse station just replaced news guage competitors in quality. A KCRA 451.90 25.04 +47% director. Quality, but in transition? There are, however, differences, as tradi- MIAMI 6PM

tions, resources, and demographic diversity Good station could reduce feeds. Feeble / KOVR 409.44 22.78 +1% both nurture and constrain news content. A enterprise but lots of news you can use. A WSCV 410.07 22.43 Spanish-language local TV news is more Good sourcing. Covers social issues, avoids B KXTV 399.81 23.61 +1% populated by ordinary people, and filled crime. But too many daybook stories. //// with even more crime and victims, than A WLTV 422.67 23.67 English-language TV. It is more interested SIOUX FALLS 10PM in homelands far away, if not the world in NEW YORK 6PM // general. It believes immigration is a signifi- Improvement over 2000 for South Dakota cant issue. And it is a more one-sided B WNJU 376.01 23.08 A KELO 444.78 23.05 +151% institution. Little crime, good opinion mix. /// media world. But it is also not monolithic. While sta- A WXTV 405.84 22.43 Another big jump over 2000. Top station hurt //// tions differed only slightly by company — A KSFY 419.37 22.50 +10% by celebrity focus, lack of enterprise. Telemundo vs. Univision — they differed “C” station burned through two news directors rather dramatically by city. C KDLT 325.86 20.08 -59% in past year. Topic range prevented lower score.

CJR/PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM November/December 2002 99 On the other hand, Span- FOCUS ON SOUTH gooooooooooal — so com- report on the human side of ish-language stories were OF THE BORDER mon a feature on Spanish- border crossing. five times more likely than language news elsewhere. The Catholic Church sex English-language counter- Spanish-language TV also has (The Cuban game is baseball, scandal was also big news in parts to have no sources at a different approach to cov- not soccer.) LA, much bigger than in all, 21 percent to 4 percent. ering the rest of the world other markets. Six percent Spanish-language TV ran than English-language news. HOUSTON of all LA stories were about more long stories — 25 per- Foreign officials and for- the Church scandal, includ- cent of pieces were two eign governments were Houston’s Hispanic popula- ing allegations of abuse minutes or longer, versus 19 twice as likely to be protag- tion is dominated by people against local priests and percent in English — but it onists in Spanish-language of Mexican origin and now complaints against the area’s also tended to tell one side stories (5 percent) than in has a growing and sizable controversial archbishop. As Instead of reports on the Dow from Wall Street, most Spanish-language stations New York’s WNJU focused on a father wishing to take his dead son’s body home of a story. Three out of ten English-language (2 percent). population of Central Amer- to Mexico but lacking the necessary immigration documents. a comparison, only 1 percent stories in Spanish presented aired the latest currency figures from countries in Latin America. Most Spanish-language sta- icans. The audience is more of Miami’s stories were just one opinion, compared tions in the study aired a heterogeneous, significantly about the scandal. to 20 percent in English. And IMMIGRATION: regular, in many cases night- poorer and less educated than in Miami. tionalism. It also had fewer crime stories In this highly competitive town, Univi- only one story in ten offered a substantial ly, roundup of Latin American news. In Many are recent immigrants. than the average of all stations in the mar- sion’s KMEX earned a “B,” higher than any mix of opinions, half as many as in English. WHEN SEPARATE IS NOT EQUAL total, 6 percent of their stories were about Neither Telemundo’s KTMD nor Univi- ket. Unfortunately, WXTV chose to pro- other station — Spanish or English — in Nowhere were the differences more The two universes were most different news from the homelands of immigrants, sion’s KXLN aired news programs that evi- mote itself unabashedly, three nights post- Los Angeles. It aired more relatively long apparent than in the treatment of certain when covering immigration. In the Hispan- led by Cuba, then Mexico, Venezuela, and denced substantial resources, tremendous ing its network’s first-place finish in the stories than any other station (28 percent topics, especially crime, immigration, and ic world, immigrants play an important Colombia. initiative, or high news quality. Both aired most recent Nielsen ratings. were over two minutes) and made good Latin America. role in news stories and the community at But this highlights another difference. more and shorter stories per broadcast Telemundo’s WNJU earned respectable use of expert sources. large — they work and raise