PBS Stations To Fill The Hyper Local News Void?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in MediaI just got a press release, and I usually ignore ALL of them, but this one sounds like something that could be incredibly helpful on a national (and local) scale.
(Washington, DC) – March 18, 2010 – The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) will announce a major new journalism initiative to build the capacity of public broadcasting stations to produce in-depth local journalism and help offset the loss of original reporting in some media markets. The announcement will take place at The Newseum Knight Studio (555 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC) on Thursday, March 25th beginning at 10:00 a.m. (press call 9:30 a.m.)CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison will make the announcement and be joined by the President and CEO of PBS Paula Kerger and the President and CEO of NPR Vivian Schiller (via live video feed). Participants will also discuss other new initiatives to enhance journalism across public media, utilizing radio, television and digital platforms.
The announcement will be followed by a panel discussion on the role of public media in local, national and international reporting. The panel will be moderated by Hari Sreenivasan (Correspondent, PBS NewsHour) and include Tom Rosenstiel (Founder and Director, PEW’s Project for Excellence in Journalism), Nishat Kurwa (News Director, Youth Media International), Tom Karlo (General Manager, KPBS TV-FM), Kinsey Wilson (Senior Vice President and General Manager, Digital Media, NPR).
We all know local news isn’t up to snuff since it relies on “if it bleeds it leads” sensationalist journalism to drive up ratings, revenue, etc. So what the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is proposing could be a very good way to share what’s going on in the community without having to worrying about stock prices.
In other words, to all of you bloggers…get ready to start covering your communities for your public broadcasting stations and getting paid for it. At least that’s my guess as to how they’ll staff the hyper local news scene.
More as it develops…
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March 18th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Remember that most local stations only even have a news program because they’re mandated to by virtue of their license from the FCC. They wouldn’t even bother otherwise.
March 19th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
That’s fair, but they’re also very big moneymakers. So they’re trying to maximize the money instead of making sure the news is better. I understand why, but something needs to change.
March 20th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
People don’t want news–they want echo chambers that belch back information that agrees with their existing beliefs.
There is no other explanation for Fox news and msnbc–