Conan O’Brien Points Out The Absurdity Of Local News
November 7, 2011
Author 
In Techdirt recently shared a video from Conan O’Brien that’s worth checking out. It’s of a bunch of TV newscasters from all around the country parroting the exact same phrase.
If you haven’t seen it, watch it for yourself:
If you’re looking for (yet another) example of traditional media still carrying on as if the the web doesn’t exist, well, look no further.
Separately TV Spy reported on this as well, calling it a “dark secret” of the news business:
“We take wire copy and we try to rewrite it,” anchor Kirk Mason said. “In this case clearly many of us didn’t rewrite it well enough.”
As a digital native I don’t know that I have ever watched local TV news broadcasts, but it is interesting to see how local news stations across the country are (still) scripted with the exact same content. It’s also, in a sense, disrespectful to both the anchors and audiences.
In a world where national news is accessible on-tap, and the web does a devastatingly better job at surfacing the macro (and industry-specific) news you might be interested in, it seems like what local TV news should be doing is focusing on the community. Local news can do this and report on national stories (while adding context to their community) in a way better than anyone else. Although that doesn’t really seem to be happening.
What we are seeing is basically duplicate content on TV: an efficiency for the networks, but pointless in the current technology landscape.
Jeff Yablon replied | Nov 7, 2011 (1 comment)
Once upon a time, that WAS what local news did. And the truth is, it still is, except for the most titillating pieces, like this one. I mean, when’s the last time you heard a local newscaster talk about a war except to say “this local guy just died”?
Bob LeDrew (@bobledrew) replied | Nov 7, 2011 (1 comment)
This is just rip-and-read. It’s the oldest trick in the broadcast book. The only thing that makes this interesting is that Conan mashed up the clips. Happens every day, and the more media owners cut newsroom staff, the more it’s going to happen.
Adam Singer replied | Nov 7, 2011 (563 comments)
Thanks for the comment Bob. I think the fact that you point out this is an “old trick” makes this story even more interesting. It shows how broadcast media has failed to evolve what they do.
My biggest question is why? Why not have one newscaster solve this at the global level? Why even bother with local news staff and teams at all if they aren’t going to have their own personalities and merely be talking heads?
I also think the fact that local news continues to remain static spells HUGE opportunity for local content creators to disrupt them.
Thom Mitchell replied | Nov 8, 2011 (16 comments)
Adam, the local news business model has been plundered to maximize profitability. This is done by reducing staff and resources shrinking teams that were formerly 3 or 4 people to produce a story to 1 person doing everything. This combined with the ever-expanding news hole as local stations expand local news hows from 1 or 2 hours a day to what is now commonly 4-6 hours a day of “local” “news” means that that have to do something so they’ll “rip-n-read” in order to fill time.
The problem is they even as small as they are, they still have both scale and platform which means effective replacements will be substantially different. Local sports is usually the best produced part of local news because it is the essence of local. Outside of sports quality rapidly diminishes which is why I haven’t watched a local news show for more than a minute or two since the 90s.
CHarlotte ULvros replied | Nov 7, 2011 (2 comments)
Spot on Adam. Hopefully some of them actually will take an interest and decide to start localizing and utilize content creators with the right network. Imagine what attention this story would have gotten if they all actually had found local couples that could have shared their stories and then in turn been invited to the audience during the actual wedding etc.
Vincent Harris replied | Nov 8, 2011 (6 comments)
Great observation. I noticed exactedly same thing when working at a local radio station in Leeuwarden the Netherlands. What I did was invite unknown young rappers that dreamed of becoming famous and it was fun. Going to do a similar project for local busineses on a blog soon. Interviewing local busineses and creating SEO value for them. Creating coherence at a local newsstation is not easy. And the single focus on local isn’t really all too natural. People aren’t just focused on local issues. There must be a way to break out of the local while still focusing on local news, i guess.
Isaac Miller replied | Nov 16, 2011 (1 comment)
I’m working with a team and one of our goals is revitalizing local TV and redefining what local content should be. The internet has more than replaced traditional sources for news. We’re working on an internet / TV hybrid network with live streaming shows as well as on demand content. It truly is a brave new world of media out there, everything is making the shift to the digital age.
Craig Cowbrough replied | Nov 22, 2011 (5 comments)
Some are farther down this revitalising road than others. Scottish Television is bringing true local news to the web by getting ordinary people to submit their stories to a central ‘community editor’ in each geographic area who then uploads relevent copy/pictures/video. http://local.stv.tv/