families, and Spanish and English stations carried com- than their English-language counterparts. marks and had lots of solid reporting. But Telemundo’s KVEA, on the other hand, MAYHEM IN SPANISH their views are solicited. parable levels of foreign affairs and de- In a lackluster media market, the two it was also the station that had a multi-day carried a regular Monday night special fea- Crime is a mainstay of local TV news in On English TV news, immigrants don’t fense news (8 percent and 9 percent re- Spanish stations went from bad to worse. exploration into the lives of New York’s turing an astrologer and a psychic ponder- both worlds, but even more so in Spanish. even have walk-on parts. Less than half of spectively). But the focus in Spanish was Telemundo turned scarcity to service, Puerto Rican strippers that was basically ing current events, in this case, the Pope’s One in three Spanish stories was devoted one percent of all stories in the Anglo on Latin America. The focus in English was however, posting still graphics of job list- an excuse to broadcast bump-and-grind eventual demise. to crime (34 percent), notably higher than media were about immigration. By con- on U.S. foreign policy. ings in the community. Univision’s KXLN, in footage, and it aired a pabulum piece on Confirmation that Spanish-language in English (26 percent). trast, almost a tenth of Spanish-language contrast, turned to crime, using computer- the female characters of a popular telen- local TV news is as good — and bad — as its What’s more, the protagonists of the stories were tied to immigration issues (9 LOCAL FLAVOR IN LOCAL NEWS generated street maps to enliven its inor- ovela (soap opera). English-language counterparts probably crime story are different, depending on percent). Generally speaking, the two networks, Univi- dinately high number of crime stories (a shouldn’t surprise anyone. But given the the language. In Spanish, the “main actors” Immigration stories also depicted an- sion and Telemundo, scored similarly on staggering 48 percent). LOS ANGELES ethnic media’s influence, and the lack of at- were criminals or victims (27 percent), other feature of the Spanish-language TV most indicators of program quality. The more tention these stations receive from acade- twice as often as in English-language local news: It differs markedly from city to interesting differences were found at the NEW YORK The County of Los Angeles has the largest mics and TV critics, the finding is news. TV (13 percent). city. market level. Local Spanish-language news Latino population in the country, and Spanish-language TV has things it can teach In English-language news, the main per- Immigration was a huge story in Los An- reflected the diversity of its different Span- New York’s cosmopolitanism showed a while the numbers of Central and South the rest of the media even as it poses an in- son featured was almost twice as likely to geles (16 percent of all stories), less so in ish-speaking audiences and had a local flavor. Latin flair in its Spanish-language news. For Americans are vast, the population is still creasing economic challenge to them. • be a lawyer or law enforcement officer, 14 Houston (8 percent), but not nearly so im- example, the World Trade Center stories dominated by those of Mexican origin percent, versus 7 percent. And in the Span- portant to broadcasters in Miami (5 per- MIAMI on both stations tended to focus on the (over 90 percent). ish-language version, the cops were often cent) or New York (5 percent) where the Hispanic victims of 9/11. Another example Border stories, like immigration, were big. Laurien Alexandre is Director of the Ph.D. in the bad guys. immigrant populations have generally The city’s Hispanic population is heavily was the multi-day coverage of labor strife And fully eight in ten of all Spanish-lan- Leadership and Change program at Antioch The two-week sample under review been here longer. Cuban, highly educated, solidly middle class, in a textile factory, exploring its connec- guage stories about Mexico were broadcast University. Henrik Rehbinder is senior writer for provided an extraordinary number of sto- In many stories, immigration was a sub- politically conservative, and media-savvy. tion to clothes worn by the Colombian by LA stations. Telemundo’s flagship KVEA La Opinion in Los Angeles, the largest Spanish- ries about police abuse: the police beat- plot. For instance, both New York Spanish- Here, the flavor was Caribbean, and the music sensation Shakira. aired a compelling multi-part investigative language daily newspaper in the country. ing a Latino in Baytown, Texas, the re- language stations ran a multi-day story on dominant flavor was decidedly Cuban. Broadcasting from the nation’s financial