We Need a Jon Stewart in Every Town
Local television broadcasters are increasingly challenged by the disruptive impact of new technologies. The concept of families gathering around the television to watch the 6 o’clock news exists only as a nostalgic memory in the age of having instant access to news stories and video clips on our PCs and mobile devices.
The Project for Excellence in Journalism’s annual media report shows a steady decline in local news ratings in all day-parts. The 2009 results revealed that early evening newscasts dropped 1.7%, late was down 6.4% and morning news was down 5.5%. It’s a troubling trend for local broadcasters, which has been evident for some time.
When the project’s researchers asked Americans to name the journalists they most admired, comedian Jon Stewart ranked number four. That may be a disturbing fact for journalism’s purest but perhaps it’s an indicator of a overall cultural shift in the way we now choose to experience the news.
Comedy is playing a more significant role in the political process. During the 2008 primary, all of the major candidates appeared on Saturday Night Live. The program was clearly instrumental to the rise of Sarah Palin’s public profile. And while they are often accused of being overly liberal, SNL took a jab at the mainstream media for its pampering of Barack Obama during the presidential debates.
These facts make many in the journalism profession shake their heads in disgust. However, I’m suggesting we should be inspired by these trends rather than dismayed. Specifically, local broadcasters ought to be actively engaged in finding their own Jon Stewart-type personalities in their communities. I’m not suggesting that newscasts change their entire formats to become comedy shows. However, a lighthearted segment or two that takes a satirical look at local headlines would liven up an otherwise predictable and failing format. This is particularly true if local news has any hope of attracting the younger demographic of viewers who show little interests in their broadcasts.
Our other mainstream media institutions also stand to benefit by not taking themselves so seriously. Newspapers in search of readers have perhaps forgotten that many of their loyalist fans turn directly to the comics section. Again, I’m not suggesting that news would by and large be better presented as entertainment. Rather, we should be mindful that as journalists, first and foremost, we are storytellers and that humor can be a highly effective tool in telling stories with great substance.
Let us not forget the legacy of newspaper humorists like Art Buchwald. Of course, his level of talent is somewhat rare. Perhaps that’s because a comedic sense is not a skill this profession openly seeks to cultivate?
Network news is another venue where there is a highly predictable “one-note” approach to telling stories. Andy Rooney’s contributions to “60 Minutes” serve to balance the hard-hitting journalism that rounds out the rest of the hour. However, to attract younger viewers networks will have to experiment with fresher approaches.
MSNBC is experiencing ratings success with “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” which strikes a healthy balance in its presentation of the day’s events. User-friendly brevity, pithy writing and humor are complemented by interviews with intelligent guests who provide context for the stories.
The reality is that much of the news has become so complicated and daunting that it often requires a dose of humor to help us digest it. Jay Leno and David Letterman are arguably as relevant as their network’s news anchors, in terms of their impact on political discourse. The late night hosts’ jibs and jabs are what we share with one another the morning after. Many have come to depend on Letterman’s top ten as much as what is on page one.
In the case of Jon Stewart, his secret weapon is his refreshing and authentic honesty. He’s willing to call it like he sees it, rather than offer another homogenized account of the news. There are no sacred cows on the “Daily Show.” He even jabbed tech icon Steve Jobs recently, over Apple’s strong-armed response to Gizmodo.com’s public dissection of the forthcoming G4 iPhone. That’s the essence of Stewart’s appeal; his unpredictable ability to tackle the truth, even when it may involve taking on a public figure or product he admires.
Local broadcasters need to take note. It’s not that viewers lack interest in local news, it’s that they’ve grown tired of the conventions that are so overly used in its presentation. Give us at least a portion of the news in a manner that is distinctive, challenges the status quo and makes us think.
Authors of Our Own Demise
The headlines continue to report more doom and gloom for the media business. Newspapers in particular suffered tremendous losses this past week with the shutdown of Denver’s 150-year-old Rocky Mountain News, and the Philadelphia Inquirer joined a growing list of publications making a mad dash for bankruptcy protection.
Meanwhile, it appears that the broadcast business is also on life support. MediaPost’s Diane Mermigas reports that Barclays Capital and J.P. Morgan nearly doubled their forecast decline in overall TV station local and national spot revenues to a negative –15.5% for 2009, warning it could go lower. Other analysts predict that profits at CBS will decline 65% to 70% as revenues fall 35% to 40% this year.
No matter how you spin it the media business is at a critical point its own historical narrative – and is suffering the added insult of having to write its own obituary. But perhaps not…
Of course news organizations have a moral obligation to report the facts to the public. However, I would assert that they also have an obligation to themselves — to uncover numerous other stories of success that are occurring throughout the media business.
We all know that headlines have the ability to drive a story, just as well as they report it. But sharp editorial staffs do more than just report grim facts. They compel their reporters to dig deeper — to provide balance and context. Otherwise, they run the risk leaving the public in a state of perpetual hopelessness. The psychological impact of nonstop of barrage bad news bears a heavy toll. Readers, advertisers and even news professionals can become resigned and start to question why they even bother.
What makes this all the more challenging is understanding that while news organizations are earnest in their efforts to provide well-rounded coverage of others, they are not so comfortable seeking balance when covering their own industry. Yes, there are legitimate fears about being perceived as self-serving or breaching the public’s trust. But editors must begin to challenge these fears or risk no longer having a platform to explore them.
Newspapers and television, as we’ve known them, may be struggling to survive, but good journalism and popular entertainment will always have a healthy-sized audience. Jeff Jarvis, the noted columnist and media arts professor, continues to chronicle stories of bold new journalism initiatives like ProPublica and Daylife, which are aggressively reinventing the news business.
Those of us who have spent much of our time in traditional media bear much of the blame for this current crisis. We’ve been late to arrive at the scene of our own story – and hardheaded about acknowledging the facts.
There is much to learn from similar situations throughout business history. I recall learning in grade school about how the railroad barons lost their massive fortunes. They were well-positioned to invest in the then fledgling airline industry but chose to ignore signs of its imminent growth. Their grandest mistake was losing sight of the fact that they weren’t in the railroad business; they were really in the transportation business. Henry Ford lost dominance of the auto industry to GM by refusing to offer consumers more than just the standard black Model T.
There have been just as many stories of triumphant comebacks. Having all but missed the PC revolution of the 1990’s, IBM reportedly had just 100 days of remaining cash reserves before Lou Gerstner turned them around. Apple was written off around the same time, until Steve Jobs regained the reigns and led an upward spiral of growth and innovation that still makes his rivals dizzy.
It’s not too late for the media business, if we are willing to meet these mighty challenges with bold and immediate action. With the advent of more mobile devices like Apple’s iPhone and Amazon’s Kindle, newspapers are waking up to the fact that future fortunes will be found online. They’ll recover sooner by being willing to embrace and become fluent in video. People want to see and experience the world in full-motion and if it is presented in compelling ways readers and advertisers will be willing to pay for it.