$5.00 October 2009 June 2010 GoogleTV DIVERSITY Threat Local TV News DILEMMA Faces a New Competitor for Viewers Page 4 Saluting the Best Black, Hispanic Journalists to Fete Their Own Page 15 News at Promax Stations Mine Entertainment Minority Journalist Tips for News Groups Struggle to Be Promotion United and Maintain Page 20 Distinct Identities Page 10 “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.” Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It SOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS 20TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE HOSTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA–MISSOULA Wild Rockies and the Changing West October 13-17, 2010 Team Coveragey of planet earth r S E sa J 2 t r 0 h A n n i v e w g w w . s e j . o r This year “the place” sells itself… We’ll get you out and about in the only still fully intact ecosystem in the lower 48. We’ll hear from leading scientists about the threats facing this ecosystem and see and feel the impacts to fl ora and fauna from climate change and other disturbances. We’ll have a plenary on The Changing West, headlined by Nobel laureate Steven Running, and another on Western Energy Frontiers, where we’ve invited Tom Friedman and Energy Secretary Steven Chu. We’ll have a group of European reporters join us, and we’ll hear renowned Western authors regale us with a sense of place. We’ll have a three-part video training workshop and a Western environmental law workshop and a post-conference tour to Glacier and beyond that’ll beat all. And, yes, it’s SEJ’s 20th anniversary, and we’ll do it up right at the Montana Snowbowl Lodge in the mountains outside of Missoula with our blowout party, where surprise VIP guests are expected. If you go anywhere this year… come to Missoula in October! FROM THE EDITOR The United State of Diversity Diversity in the news industry has come a long way. Who is covered, Contents what is covered, who is covering it — all have changed considerably in the past two decades. Today’s news not only reflects the world around FEEDS l 4 When Google TV debuts in the fall, offering us more accurately, it more adequately addresses all the people living consumers yet more viewing options, it could in that world. mean serious competition for local TV newscasts. To be sure, the achievement of diversity in the field of journalism * Jobs in the TV news industry are approaching prerecession levels. has been a struggle. And even with the huge strides that have been * Hispanic journalism executives see new made, the struggle continues — albeit with a different set of challenges. opportunities for ambitious professionals. Now it’s not so much getting the job as it is finding a job to get. And not so much moving * Veteran broadcast journalist Maria Hinojosa undertakes a new endeavor. ahead in the job as finding the opening for opportunity. The dearth of news jobs has been especially painful to those groups making up UNITY, DIVERSITY IN JOURNALISM l 10 Journalists of color — the Asian American, Native American, Black and Hispanic news As job recruiters call for a single, unified convention, financially strained minority professionals — which find their memberships and revenues shrinking due to the ranks of journalists groups struggle with maintaining their the unemployed and underemployed who can no longer afford to attend annual conventions own annual gatherings and individuality. or, in some cases, even to belong. * The Natonal Association of Hispanic Journalists will put its focus on multimedia at its As Dinah Eng’s insightful cover story reveals, industry turmoil and the economic crunch upcoming convention, which will honor are imperiling the futures of those individual organizations, which are being urged by the broadcasters Gloria Campos and Ray Suarez. cost-conscious recruiting media companies to merge their efforts into a single annual event * The National Association of Black Journalists will pay tribute to broadcasters Soledad O’Brien under the UNITY umbrella. But while that approach may make things economically feasible and Paula Madison when they gather in July. for all involved, opponents fear it will endanger the specific interests of each minority group. If concerns over the bottom line win out, it could well mean bad news for the individual PROMAXBDA l 20 News promotion executives continue to find value organizations. Whatever the outcome, the undeniable good news is that due to the in the radically changed PromaxBDA conference. sustained and concerted efforts of all of the groups, diversity is clearly here to stay. —Tom Gilbert, Editor TECHNOLOGY l 24 BUSINESS l 26 ADVERTISING SALES HEALTH BEAT l 28 Ph: (212) 210-0748 Fax: (212) 210-0772 NEWSMAKERS l 29 Executive Producer: SIGN OFF l 30 Jeff Reisman, [email protected] (212) 210-0748 EDITORIAL OFFICES Producer: NewsPro (ISSN 2151-1764), Volume 1, Issue 9, is published Ph: (212) 210-0706 Fax: (212) 210-0772 Danny Schreiber, [email protected] (503) 723-9688 monthly, except for combined issues in January/February and SUBSCRIPTION HOTLINE (877) 812-1257 November/December at Crain Communications Inc, 711 Third Ave, Production Manager: Nicole Dionne New York, NY 10017. / Periodical postage pending at New York, VP-Publisher: Robert Felsenthal, (212) 210-0262 Group Circulation Director: John LaMarca Circulation Manager: Nicole Chantharaj NY, and at additional mailing offices. 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Adams (1911-1996) Secretary: Merrilee Crain VP-Production & Manufacturing:David Kamis ® [ Visit us online at TVWeek.com/Newspro ] Treasurer: Mary Kay Crain NewsPro is a registered trademark of Crain Chief Information Officer: Paul Dalpiaz Communications Inc. June 2010 | NewsPro | 3 *INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS FROM THE WORLD OF PROFESSIONAL Feeds NEWS CONVERGENCE WHAG-TV in Hagerstown, Md., doesn’t think so. A New Competitor for Local Eyeballs “I don’t know that it’s any different a challenge than any By Debra Kaufman station has already faced from As if local news didn’t have the Internet in general or from enough competition to contend a competitor or with the with, now comes Google TV, proliferation of hundreds of which sits squarely in the sweet channels,” said Kraham. “It’s spot where TV, the Internet, another voice vying for video content and search meet. attention, and all the more Want to watch a TV program? reason that a savvy broadcaster A search will give you options to needs to deliver a product that view it on cable, satellite or online, people want.” including channels such as Hulu and Netflix. Not Hyper-Local Though over-the-top TV Kraham pointed out that solutions have linked the TV Google hasn’t announced any and Internet before, these plans to actually produce local systems have largely been news, or any other TV content. kludged. Google TV takes the “When that time comes, I’ll most popular search engine and worry about it,” he said. “I marries it to Android think it would be difficult for technology, the Chrome them to become hyper-local.” browser, Intel processors and San Francisco-based media Flash capability. consultant Alan Mutter, who teaches media Coming This Fall economics/entrepreneurship at And it’s gone way beyond a the Graduate School of good idea: Google TV devices Journalism at UC Berkeley, will be on Best Buy’s shelves in isn’t nearly as sanguine. “The the fall. Sony and Logitech tipping point is not yet at hand, announced they would be the but the economics of local first manufacturers to the party. broadcasting may begin to Logitech is manufacturing a unravel as dramatically — and set-top box, as will Sony, which irretrievably — in the next five will also offer Google TV years as they did for newspapers receivers and Blu-Ray players. in the last five years,” he wrote The Dish Network is the first in his blog. “The reason in both video provider to feature cases will be the unparalleled Google TV. consumer choice made possible What impact will Google by a growing mass of (mostly TV have on local broadcasting? Is Google TV the death knell free) content on the Internet.” Is it the death knell of the local of the local station and, by It is true that, despite record station and, by extension, local numbers of viewers watching news? RTDNA chairman extension, local news? broadcast TV, audiences Mark Kraham, who is news continue to fragment. Bob director at NBC affiliate Papper, chairman of Hofstra 4 | NewsPro | June 2010 EMPLOYMENT University’s department of habits and thus a bigger threat yearly subscription to access journalism, media studies and to the broadcast TV model.