MTS2000des, You might be surprised that I share your sentiment about local news. It's this way all across the country.
The constraints put on reporters is such that they can't do any investigative reporting. For the late newscasts, they show up at 2p for the afternoon meeting. By 3p they are making calls, trying to get someone who will talk on camera about whatever story they're doing. By 5p-5:30p, they have all their interviews shot and they grab something to eat on the go and call the producer to give them an update on what the story will look like. The reporter starts to write while they eat, the photographer starts to shoot b-roll. By 7p, they are back at the station. By 8p, the reporter is finished writing. By 9p, their story airs on their own or their sister station's 9p newscast. Then they do a different angle for 10p.
The dayside reporters, its much the same, only they're in by 9a and on the air at 5p and 6p, sometimes 4p. When you have little to no say on what story you will do (decided by a managing editor or executive producer), you come in, you do your story, and you're happy to get the heck out of the station.
Newspapers have cut their staffs in half, and in half again, and in half again, since the days of Woodward and Bernstein. So, little investigative work in done there either.
Now, if we add to that mix the fact that you write what you know, no story about a county radio system is going to get on the air. Not unless you have a town council meeting with people throwing things and one councilperson taking a swing at another. I'm being a little dramatic, but unless you have a reporter pitch the story in such a matter that the producer, executive producer and managing editor all think is a story that can be told in 60-90 seconds, and that people will be interested it, it's not going to make it to air. Unless you have a reporter who understands what they will be writing about, or has someone to guide them through the ins and outs of the story, it won't get on the air.
I've done ONE single story my whole career about a radio system, and it involved a situation where a cop, a state trooper and two perps all died in a head on fiery crash because the trooper who was racing to back up another trooper had no idea that the city was in pursuit going the wrong way on the interstate. A city official got on the air and said "thank god the citizens passed a quarter cent sales tax, so we can build a radio system that will take with the state system (Moto 800 trunked)." Cut to several years later when the city's Edacs ProVoice system was installed. I produced a series of stories, after which the city spent even more money for several bridges so the agencies could talk, but it is flawed at best, today. In this story, you had to officers killed, video of the aftermath, audio of the dispatch channel where an officer is frantically calling for fire and ems, nearly screaming "officer down, officer down. Major crash. Start Fire and EMSA (local ems)." You have compelling and emotional elements, a city official on camera saying they would put together a system which would allow both agencies to talk to each other, and a system where those same officials admit on camera has flaws, and that the two systems would eventually be able to talk to each other, after the bridges are put into place.
Nobody was going to be able to do that story, if I hadn't been in a place where I could produce them, and do the interviews on my own time and bring it to the news director on a silver platter. That story just would not get told, because nobody knew what was happening, and they certainly didn't know how to write it.
Mine is not a perfect profession. Journalists are ultimately answer to the money makers who want ratings, so they can charge more for advertising. Congress passed laws to separate stations' sales departments from newsrooms. If you've ever been to one, they are normally on opposite sides of the buildings. General managers are the go-between which separate sales from the newsroom. But general managers are beholden to corporate, so you can see that if you don't have a strong GM who will back the newsroom, there's a temptation to side with the sales department, without which, nobody would get a paycheck. The system is flawed, but you do have journalists who want to tell good stories. You have newsroom managers who want their reporters, producers and anchors to tell good stories. But, I've only met a few people in journalism, mostly engineers and meteorologists, who are hams. I would love to see a really good story on the air here about a radio system, but we won't see it unless someone dies as a result of mutual aid failure, like the hot shots in Arizona, or something big like the AZ stories the national news did, somewhat well, when that report came out.
Furthermore, you won't see anything in print or on air, unless journalists know about it. If you want to see a story on the air, pitch it to a reporter, but pitch it in such a way that you can tee it up for them. Tell them what's wrong, why it matters, and who or what is standing in the way of it getting fixed. Someone with knowledge of Clayton County's history might be able to persuade a reporter that this is a good story and that something hangs in the balance.
So, MTS2000des, I don't have much love for reporters who tell those fluff pieces either. I no longer manage a newsroom, but when I did, I demanded good quality journalism from the newsroom. One of the biggest issues facing my profession today, and this is really for another conversation, is mentoring, or the lack of it today. When I started out, someone put their proverbial arm around my shoulder and told me why we do what we do, how to do it, and what not to do. You don't get that with a journalism degree.
Sorry this is so long, I just also feel strongly that my profession is lacking these days. I hope it can change, but I have my doubts.
rapidcharger, I do not have anything set up. I'm in an apartment in Midtown. They would frown on my putting up a tower from my balcony. All I have working right now is the HT.