broadcast of footage of an Ohio police- a Mexican boy who was killed on city One hundred percent of the stories about capital, these were the only Spanish-lan- man pummeling an unidentified woman, streets by a hit-and-run driver — no doubt Cuba in our study aired in Miami. guage stations studied that carried the Dow “Hispanic” and “Latino” encompass people of many different backgrounds. The 2000 Jones averages. and a week-long trial of a New York cop a serious crime story. But the grieving fa- Both Fidel Castro’s mental state and the Census put the Hispanic population at 35.5 million, nearly 60 percent of Mexican de- machinery of the Cuban state were local found guilty of driving drunk and killing a ther could not accompany his own son’s Both were solid stations that compared scent. The next largest single group, Puerto Ricans, are just under 10 percent. Central pregnant Latina mother and her toddler. body back home because he was poor and news. Another distinctly Cuban characteris- evenly with their English-language rivals. and South Americans are close to 30 percent, and Cubans and Dominicans account There was also a Dominican epileptic undocumented. This twist of fate turned tic was that neither station aired a single Univision’s WXTV earned high marks for for less than 5 percent each. Of course, the proportions vary by city. dying inexplicably at the hands of the an everyday crime into a quintessential im- soccer score or re-played (in slow motion its solid reporting, excellent use of expert NYPD. migration story. and from multiple angles) a single sources, and refusal to cave in to sensa-

100 CJR/PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM November/December 2002 CJR/PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM November/December 2002 101 INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM the U.S. illegally since September 11” than it ries] killed. Does not happen!” Indeed, news directors reported that was before the attack. But news directors also acknowledge that their investigations of other kinds of Other reports were more local, but nev- sponsors sometimes do prevail. “Story about sponsors more often resulted in econom- DESPITE THE ODDS ertheless important: “corruption in sheriff’s lawsuit filed against large advertiser was ic retaliation. One news director com- office,” and “downtown redevelopment killed by G.M,” one news director unhappily pared a car dealer and a furniture store he budget problems.” reported. Another said management had had investigated. “We worked with car Watchdog Reporting Continues to Decline And about a third of the reports struck “killed investigation into cell phone costs be- dealer to satisfy his customer,” he report- researchers as ranging from trivial to mere- cause our #1 advertiser was beaten by rival ed. “Furniture store quit advertising for ly titillating: “recycling old hard drives” or cell companies on price.” one year.” And still other news directors say that BY MARION JUST, ROSALIND LEVINE, full-time investigative units is much small- “Investigation of women illegally injecting Most news directors whose news- even when they have backing from manage- AND KATHLEEN REGAN er, just 25 percent. one of every 150 stories. In 1998, one of every silicone at parties.” rooms did investigative work said their ment, sponsor pressure can have a chilling ef- Yet for all this, only 2 percent of stories in sixtyerious stories investigative was a station-initiated work takes investiga-re- Nonetheless, the figures suggest that general managers were supportive, even in tion. S fect on reporters. ven in difficult times, most local our local news study this year were labeled by sources and time, two things news directors even in the face of economic contraction, the face of lawsuits. As one explained: news stations are still doing inves- stations themselves as investigative. And only increasingly say are in short supply. many local news stations remained commit- As one news director explained: “A sales “My G.M. lets me do news. She is reason- tigative reporting, and half of those half of those, just 1 percent, were original sta- Most often, news directors said, their in- ted to investigative journalism, however they person went to the reporter and pressured able about clients we may anger. All she doing it say they are willing to in- tion-initiated investigations. vestigative reporting focused on malfeasance defined it. Fully 75 percent of stations that him about the story he was covering. The asks is to be kept informed.” vestigate their sponsors, according Noteworthy, too, is that 25 percent of sta- or scandal related to government, consumers, experienced budget cuts this year still did sales manager and I both spoke to the sales- But investigating