A Watershed Moment for Media

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April 30, 8:47 AM

by Brenda Carl, Baltimore Media Examiner

 

 

A harsh reality is no longer on the horizon for the local radio and television stations, as a matter of fact the reality already took a bite out of local newspapers within the last couple of years.  The reality is: a drop in the ratings, fewer readers, viewers, listeners which translates into a tighter competition for advertising dollars. 

Media transforms before our eyes. Old media changes to new media, reporters face layoffs, as network- owned radio and television stations wonder where the budget ax will fall. 

Format evolves at a digital pace.  When I started in television news, about 20 years ago, it took at least three people, sometimes more, to hit the streets, record interviews for the story, bring it all back to the station, edit the tapes,  and finally air the story.   Television cameras were cumbersome and carried on the photographer's right shoulder.  Tape decks were carried on the camera-person's other shoulder. Usually the reporter lugged the extra tapes, the old style  VCR tapes about the size of a cigar box.  Not to mention extra batteries, gigantic "portable" phones that were assigned induvidially.  All of this equipment needed for the final product, a story of no more than 2 minutes length on that nights news.

Now, anyone with a cell phone equipped with a video camera can become the story teller.  If you are at the scene of a fire, shooting, or traffic accident, aim your cellphone and hit record.  YouTube and other video sharing websites devour images and regurgitates information all day and all night.

The information industry is at a crossroads, as outlined in this series of articles:

http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/1207/ijge/vaina.htm

And local continues to be home for most readers, viewers, or listeners, who want their news and information from right around the corner, news that matters to them:

http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/1207/ijge/local.htm

Newspapers lay off writers, but bloggers pick up their laptops.  TV stations compress newsroom staff, but add more newscasts with the same content, as if the viewers aren't smart enough to catch their short-cuts.  People who consume news are savvy.  Now they are the ones reporting stories that once took teams to produce.

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