COMMUNITY JOURNALISM: BACK TO THE FUTURE?

I remember the Broadcasting and Cable magazine article about hyperlocal news coverage like it was yesterday.

The article focusing on Needham, Massachusetts wasn't yesterday (it was the mid-1980s) but the December 2023 edition of the same publication had an article that had a familiar ring touting a new focus on hyper local news coverage.

The reason I remember the decades-old article was for the picture it painted in my mind--that coverage would focus on hometown school soccer games, backyard issues and community concerns.

It seemed somewhat impossible because the shift in coverage strategy--from traditional tragedy-focused fare--would find its way to cable channels in the shadow of Boston's top-10 DMA (Designated Market Areas) seemed like a real challenge to the popular Eyewitness News brand of coverage developed in the 1970s.

The new concept--at the start of the battery-powered camcorder era--suggested that parents would capture community activity and feed it to local cable outlets.

At the time, I was a freelance MMJ (multimedia journalist) at a top 50 station in Albany, New York--paying my rent and $14,000 broadcast gear payment by covering drama Dejour--fires, fatals and scandals.

The idea that user-generated content would flood the airwaves troubled me. What did mom and dad know about shooting professional news?

Back in the mid-1980s (think Broadcast News era) the professional gear weighed 80 pounds--Hitachi Z-31 camera and SONY 4800 portable recorder, batteries and tripod.

Not long after landing a full-time job at WTZA-TV as chief photographer and reporter I learned about the station's general manager Gene Collin's hair brained idea that everyday people carry camcorders in their car to record spot news. Collins, came up with another kooky idea, to deploy the stations rickety Ford Econoline van (purchased used from a carpet installer) with a makeshift 10-foot-tall microwave transmitter powered by a Lawn Chief engine (from a lawn mower) to broadcast live with client commercials for what the station boss called "instant on".

I digress with that side bar story for the purpose of explaining that far-fetched ideas like instant on and citizens shooting news are now an easy reality with smartphones.

This back to the future--the December 2023 edition of Broadcast & Cable was filled with a number of interesting and effective uses of hyperlocal coverage of hanging on to traditional viewers with non-traditional programming.

This edition of the magazine was full of particularly useful ideas at a time when journalism is undervalued (a top 50 market is paying $19.00 per hour for an MMJ, which is not far from less glamorous jobs at Walmart or McDonalds). And, also at a time in American history when truth is under assault and so recently was the nation's capitol. How can that be up for debate?

Broadcasting & Cable featured an article:"CBS Stations Builds Local TV for Today--and Tomorrow." WWJ-TV in Detroit built a full-scale news department, which it had not had since CBS acquired the station in 1995, according to the article.

Wendy McMahon , president and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media said,"'This is Detroit, how do you not have news? How are we not serving local viewers in that market?'"

Station leadership asked staff to reimagine local news for 2023 and beyond, which resulted in teams embedding in neighborhoods and filing reports from customized Ford Broncos.

Veteran media reporter David Bauder highlights CBS News and Stations efforts to focus on "solutions journalism" . The truth is solutions journalism began with the network's standard bearer: Edward R. Murrow with laser beam focus on Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Murrow sought to uncover gross injustices and spotlight the downtrodden in the 1960's historic documentary Harvest of Shame.

Murrow taught us that thousands of neighborhood make up a global community. Getting the word out fast and accurately was a hallmark of his tenure at the Tiffany Network , which was sold in 1999.

Executives at CBS news are going back to the network's roots in high quality reporting on a truly local level with a streaming first and character-driven strategy. While it is pragmatic, it maybe essential in order to compete with so many other options for viewer attention.

Seriously, this shift in thinking--serving viewers with stories that have real value--is mission critical. Back in the 1980's, Frank Magid & Associates --the consultants singlehandedly responsible for news anchors looking similar from Alaska to Alabama and Maine to Minnesota--quipped that viewers aren't smart enough to know what they want.

In 2024, the tables are turned. The choice and power is in the hands of individual viewers as they decided what, where, when, why and how to consume news and entertainment content.