sponsors can strain rela- Eto our annual survey of news directors. tions acknowledged that they did no inves- or health care. what they described as “investigative” work. person and explained that this was unaccept- tions with management even when the news- Fully 75 percent of newsrooms say they tigative work whatsoever. But the scope of the stories varied greatly. That was the same figure as stations whose able. The bottom line is even though the re- room wins. One news director described the do investigative reporting, the survey of Over the five years of our study, in fact, theSome newsrooms took on major investiga- budgets were unchanged or increased. porter covered the story the way he wanted situation as “sensitive.” Another reported: to in the first place, he still felt compromised.” 103 newsrooms from around the country level of original watchdog reporting has steadi-tions with national implications, such as a bor- Aside from budget-cutting, pressure in “Never interference — but there have been a found. The percentage of stations with ly declined, amounting this year to less thander station that showed it was “easier to enter newsrooms also comes from sales depart- Perhaps the ultimate test of a station’s few moments of angst as the N.D. tells the ments and sponsors. commitment to the watchdog principle is GM and sales manager about the story we’re We know from last year’s survey that whether it would investigate its own spon- doing on a client.” work, a significant number of newsrooms affix the label “inves- pressure from sponsors is omnipresent, sors. Half of the stations in the survey that re- In the end, it appears that investigative re- BRANDING LITE ported doing investigative work said they had porting remains too important a part of a tigative”A look toat suchstation pressing Web sitespublic reveals dangers that as onemold newsroom and dog food. dis- though often unacknowledged. The level of sponsor interference that news directors turned their spotlight on advertisers. local news station’s franchise — and its pub- BY WALLY DEAN patched its I-Team to report on “The cold, hard, facts about soft “[Our manager’s] philosophy is if the story lic obligation — to abandon. As one news di- serve yogurt,” and “A camera that can see through clothes.” At an- said they experienced this year was pretty much the same as last year — it exists in is legitimate we’ll take the heat,” said one rector told us: “We are clear on our mission n television journalism, the terms “Investigative Reporting” and other station, a five-person I-Team churned out stories on “Spray- more than half of all newsrooms. news director. and who we are — we do stories based on I “Breaking News” were developed to alert the public that on Makeup,” “Hair Cloning,” and “Tongue Piercing.” that and nothing else.” Another had this ad- something important and unusual was coming. Sometimes, the “investigative” label was applied to spot news As one news director put it: “Same — Same Half of the sponsor investigations de- as ever. Station sales trying to make a buck.” scribed in the survey involved car dealerships,vice for success: “Cover the news — be ag- simply because a station sent a reporter from its investigative In an era when “branding” has become both a buzzword and a and about half of those resulted in economicgressive. It isn’t brain surgery.” corporate mandate, however, some local TV stations now regu- unit to cover it. One station’s Web site, for instance, boasts how In all, 17 percent of news directors say that • sponsors have discouraged them from pursu- repercussions for the station. One news direc- larly apply those labels to the everyday and even the trivial. In its “Investigative Reporter” revealed “Twelve arrested at ‘Swingers ing stories (compared to 18 percent last year), tor wrote that after his station did a story Marion Just is a professor of political science doing so, they undermine the credibility they are trying to build, Bar’ ” and “Pitbull bites boy’s diaper, kills his dog.” and 54 percent have been pressured to cover about a case of fraud, “The dealership canceled at Wellesley College and a research associate and cheapen the meaning of investigative reporting and breaking This is branding lite. stories about sponsors, up slightly from 47 annual advertising with the station worth $1 at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Poli- The research team felt that the mislabeling of the term “investiga- news for everyone else. percent last year. million (it took 6 years for them to return).” tics, and Public Policy at Harvard. Rosalind The problem may be biggest in the area of breaking news. tive” is the significant exception in local TV news rather than the rule. A Many news directors continue to insist