Transcript
Who Controls Local TV News
November 17, 2001
BOB GARFIELD: Robert Rosenthal is the former editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Newspapers are not the only news source whose integrity is threatened by the fiscal axe. It may be worse in local television where the bit foot of the major advertiser bears down directly on the news operation. That's the conclusion of the latest study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Deputy Director Carl Gottlieb [sp?] says that pressure is felt by stations large and small.
CARL GOTTLIEB: The sample we took is, I think it was 107 markets which is again roughly half the television markets in the United States, and what we found just sort of shocked us. Of course this is an anonymous survey. We don't want news directors to lose their jobs. But quote and if I may read a few--
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Sure!
CARL GOTTLIEB:-- cover its suggestions. On-air mentions. The pressure to do puff pieces about sponsors occurs quote "constantly," quote "every day," and quote "every time a sales person opens his or her mouth."
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Have news directors reported cases where advertisers have actually tried to prevent them from running certain stories?
CARL GOTTLIEB: Oh, yes! A half dozen news directors singled out local car dealerships and auto manufacturers as the focus of squashed stories.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: What about restaurant reviews or-- or grocery stores? They're big advertisers.
CARL GOTTLIEB:Absolutely. Same thing. That sort of brings to mind one station in L.A. that caused quite a sensation a year ago -- I think it was KCBS -- by in fact going after restaurants and reporting on some of the health problems some of 'em had. That was thought to be very courageous, but if you think about it, it's just the kind of news people deserve.
BROOKE GLADSTONE:You were talking about pressure from advertisers. What about pressure from inside the TV station from sales departments? I understand that sometimes they commandeer some of the news trucks.
CARL GOTTLIEB: Most news stations have live trucks, that's how they get on the air from any number of breaking stories. One thing general managers and station groups have done is re-purpose those live trucks to do commercials and often they're live commercials -- perhaps from a car dealership that's having a big sales push. Often, very often, those live shots are presented as commercials within a newscast, and that's intentional! It's to look like news. And that extremely disturbing. The last thing you want to do as a television news operation is give the impression that you're fronting for your sponsor.
BROOKE GLADSTONE:Carl I gotta be honest with you. When we discussed doing studies like this, we always call them "brand flakes interviews" in that they're good for the system but ultimately indigestible. This is the way it is. There really isn't anything anybody can do about it!
CARL GOTTLIEB: Well, you know what -- there is. If you take an example - take WBZ in Boston which was in last place in the ratings at 11 o'clock when we looked at that broadcast. They had decided to sort of take the high road in that market. One station there had to their view abdicated that high road and conceded somewhat to a more tabloid approach by another 11 o'clock broadcast. Well, WBZ now is battling for first place in that market. I don't know what this particular sweeps look like, this November and I'll be interested to see.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: There are just plenty of instances of television stations that have taken the high road and have ended up in the toilet!
CARL GOTTLIEB:Yeah. And we're not saying that's the only way to succeed. We're saying you can take a tabloid road and succeed as well. In fact that's the second best way to succeed, and there's more than just the project saying so or, or just myself saying so. This is based on empirical evidence.
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Well Carl Gottlieb, thank you very much.
CARL GOTTLIEB: Thank you!
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Carl Gottlieb is deputy director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.