Broadcasters Starting to Pay Attention

I'm at the annual convention where TV and radio news directors get together to talk about their craft. My job is to riff on the usual topic, on a panel entitled, "Are We Becoming Irrelevant?"

The answer, of course, is no. Or, at least, not necessarily.

While I'm distinctly not a fan of local TV news, for the most part, I am a fan of broadcast journalism at its best -- and there's a great deal of excellent journalism out there on the airwaves, cable and satellite. Edward R. Murrow may be rolling in his grave at some of the crap that passes for news these days, but his legacy definitely hasn't faded into history.

The citizen-journalism movement is one of the great opportunities for the radio/TV news folks, because a new generation of audio- and video-fluent people will supply more material than we can comprehend today. Much -- most -- will be garbage. So what? The good stuff will be a vital part of how people see and understand the world.

We'll see and hear it one way or another, whether via a truly bottom-up method like video blogs or peer-to-peer networks. Yet established media can, and I believe must, embrace the emerging citizens media.

They already do, to an extent. Consider the aftermath of natural disasters when viewers send in videos of tornadoes, tsunamis, etc. that make their way on the air.

I take it for granted that smart broadcasters make this a more common practice, in everyday news, just as the about-to-launch Current TV operation says it will do.

The tools to create the content are getting cheaper, more powerful and easier to use every day. People will use them. Maybe the revolution will be televised, after all.

Comments

[Joe I.]

Dan,

If you want to know the future of broadcast journalism it is basically infomercials with crime and punishment, weather, and a minute of sports thrown in. Sad state!

Another example of corporate promotion at this link (if you don't pay or the Wall Street Journal Online):

http://appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1012

not to mention all the fake political "news" that is out there.