Spending time in the community--in diners and gathering spots--is proving to be fruitful in finding memorable and relevant stories.

Adrienne Roark , president of content development for CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures, said,"What we set out to do was to set up a modern, innovative newsroom to meet the audience where they are."

CBS station KCAL in Los Angeles, launched an historic 7-hour morning news block. The network smartly launched CBS Stations Innovation Lab focusing on data in its reporting under the umbrella of shared innovation.

All of this innovation talk has me wondering: Is traditional broadcast news turning from immediacy to intimacy in its search for viewer growth?

The shoot, aim and fire approach to news gathering seems to be shifting to Barbara Maushard calls "thoughtful and patient" strategy.

Broadcasting & Cable went on to highlight Adam Chase from Norfolk with an unheard of strategy: Cut the number of hours of content to allow reporters the time to dig deeper and even report stories on Instagram.

Adapting to the realities of current technology and household budgets TENGA is combatting the cord cutting movement by providing apps allowing viewers to stream 2 million minutes of content.

Broadcast & Cable writer Michael Malone did a great job weaving together several trends and news approaches traditional broadcast stations are doing to adapt to change in content creation and viewing habits.

It's no secret, the days are gone where four stations in a market being the main source of news. The network model of content and entertainment delivery is struggling as much as journalism is with viewers taking sides on the facts in some of the same ways that sports fans choose sides in crosstown rivalries.

CBS News covered fierce rivalries under the watchful eyes and ears of Edward R. Murrow during World War II. Murrow left a legacy not only at CBS but throughout the global landscape of information coverage distribution.

The father of broadcast journalism, Edward R. Murrow, was wary of technology. "The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it."

Essentially, the distribution platform matters less than how stories are presented. The news and content creation landscape continues to shift as #YouTube, often viewed as a streaming platform for PCs and smartphones, is seeing a jump in number of hours their content is watched with cable set-top boxes and smart TVs.

Now even cable companies like Charter Communications are developing their own apps to engage customers not connected to set-top boxes. Not only does content benefit from being hyperlocal but so does advertising.

We also can't ignore that news and content creation are fueled by advertising. The game of reaching viewers is also--not so subtly--reaching advertisers.

Back in the mid-1980s, when I was covering news for a CBS affiliate, advertisers counted on reaching broad audiences. Truth be told, that may not have been the most effective investment based on the number of potential customers actually in the market for their product or service.

Over the past nearly 40 years, there have been ebbs and flows of how audiences connect with news, content and entertainment. Networks thought they had a lifetime hold how consumers engage with their offerings.

Now we have Facebook , where anyone can broadcast with "instant on" to their group of friends, colleagues and family members. Consumers are in control of how they ingest information almost as if they are their own assignment editors. They are also their own producers and event marketers.

So much has shifted and changed. The only constant is that audiences yearn for connection to what is human and real near where they live or what they can relate to a world away.

I have to applaud CBS stations for really doing hard thinking and changing to remain connected to the community. These changes are not simply going through the motions; but, looking at the content and information landscape to truly meet viewers where they are at.

My hope is that this has altruistic motivations ahead of clawing onto shifting marketshare. News from anyone and everyone's backyard can be important. News organizations no longer own the decision of what is worth sharing. While this approach seemed like an almost alien concept back in the mid-1980s...it has a much better chance of becoming a reality these days thanks to how technology has diversified distribution channels.

If my neighbor's kid had a great soccer game available on my iPhone, I might just tune in. The network no longer controls the content and only time will tell if this helps inform and educate communities around the country and the world.

Back to the Future:

There is irony in my writing this story about news coverage and Boston. My uncle was news director at WBZ radio and was recruited to start an all news radio format in New York City. He later went on to become an on-camera White House Correspondent for CBS and ABC News.

Being an on-air reporter was an honor and a privilege and I remember it like it was yesterday. Often times, when a story was too complex to complete in one minute and thirty seconds, I would sign off by saying,"There are more questions than answers."

That reality is more true to day than ever.

Roger Rosenbaum is a media executive with hands on experience with award-winning news gathering, human-focused content creation for brands and successful public relations strategies.