On the other hand, half the investigations Levine is an attorney in Boston. Kathleen Amid 24-hour cable and the news crawl, stories journalists once review of the investigative work described by news directors in the sur- that this pressure from sponsors is ineffec- of car dealerships did not result in sponsors’ Regan is a student and research assistant at labeled “Developing Story” are now “Breaking News.” Indeed, the vey data and a review of those stations’ Web sites suggest that serious tive: “Sponsor or advertiser tries to get [sto- pulling advertising. Wellesley. data show that stations more often give major “breaking news” investigative work outweighed the faux by better than two to one. treatment to events that are, in fact, commonplace. But even the best journalists are affected by the false brand- In this year’s study, when dealing with spontaneous news ing efforts of a few. events — as opposed to “daybook” stories — reporters were al- Real breaking news refers to something important happening CORRELATION OF VIEWERSHIP INDEX most three times more likely to be on-scene at an everyday inci- right now. Genuine investigative journalism adds a dimension be- CORRELATION OF RATINGS TREND AND QUALITY SCORE, AND QUALITY SCORE, dent (28 percent), like a car accident, as they were to be covering yond disclosure; it engages the public to come to judgment 2001-2002 significant breaking events (10 percent), such as a sniper shooting. about something that the news organization feels may be wrong, 400.00 400.00 1998-2002 375.09 360.98 351.70 352.05 350.93 339.52 351.35 And for all that breaking news has become a marketing brand for or at least important and needing scrutiny. 300.00 330.26 300.00 336.50 334.31 stations and a priority for their newsrooms, genuine breaking news Various research studies confirm over and over that viewers — covering an unplanned event as it unfolds — accounts for a tiny don’t like being misled and manipulated. Raising alarms in the 200.00 200.00

percentage of news content, just 2 percent of stories. That amounts QUALIY SCORE name of the commonplace makes local TV the boy who cried QUALITY SCORE 100.00 100.00 to one story a week. wolf. Sooner, rather than later, people stop watching. 0.00 0.00 A similar kind of hyperbole is evident, though less common, in 5 (best ) 4 3 2 1 (worst) 5 (best ) 4 3 2 1 (worst)

investigative reporting. Wally Dean is director of broadcast training for the Committee VIEWERSHIP INDEX RATINGS TREND

While three quarters of news directors say they do investigative of Concerned Journalists. The Viewership Index is a composite measurement of ratings, demographic and audience retention

102 CJR/PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM November/December 2002 CJR/PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM November/December 2002 103 The local television tional codes were added to give appropriate weight to stories presenting in- METHODOLOGY news project was begun in 1998 in order to study the relationship between content and view- formation of particular importance to the local Spanish-speaking commu- ership. Using criteria established by a team of industry professionals, we cre- nity, i.e., stories that provided information about either local Hispanic/Lati- ated measurements for analyzing these newscasts according to basic variables noTesting communities, performed or Spanish-languageto measure uniform homelands. coding showed that daily scores of quality and comparing those to accepted measurements of commercial were reliable within +/-0.49 points per day for all broadcasts. Results for success. Newscasts are studied in a market’s highest-rated time slot for news, Spanish-language broadcasts were within the intercoder performance para- and the sample has remained the same throughout — two weeks of half-hour meters established over the five years of this study. newscasts, one week during sweeps and one week during the regular season. Ratings, share, audience retention and demographic data were generat- The numbers have added up. In the past five years, we have studied more than ed by an independent researcher using Nielsen Station Index data for the 33,000 stories, gathering information on at least thirty separate variables for newscasts studied in the twelve sweeps-period ratings books from February each — more than 1,000,000 pieces of data in all. 1999 to November 2001 (February 2002 ratings information was not used to The study this year included a content analysis of broadcast news pro- avoid viewership skewing effects of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City). grams in seventeen cities, comprising fifty-three English-language stations Prior PEJ studies referred to in these articles used similar data. and eight