Findings from a just-released survey by the Project for
Excellence in Journalism (polling 172 local stations) suggests that
the type of ownership of TV news stations does impact quality - and
that bigger is not necessarily better. Among the findings:
- Smaller station groups overall tended to produce higher quality
newscasts than stations owned by larger companies by a wide
margin - Network affiliated stations tend to produce higher quality
newscasts than network owned and operated stations, also by a large
margin - Local ownership offered some protection against newscasts being
very poor, but did not encourage superior quality.
Tactics
As TV ownership hands change, PR pros will have to redouble
their efforts when pitching stories at the local level. Normally,
PR pros deal with an assignment editor with whom they share a local
bond. It also helps the cause if you know exactly when to pick your
spot with the assignment editor and at what time the editorial
directors at the TV stations have their daily/weekly budget
meetings.
But fewer media companies controlling more content means that
stories will increasingly be baked cookie-cutter-like in a central
location and then farmed out to the local affiliates. If so, you'll
have to learn the media company's chain-of-command and keep a keen
eye on who is making the decisions on which stories run, even if
that person is 500 miles away from the local affiliate. And rather
than the few minutes you might have with an assignment
editor/producer at the local level, be prepared to talk a lot
faster to someone who is steering stories for several stations.