Fur—'9‘” CASE STUDY: NEWS DEPARTMENT MANAGEMENT ' I IN A MIDWESTERN MIDDLESIZE MARKET f Thesis for the Degree of MA. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY . DENISE R. TESAR 1971 . . . n AA LIBRARY Michigan State University lr-‘trbiil ABSTRACT CASE STUDY: NEWS DEPARTMENT MANAGEMENT IN A MIDWESTERN MIDDLE SIZE MARKET BY Denise R. Tesar News department management has been the source of several lively conversations on procedure, structure, etc. Middle market news organizations often vary the most in these ways. This is partially because of the market size. If it is a small middle market station, the burden of news production is more likely to fall on fewer shoulders, to be less structured, and to have narrow coverage. In a large middle market station, there is usually a more defi- nite departmental structure, more personnel, and a broader scope of coverage. The middle size, middle market station often finds itself somewhere in between these two extremes. The station under study here is such a station. It is a station trying to find itself in an increasingly com- petitive news market. It is the purpose of the author in this study to explore the development of‘a transitional station. In having carried out extensive interviews with members of the station's news staff and management, the Denise R. Tesar author has reached the following conclusions in regard to the news operation management of the station studied. 1. The station has become, especially over the past three years, increasingly aware of its competition and the impact they could potentially make upon the market, and the ratings of the station. 2. The attitude of management at the station has changed drastically since the arrival of the last news director, in July, 1969. This man brought to the news department a real sense of potential development. He made the management aware of the importance of adequate staffing and equipment, and of having a professional, polished prod- uct to present to the viewers. He helped to instill in the Operations manager and the owner/president, the idea and philosophy of visual news, in-depth coverage, and indi- vidual expression within the personnel ranks of the depart- ment. 3. Personnel at the station have develoPed an atti- tude of trying to produce the best possible work, under management that continually fluctuates in its position re- garding available financing, coverage area, and coverage of specific leaders in the coverage area. 4. The station has become increasingly aware of its power as an influential force in the community, and has developed the use of editorial comment to give its opinions on almost all controversial issues that it feels it can and should speak out on. Denise R. Tesar 5. The public affairs program has yet to deve10p itself at this station. It is not yet recognized as an influential, visually exciting vehicle for group statement and/or comment. 6. People acquainted with this station, from other media, have found that this station is developing rapidly into a respectable, challenging news Operation that is building a growing reputation and a large influence in its coverage area. CASE STUDY: NEWS DEPARTMENT MANAGEMENT IN A MIDWESTERN MIDDLE SIZE MARKET BY Denise R. Tesar A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Television and Radio 1971 Accepted by the faculty of the Department of Television and Radio, College of Communication Arts, Michigan State University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree. / I / . /. {%%sz90 1/ r V” Director of Thesis ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author is most grateful to Dr. Thomas Baldwin, thesis academic advisor, for his many kindnesses extended the writer. Especially does she wish to acknowledge his counseling in helping narrow the sc0pe of the thesis to specific objectives. Appreciation is also expressed to members of the news department in the station under study; to the Opera- tions manager, who spent many hours explaining departmental operations to the author, and offered free access to any and all files requested by the author; to the former news director of the station, whose long hours of discussion, files on his tenure at the station, and special insight into departmental Operations, helped build the core of the thesis; and to the senior reporter in the station news department, who so graciously allowed the author to spend time with him learning the department's approach to news, and giving his views of the department's Operational struc- ture, difficulties, and positive points. ii ACKNOWL Chapter I. II. III. IV. VI. VII. TABLE OF CONTENTS EDGMENTS . . . . . . . . INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . A Pattern Develops. The Market . . . THE STATION DEVELOPS . . . . News Programming . . . . Editorial DevelOpment. . . Public Affairs Programming DevelOpment THE OPERATION TODAY . . . . News PrOgramming . . . . Editorial Commentary . . Public Affairs Programming CHANNEL 0: A CRITIQUE FROM THE TV Stations Comment . . . Other Media Comment . . . CHANNEL 0 VIEWED BY ITS PERSONNEL. Previous News Directors . . Channel 0's Present Staff . CHANNEL 0 IN COMPARISON . . . News in Comparison. . . . Editorials in Comparison. . Public Affairs in Comparison CHANNEL 0 LOOKS AT THE FUTURE . Management's View . . . . Personnel Views. . . . . iii Page ii #NNH 12 16 16 23 26 30 30 34 4O 40 48 57 57 59 60 62 62 65 Chapter Page VIII. THE AUTHOR'S ANALYSIS. . . . . . . . . 69 News Development . . . . . . . . . 69 Editorial DevelOpment. . . . . . . . 74 Public Affairs Programming Development . . 