Spanish-language stations. Markets were selected to ensure both This year’s study also included a national mail survey of news directors, regional and market-size diversity. Newscasts were selected on the basis of conducted between June and August 2002. A random sample of 233 news the most popular time slot for news in each market and, in the case of mar- directors was selected from an enumerated list of broadcast stations that kets where Spanish-language news programs were analyzed, on the basis of produce local news. One hundred three news directors completed the the most popular time slot for news in each language individually. Taping surveys, for a response rate of 44 percent. The sample of 103 news direc- occurred during a March non-sweeps week and an April-May sweeps week. tors represents more than 15 percent of all stations producing local news. The final dataset comprised 9,173 stories, including 7,423 English-language Since the survey respondents come from more than half of the local news stories, 1,094 Spanish-language stories, and a control sample of 656 stories markets throughout the country, the results are unweighted by market in both English and Spanish. Content analysis was performed using stan- size. The news directors’ survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 dardized codebooks containing the criteria established by the project de- percent, which means that if we were to draw 100 different random sam- sign team, and the results were used to assign quality scores and grades. ples the same way that we did in this instance, the results in 95 of those For Spanish-language stations, the Community Relevance variable was samples would not differ more than 5 percent either way from the results adjusted to reflect the needs and interests of the target audience. Addi- reported here. •

This study was conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a jour- WHO DID THESTUDYnalists’ group in Washington, D.C., affiliated with the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Tom Rosenstiel, director of the PEJ, was lead editor. Atiba Pertilla coordinated the research. Wally Dean, the director of broadcast training for the Committee of Concerned Journalists, assisted in the writing and editing. Dante Chinni and Matt Carlson were the project researchers. Carl Gottlieb, now managing editor for the Sinclair Broadcast Group, supervised the study from 1998 through 2001. The scholar team that developed the methodology was led by Marion Just, Ph.D., Professor of political science at Wellesley Col- lege, and Lee Ann Brady of Princeton Survey Research Associates. It also included Michael Robinson, Ph.D., formerly of Georgetown University; Ann Crigler, Ph.D., director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, and Sherrie Mazingo, Ph.D., of the University of Minnesota. Researchers at Princeton Survey Research Associates coded the newscasts and prepared the initial statistical data under Brady’s su- pervision. Todd Belt of USC developed the trend measurements and analyzed the Nielsen Media Research data for ratings, share, de- mographics and audience retention. Professor Just created the models and did the regression analyses used to develop the best-prac- tices recommendations. Rosalind Levine and Kathy Regan, with Christine Yi and Grace Kim, performed data collection and statistical analysis for the survey of news directors. Evan Jenkins, consulting editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, edited the articles. Nancy Novick, art director of the Columbia Journalism Review, designed the layout and graphics. • DESIGN TEAM PRODUCTION SUPPORT The following local news professionals developed the criteria of quality for this study and signed off on major decisions: This year taping services were provided • John Cardenas, news director, WBNS, Columbus, Ohio. courtesy of Video Monitoring Services • John Corporon, Board of Governors, Overseas Press Club. (VMS). VMS provides news monitoring ser- • Randy Covington, former news director, WIS, Columbia, S. C. vices in more than 80 cities throughout • Carl Gottlieb, managing editor, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Hunt Valley, Md. the country. We would like to thank Pro • Marty Haag, former executive vice president, A.H. Belo. Sherman and Juan Hidalgo especially for • Alice Main, former executive producer, WLS, Chicago. their support. • Gordon Peterson, principal anchor, WUSA, Washington, D.C. • Jose Rios, vice president of news, KTTV, Los Angeles. • Dan Rosenheim, news director, KPIX, San Francisco. • Kathy Williams, news director, KRIV, Houston. • Gary Wordlaw, President and General Manager, WTVH, Syracuse.

104 CJR/PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM November/December 2002