The State of the News Media 2008 is out and it contains plenty of good news for those who care about local broadcast journalism. Financially, the report indicates that TV stations are doing well and that means newsrooms budgets are…
Ratings data more sophisticated…and scary?
It’s a reality that some TV newsrooms live and die by the numbers. Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, Nielsen will soon be offering “second-by-second” ratings information to some clients, and the cable companies’ set-top boxes have made this…
Generating audience through social networks
Journalists who blog and encourage their readers to comment can learn a lot from their audience. But if you really want to build an audience, says senior producer Shawn Smith of the Michigan newspaper site MLive.com, you also have to…
Messy online structure pays off
Context counts
The scandal involving New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer brought out a raft of commentators and “expert” analysts, which is to be expected. But viewers should also expect to be told a little bit about who these experts are and why…
Cleaning up comments
Any news organization that really believes in serving the public has to listen to its audience. In the old days, that meant taking phone calls and letters. More recently, it has meant providing email addresses and actually reading the stuff…