|
It's a trade pub for video geeks like me. this particular column is not on line yet.
This month, he talked about what TV news was like back in the Nixon Era, when he started out. Frank's first big job was at a Washington Post-owned station. Graham herself welcomed him to his first day, and told him "There are NO Sacred Cows, and if you find one, you tell me." He was NEVER cautioned about offending advertisers, and said that back then, EVERY small station want to create a Woodward or Bernstein of their own.
Then in the early 80's, the "Bean Counters" took over, decreed that hard investigative reporting was too expensive for the bottom line (gotta keep lawyers on staff for when your reporters step on toes, y'know) and soon, we started getting fluffy, in-offensive "Lifestyles" reporting.
The most advanced technology ever known for doing live television from the field, and how is it used? We get "Stand-ups" with some blow-dried Barbie or Ken Doll standing in front of a wall intoning "This is Blondie McNews reporting LIVE from THE FIELD!" or the obligatory "Lifestyles Reporter" down at the local gym at 5 AM interviewing the stairmaster-before-work crowd....
Now we have the "Access" issue. Piss-off Scotty or Karl, and you lose "Access". You have to sit in the back of the room at Scotty's daily dog-and-pony, you lose your seat on the press plane, you don't get invited to ask pre-screened questions on the rare occassions when the Sock Puppet actually gives a Q-and-A session. you lose "access", your network loses. And you won't work there very long if you lose something that someone before you wore the knees out of their slacks getting...
|