As a class assignment we were asked to compare a local, national and cable news program. The following is a list of the stories aired during each broadcast, followed by a summary of my view of broadcast news.
9News 5:00 p.m. Monday, October 27, 2008
17 stories
1. Early Voting – Half a million people have already voted. Twenty-two percent of registered voters have already voted. Two sources
2. Campaign Trail – Followed the candidates to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Covered both sides equally.
3. Skinhead plot to kill Obama - Federal agents uncover plot to kill 88 black people and possibly assassinate Barack Obama. Information from Federal agent.
4. Fatal accident in Loveland – Woman in motorized wheel chair was hit by a vehicle and later died of her injuries. On site interview.
5. Volatility in market – Dow closed down 203.18 points, most of the drop was in the last ten minutes of trading. Financial bailouts began. GM and Chevrolet want bailout help. Unnamed sources.
6. Oil down – Oil dropped to $61.($$) (said too fast for me to write the exact amount.)
7. House sales up – the sale of new homes rose 2.7% in September.
8. Fed set to drop the interest rate. Will meet tomorrow and expected to drop rate by half a percent.
9. Jennifer Hudson’s nephew found – Chicago police confirmed the body in an SUV was that of Hudson’s nephew. Interview in Chicago.
10. Senator Stevens convicted of corruption – visuals used.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
11. Haunted High School – Boulder High School theater students set up haunted house to raise money for theater department. Two students and one teacher interviewed.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
12. Weather – Warm this week. Snow in Michigan. Warm and mild for Halloween.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
13. Bronco’s Lead AFC West – without playing team has 2-game lead in division.
14. Football in general – Colts and Titans will play Monday Night Football. Mike Singletary sends player to the showers during game saying he’s more valuable there than on the field.
15. Rockies – looking to trade Matt Holliday. Pitcher Luis Vizcaino arrested in Tampa for a DUI.
16. Phillies/Ray – Game 5 tonight. Local pizza shop owner John Keelis will give away pizzas if Rays win World Series.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
17. Texas Beach Ball – Carnival Cruise lines dropped world’s largest beach ball on street in Dallas as a promotion.
END OF BROADCAST.
NBC Nightly News 5:30 p.m. Monday, October 27, 2008
11 Stories
1. Eight Day to go – Half of election votes might be in already, polls are favoring Obama, and both candidates are in Pa. Obama is speaking of hope and unity. Said to be unveiling his “closing argument” speech.
2. McCain is trying to separate himself fro President Bush and Obama, saying we “need a new direction. Palin separating herself from the clothing issue. She says it’s her handlers, not her.
3. Ted Stevens found guilty of corruption for concealed gifts. The senator is up for re-election and is the longest serving Republican in the Senate. He is the fourth senator to be convicted while in office. What happens next will depend on what happens on Election Day.
4. Big Bonuses for Wall Street Executives – many firms are putting aside large sums of money to pay end of year bonuses to executives. Bloomberg estimates Goldman Sachs execs could receive $210,000.
5. Dow was up and down – ended losing 200 points in the last 10 minutes of the day.
6. Gas is averaging $2.67 nationwide – one dollar less than last month. Also, sale of handguns is up 10 percent. Often happens during economically unstable times.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
7. Jennifer Hudson Tragedy – nephew found dead according to a statement by Chicago Police. Hudson’s mother and brother were found Friday. Thought it could be a domestic situation involving William Balfour. Residents of the south side of Chicago say it represents the increase of violence in the area. There have been more killings than any other large city, even New York and Los Angeles, which are both larger.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
8. Latino Voters – swing vote. Could make the difference in key states like Colo., Nev., and N.M.
9. Cost of treating diabetes – the cost has doubled since 2001. Is now at $12.5 billion.
10. Author Tony Hillerman died. 1925 – 2008. Known for his mystery novels and Navajo stories.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
11. Arthritis, fighting the pain – Joint replacement is on the rise and costing more as population ages. Osteoarthritis is costing Medicare $25,000-$50,000.
END OF BROADCAST
CNN Newsroom 9 a.m. Saturday, November 1, 2008
13 stories
1. Final Saturday – candidates on the trail.
2. Obama’s Aunt in country illegally. Considered an administration issue. CNN could not independently confirm.
3. Obama in Henderson, Nev. 600,000 have voted early, 51 percent democrats. Nevada has the highest foreclosure rate in the country.
4. McCain in Virginia and Pennsylvania. Looking to sway conservative democrats in Virginia who voted for Clinton over Obama.
5. Early voting from Florida – lines are very long, but limited polling places are open. Interview with a father and young daughter. Came today to make sure he could vote.
6. Gay rights are issue on California ballot. Same-sex marriage issue is causing heated debate.
7. Weather – a look at weather at the polls.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
8. Immigration – ignored as an issue on campaign, but Mexican troops crossed border near Yuma, Ariz. They said they became disoriented while on patrol.
9. Fight for the Hispanic Vote – will raise issue of immigration in Spanish language ads only. Both candidates are using Spanish language television and radio to address issues they think are important to Hispanic voters, and might not be popular among non-Spanish speakers.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
10. Minnesota Senate race – Norm Colman vs. Al Franken. Colman is fighting to keep his seat and help prevent Democrats from reaching 60 seats in the Senate. The independent candidate could be a factor in the race.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
11. Congolese refugee camps in need of food and water. An estimated one million people have been displaced by conflict.
12. Guns found in the Hudson murder case. (Just brief mention – barely a story)
13. Security breach involving new passports. Most of the passports involved were from the Washington, D.C. area.
END OF BROADCAST – START REPEAT OF STORIES
SUMMARY
This is a very interesting time to compare local, national and cable news programs given the upcoming election. Nationally the election dominates everything to the point where I wasn’t sure if I was watching a news program or special election report on CNN. If they hadn’t aired the last three stories, I would have felt completely mislead by the title of the program, CNN Newsroom, due to the lack of news.
We know the presidential election is days away; do we really need to follow every step the candidates take between now and then? I say no. There has to be something else worth knowing about. Especially when you consider how many people have already voted, (half a million in Denver, 600,000 in Henderson, Nev. according to the reports summarized above) it seems unnecessary to spend entire newscasts on the actions of the candidates.
I was lucky enough to time it so I watched a local and a national program back to back. This made for a very fascinating. The two programs basically covered the same stories, with the local news adding a couple local stories, weather and sports. The major difference seemed to be that the local coverage tried to cram more into the 30 minutes than the national news program.
NBC Nightly News covered fewer main stories and allowed more time to cover each story. They also seemed to present more sources for their stories. The local news seemed to be in such a hurry to get from one story to the next that it rarely sited sources or aired interviews that provided more information. In the one news story CNN covered early in the broadcast regarding Obama’s aunt, they did admit to not being able to independently confirm information received from the Associated Press.
I think that all three sources of broadcast news act a bit like fast food restaurants. The serve up stories in small, easy to digest packages. The stories may or may not have sources and substance, but they satisfy our need to be informed.
And just like we would go to a fast food restaurant for an easy snack, we turn to broadcast news because want to get something that will satisfy our immediate needs. It seems that as consumers we don’t care about substance, just give us something palatable, and give it to us now. And the news stations are happy to comply.
Broadcast news fits the way most people live. It provides enough substance to keep people informed, but does not overwhelm. It’s fast-paced, easy to understand and serves a purpose.