History of TV News

History of TV News

1. The Video that spoke to me the most was “Journalism Today”. I felt that this video truly spoke on how journalism has evolved and converged to adapt to this new era of social media. Without adapting to social media, the news would have died long ago. This video talks why this statement is true and explains how a journalist can take advantage of it. One important tip was being sure to tweet out the news so that your followers are aware and will come to you the journalist as the credited source versus those people that are on social media and are not credited. Furthermore, it also talks about the importance of being sure to look at twitter for the happenings of the world.

This truly spoke to me because while I was at my internship at Channel 9 I experience hands on the importance of being connected with social media. Often times, my boss would ask me “what’s are people talking about on the web?” “what are people your generations’ views on this topic?” Because of social media, many of the topics that may have been skipped were now being broadcasted on the news because it was being talked about heavily on social media. This video emphasizes how the journalist looks at what’s trending and from there they dig deeper to develop the story so that they are able to still fulfill their journalistic duties which are the human right to know. I believe this video spoke with me directly because I was able to see much of this hands-on at my previous internship.

2. The news played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement because it sheds light on things that could have easily been slipped under the rug. For example, the news covered extensively the murder attempt of Civil Rights activist Vernon Jordan that took place in Fort Wayne, Indiana. At first, the Police believed this was a domestic incident, but after the current President Jimmy Carter visited Jordan, CNN made this the first story they covered. CNN was able to provide viewers with a background of what actually happened as well as covering a press conference with the President.

Furthermore, because of the questions, they asked CNN was able to record actual video of the President’s thoughts on the civil rights movement and civil rights activist. The news provided an outlet in which the President felt open and free to state his views. He also was able to show his approval of who Vernon Jordan which I personally believed helped those that may have views against the Civil Rights Movement to see the person behind the activist. Clearly, the President and Vernon Jordan did not always see eye to eye, but the President did have respect for the activist and CNN was able to capture that and stream in life to their viewers. Without this coverage, many may have still thought that Vernon Jordan’s shooting was domestic related verses an actual attack on the activist.

3. CNN has affected the News Industry because it challenged local news to think outside of the box. With CNN being the first channel with all day news, at first many doubted it. But now it has become the main source for viewers and citizens to get their news. Because CNN is 24 hours it was able to cover stories that may not have been broadcasted by local channels until the 11pm hour. CNN was able to have breaking news and have live coverage of stories that have now gone down in history. For example, I think of President Carters press conference on Vernon Jordan. If CNN wasn’t there to cover it live, the story could have possibly been altered. But because CNN was there viewers were able to get the story in real time instead of waiting for it to hit their local television stations. Furthermore, because of CNN it has challenged local television stations to fight for their ratings harder and by digging deeper into their stories so that they can still get people tuned into their local programming.

Today CNN has now become the HUB for all news, most people will wait for CNN’s coverage versus their local news because they are 24/7. Because of this Local Television stations are developing ways to make sure they can still keep their audience engaged. Although CNN rivals with these other local television stations, with its creation it lets the world know the importance of the news. If it wasn’t such thing as 24/7 news, the journalist job may have been not as credible. But now people know that the journalist is crucial in knowing what’s going on in the world.

4. Convergence plays an important role in the news industry because it creates a bunch of different tools that journalist, producers, news directors, and writers can deliver the news. Convergence has created multiple media forms that people can broadcast the story, whether it be print, video it all meshes together. Convergence shows that without one the other couldn’t stand on its own. Furthermore, converged newsrooms also create multiple platforms for viewers to view the story. For example, if someone writes the story on the web they can also do a video that air on all social media platforms. During my time at Channel 9, whenever the show was done the digital producer will choose clips that she believed would be popular on social media. That way by posting it on social media not only is she providing viewers another way to look at the story, she is encouraging viewers to actually tune into the nightly broadcast. Furthermore, by finding what’s trending on social media newscasters are able to find new ways to develop the story that can also get people tuned into the nightly broadcast.
5. Although social media has been a positive addition to the world of news, it has also negatively affected, it because now “everyone thinks they are a journalist”. People will often tweet or talk about a subject that may provide viewers with false news. But because they may have tons of follower’s people view it as the truth. Therefore, journalist has to find a way to stir people from those wannabe journalists. Another problem in this digital age is that people’s attention span is not nearly as long. People have an attention span for 140 characters. Therefore, journalist has to find ways to tie people into their story in 140 characters or less. Search Engine Optimization has become very popular in this digital age, in order to garner the views, you have to create a story that will get the readers attention or it has to be something that people are constantly searching for social media. Lastly, because of social media news dies quickly. It is the journalist job to get the story out quickly before people move on to the next thing and that becomes old news. T Therefore, journalist have to constantly find ways to tell different sides of the story so that they can keep viewers tuned in to what actually matters. This is a challenge because something that journalist may deem as important will become old news if something in the entertainment world happens. For example, when it comes to the President he tends to announce things when something big may be occurring on social media. He does it that way because he is hoping that he won’t get as much media attention. Therefore, it’s up to the journalist to shed light on those things that may try to be slipped under the rug. In a matter of seconds, the news world can change with a single tweet. It is the journalist job to capture the audience attention, keep their attention, and still deliver the facts. This can be hard in this digital age because they are constantly competing with the millions on social media that try to either distract or provide “fake news”.
6. I enjoyed watching a “A Day in the Life of Newsroom” because it reminded me of not only internship but how I plan to conduct my meetings as the General manager of Spotlight. After working in the newsroom, I was able to see a lot of the things that were shown in the video first hand, I was able to see the daily news meetings, the managing director checking content and producers meeting to discuss the show. However, because I was working on a smaller show, it was only about 5 people on the team. But it was still interesting seeing how this newsroom developed their stories. This also reminded me of how I ultimately want my spotlight meetings to go.

As a general manager I want to be sure that students are producing the right content and I am able to hands on in the research component of all their packages. Therefore, I want to have weekly news meetings in which we can pitch the ideas, we discuss their research in their script format, and then they go out and shoot the story. Of course, the turnaround won’t nearly be as fast as those in this video, but I hope that over time this system can become more fluid and my reporter can feel as in they have stepped inside a real newsroom. It was interesting watching a day in the life because I was able to see how a pitched idea can go to air in just 9 minutes. This only reminded me the importance of our job and how we must get the news out there in a timely manner for our viewers.

7. First of all, Tamron Hall is one of my favorite journalists because she is not afraid to state her opinions. Her comments truly resonated with me because often times I am so focused on my challenges. I often think about how I am going to overcome the roadblock. But Halls comments on not thinking about the roadblock rang true because when you are so focused on that you forget about just going hard for what you already set out to do. Sadly, as a black woman, we are born with two minorities against that, but we get bask in that. Instead, we have to take our gifts and continue to excel. We can’t look at our challenges as challenges instead we simply have to move on to the next thing. And in all honesty, I didn’t quite realize that until hearing Tamron Hall speak on it.

Often times, when I have the opportunity to talk to a journalist, I ask about how they overcome challenges because I use that as a tool to stay away from it. But I didn’t quite realize how repetitive that statement is until now. Instead, I really need to be evaluating how I can continue to excel with the gift I have. In our culture, we often focus so hard on what may stop us that we don’t try. But I refuse to be one of those people that let my sex and race define me from pushing the limits. I appreciate Ms. Halls words on the topic because she truly expanded my negative mindset. This video will now be something that I look to when I am feeling low, that way I won’t stay down for too long. Instead, I keep pushing.