I spent all of 2024 back in local TV news. Bored by retirement, I saw what promised to be a challenging, rewarding opportunity in an almost perfect location, San Diego. It allowed me to work from home a couple of days a week, enjoy the sunshine, and, most importantly, do investigative work. It was on a much smaller scale than I was accustomed, with fewer resources.
I did my own research, filed my own Freedom of Information Requests (with the help of a colleague), and booked my own interviews. It was back to “hands-dirty” on the ground, first-hand reporting. It was definitely not network, but enjoyable on another level.
Granted, I was in a special place. A station that decided to do something different. Unlike much of local news today, KGTV in San Diego decided not to chase every ambulance, every traffic accident, and murder. It hired a mix of veteran and newbie reporters that gave the newsroom energy. It was led by managers who actually listened.
Case in point: the morning editorial meeting. I’ve been in many local and network editorial meetings to discuss the day’s events and how they would be covered. All of them were top-down. The managers started with the desk editor relaying the news agenda and the producers picking the slate of stories that would appear in the show, and the assignments. Reporters had little to say, and pitches were not always welcome.
At KGTV, the assignment editor outlined the big story of the day and then opened it up to reporters and producers to pitch stories. Every reporter had a beat and was even given a day every two weeks or so to meet and develop sources. Everyone had an area of expertise, and it showed. Reporters developed sources in crime, homelessness, real estate, the economy, the Latino community, as well as the Ukranian and Middle Eastern communities.
By the end of the meeting, on a whiteboard, the news director had a list of a wide variety of ideas to choose from. And most of the time, the pitches led to on-air stories that night or in the nights to come. Let loose on stories they had pitched, reporters worked harder to make them happen and in a creative way.
The other thing that was different was the mix. I was Senior Investigative reporter, but we had a team of three experienced investigators. One was a veteran newspaper reporter who was trained to produce TV stories. He adapted quickly, and while not slick, he was genuine. My advice to him was to be himself. He exposed city waste and corruption like no one else in the market. The other was a veteran of the Canadian Broadcasting Network. Prolific and talented, he exposed medical deception and problems in the construction world.
None of us was pressured to produce daily stories and were allowed to work on unique, important, long-term projects.
Our team was in a corner of the newsroom, and our younger colleagues would often drop by with their scripts for suggestions or edits. It was welcomed, and while I enjoyed giving advice and encouragement, I got as much as I gave. Their enthusiasm for journalism rekindled mine.
Then came the bad news. Our parent company had made some bad corporate decisions and was in serious debt. 20 of my fellow reporters were laid off. Our investigative unit of three went down to one when the newspaper reporter moved back to Phoenix because of family, and my health issues returned. I took leave, and neither of us was replaced.
KGTV reminded me of what local news can be. In the 1980s, I worked at WBBM in Chicago, where we had a similar system of beat reporters. One covered the mob, two of us covered politics, and I was at City Hall every day. We built trust in our audience and had a 30-share. Our anchors were not pretty faces, Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobsen were actual reporters with units that broke stories daily.
Today, unfortunately, most news directors pick the “low-hanging fruit” of traffic accidents and cheap murders. Forgetting what local news can be.
Strong local news stations are important to our communities. Shrinking audiences and ad dollars threaten this institution. TikTok and influencers cannot replace trained journalists. Podcaster opinions are not journalism. But fewer and fewer young people turn on the TV, and they are poorer for that.
TV executives are working hard to find a way to bring their content to phones and computers. The days of the 30-share may be gone, but the TV news director who figures out how to break through to the younger audience will be a hero to the industry and to our communities.
Local news must not be allowed to die.
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