Local news: the Sarah Palin of journalism

First of all, welcome back to my blog. I won't bore you with lengthy re-introductions, but I've been bitten by the writing bug again and so here I am. I started this blog sometime around February of 2007, and now have re-focused it as a showcase for my articles.

I've had the pleasure of spending the last four weeks on holiday in Oklahoma City. No worries, no responsibilities, just lots of free time. What I didn't anticipate, though, was just how much television I would watch during my break here.

In my place at university, I actually do not even have a working television. There is one, but it receives no signal, so I'm used to spending weeks on end without ever seeing a single broadcast. During this Christmas season, however, I have watched more than my fair share of TV and what has caught my attention most is local news broadcasts.

If you don't watch local television news, you're both better and worse off for it. You're better off because of their lack of much to offer in terms of real, quality journalism, and you're worse off because you miss this great opportunity to marvel at the sheer ridiculousness of most of them. In fact, it's gotten to the point where I can't even make it through an entire half-hour broadcast before flipping the channel.

Each night the local news celebrities open their broadcasts with that faux-sincere smile that even a major air carrier stewardess couldn't pull off, and their patronising one-eyebrow-up-one-down look of concern whilst reporting the latest local fire is vomit-inducing. It's Minnesota nice of the worst kind.

Their stories: 2-3 sentence blips that are short, even by broadcast standards, and offer nothing but the barest and blandest of who-what-when-where-why facts. Expect no insightful investigation nor analysis here. And when they're through telling you about the Earth-shattering robbery on 23rd Street, hold onto your hats for the tear-jerking story about grandmother's 35 cats that need food.

Need I go on?

The worst part is the banter...oh! the banter! I haven't seen so much cheese since I toured that plant in Wisconsin. Never-ending back-and-forths and misguided, ad-lib between the weathermen and the anchors, and the reporters, and the guests and lamer jokes than your 4 year-old nephew can come up with, all make for the worst 30 minutes thinkable. But it's business as usual at your local news station.

It's sickening, and it has to stop. Unfortunately, it's merely one example of an industry-wide problem that is gripping journalism today. Faced with the ever-increasing threat of user-generated content, funny and insightful blogging, and other forms of media made available through Web 2.0, so-called "old media" has had to find new ways to captivate audiences and lure in elusive younger crowds.

But is it working? All indications (and these indications being my personal reactions and experiences, of course) say no. Instead of giving news that "down home" touch aimed to hold viewers' attention, it has stripped local news of any quality usable information.

It has turned the local news into the Sarah Palin of journalism. Cute, some even say sexy, but full of winks, nudges, and cliché refrains that make one nauseous. Sure, it might garner the viewership of a few golden-year folks sitting at home with their cross-stitching, but it does so whilst alienating core demographics necessary for survival and, more importantly, journalistic respect.

In other words, local news is working against itself, and its playful banter and folksy, extraneous on-air gab is ruining any integrity it may have had.

There's a reason that broadcast news greats like Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather and Peter Jennings were trusted news sources. They knew the power of hard-hitting facts, meaningful investigation and reporting and a sincere and professional approach to the news. They didn't need giggles or wild antics to gain viewership, their dedication to truth and extensive journalism did it all. They were like the political greats, those hallowed names of political Wallhalla so oft-repeated in our history: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, the Roosevelts. They are the golden ideal. And the local news? I present to you, Sarah Palin: loose cannon, in-over-her-head, desperately clutching for followership, yet alienating all the way.

Alas, I cry out for a return to journalistic greatness at all levels, but I suppose it makes sense why it has happened this way. I guess all the good talent escapes ASAP and moves up in the ranks...until they're rubbing elbows with Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather and Peter Jennings.

A Blank Sheet of Paper

*Updated 10 January 2009

Hello, everyone. This post is, for most of you, your first exposure to my blog. I've had this blog for quite some time now, and have captured a few readers, but today I am starting anew. I have cleaned house, deleted all the old posts, and have stretched out before me a metaphorical, digitized version of a blank sheet of paper. You know the kind: heavier than loose-leaf, lighter than cardstock, cream-colored sheet of paper. The kind that represents new beginnings, new possibilities, an erasing of the past and a bright outlook of the future.

As for what I will fill up this sheet of paper with, that is a tough question to answer. To be honest, I'm not quite sure. It would be easy to make up an arty-sounding excuse such as "I don't want to limit my creative outlets," or "no premise I might express can limit my free spirit," but the reality is simply that I do not yet have a clear idea of what topics I will write on in this blog.

If I had to guess, I suppose I will write about whatever things come to mind that I think are relevant to you. Hm, "relevant." I never really liked that word to be honest. It's so cliché, always thrown in by some professor or salesman trying to sell you on something using the same old speech that's been used a thousand other times on a thousand other individuals, as if the person had any earthly clue what was truly relevant to you anyway. But it seems that really is the best choice of words here. I'm a journalist and student, living in the middle of one of the largest countries in the world, and this blog will be serving as my published outlook on everything.

If I find something that interests me, I will assume it may interest you as well. If I find something that I like, I'll assume you might too. And if I should happen to find something that outrages me, I'll just have to conclude that some of you may be outraged also.

So, my readers old and new, thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog. I hope you enjoy your stay. Do write me and tell me what you think at jordan.nelson@okstate.edu and if you have anything relevant you'd like me to speak about, do include that as well!

Cheers,
Jordan Nelson