The survey dissects what each affiliate likes and dislikes in terms of the kinds of stories they like to run. But among the 28 newsrooms polled, several standards did bubble up
to the surface. For example, many newsrooms find feature/consumer/products VNRs to be too commercial, and recommended the following strategies to make them less commercial:
- Stories need to be more informative and have news value.
- Do not put spokespeople in front of overly blatant signage.
- Credible sources will make the story more newsworthy.
Stations also expressed reservations about studies conducted by interested parties -- saying they are too subjective to be newsworthy. There are stories that get a lot of
mileage -- health-related pieces that involve children and women -- and stories that news directors want to put out to pasture, such as diet/disease-of -the-week stories.
Contact: Mark Dembo, 212.921.2800, [email protected]