76 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘ 81 iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Middle market television news: a classification Of broadcast news that contains within it the most out- standing local news coverage aired, and the poorest cover- age, as well. The middle market: a market in transition; a market trying to find itself; a market where television fights to serve its public and to stay alive. This is a study of a middle market television news department: a department that has existed as the only television news organization in its immediate coverage area; a department that has an almost captive audience, and is now in the process of changing its entire news philosophy, from one of strictly profit-motivated coverage, to a department that shows through its program content, its concern with the welfare of its viewers; that gives complete coverage of the day's events in its coverage area, as it views their importance and relevance to its audience; and that is a department that is respected as informed, reliable, and responsible in its news gathering and reporting, both by its news sources and its audience. A Pattern DevelOpg Within this thesis, there will develop a definite pattern in approach to news, at the station under study. The author intends to trace the development of the news department, on both a material and philosophical level. This shall be carried through to show the develOpment of the station's editorial policy, as well as their public affairs programming. In all three areas, there has been and is, a marked change in approach and develOpment. This change, then, is the tOpic of this thesis. The Market The station is located in a city in the Mid-West United States. The city is the capitol of the state, and home of a state university. In addition, the city has a two year community college, and a small business university. The city supports three large industries. There are several theater groups, and a symphony orchestra and choir. It supports a semi-professional football team, and is active in support of city recreational teams, as well as university and high school groups. The city is served by three com- mercial television stations, and a part-time educational station, supported by the university. It also is served by five AM-FM radio stations, and one FM-only station. Printed news vehicles include one daily newspaper, distrib- uted in the evening; a suburban weekly; and the university's daily student newspaper, printed Monday through Friday. The station under study includes in its primary coverage area two other cities, of a similar size. Both of these cities are industrial in nature, and the three areas make up a potential audience of almost one million peOple, for the station. Of this audience, the station under study, as of the latest ARB ratings, had a 40 metro rating in its 6:00 to 6:30 P.M. news block, and a 19 metro rating for the 11:00 to 11:30 P.M. news block.1 CHAPTER II THE STATION DEVELOPS News Programming For purposes of easing identification of the station under study, we shall refer to it as Channel 0. Channel 0 first went on the air in 1950; the prOperty of one man. The station ran network programming and syndicated films, for at that time it had no cameras of its own. The station Operated this way for three years. There was no attempt at local programming of any sort, including news. In 1953 Channel 0 purchased one camera, and pro- ceeded into the area of local programming, with some en- thusiasm, but little know-how or creativity. The year 1954 brought with it a film camera, and news was on its way. The purchase of the camera allowed limited use of film for newscasts. The station approached news from a strictly local angle, relying entirely on the network for national and world news. Channel 0 is a CBS affiliate. Two years later, in 1956, Channel 0 began sub- scribing to a film service for world news. That was all well and good, but it seemed that the film always arrived three days late. Showing old news, while somewhat 4 embarrassing to station management, proved no disaster with the audience. Station personnel said ratings indi- cated the audience seemed to watch the films as much as they watched any other news programming. By 1958, the station was financially stable. That year, there were some major equipment purchases made, with the news department in mind. The station bought two silent film cameras and made basic lighting equipment purchases. The processing of newsfilm was left to a local processing company. That provided several headaches, since the com- pany's deadline was rigidly enforced, thereby letting Channel 0 be put in the position of having no film for most late breaking stories. By 1961 the station was well established within its coverage area. And it was facing real competition from two other network affiliates. The decision was made to purchase a sound camera. This placed Channel 0 on a plane equal to that of its two competitors. As had been the case throughout the development of the station, Channel 0 had been the follower; always making equipment purchases after the other two stations had done so. By 1962, the station's coverage was expanded enough that the department could no longer Operate under the dead- line Of the processing company. So, Channel 0 purchased a black and white film processor. This allowed the depart- ment to set its own deadline for film stories, and to stretch that deadline for its own convenience. In 1968 the station purchased a color film pro- cessor. This went along with the purchase of a color film camera, and by March the station's news operation was all color. Until 1953, because the station had no cameras of its own, there could be no real news department. The station simply inserted bulletins off the wire, as they came over. By 1955 the network was running a 15 minute nightly newscast. Channel 0 develOped its own 15 minute newscast, to be aired at 6:30 P.M., right before the network program. The major portion of Channel 0's newscast--around 75%-- was devoted to news. The remaining time was divided be- tween sports and weather, with sports getting the greater emphasis. All air work was done by one man at this time. In 1965, CBS began carrying a full half-hour of world and national news. To go along with this, Channel 0 lengthened its newscast to a half hour. This is the format it presently Operates under. News gets about 11 minutes out of the hour, sports about 6 minutes, and weather another 6 minutes. This varies with how heavy a day's news load has been for the station. When Channel 0 purchased their first camera in 1953, they decided to have an on-camera newsman. SO they converted one of their radio newsmen (Channel 0 is part of a TV-AM-FM Radio combination) to television. He was served by a part-time photographer, who occasionally got still pictures of fires, floods, or other visually exciting stories. In 1956, Channel 0 expanded their news department to four men. This included a full time photographer and three reporters (all converted from radio). Local film shooting was still not a reality, despite the camera the department owned. The operation was still largely run from the wire service, and coverage by the reporting team was confined almost exclusively to the city Channel 0 is lo- cated in. Local film began to come into its own by 1958. Channel 0 shot about 200 feet of film a week, locally. The photographer was kept busy, and eventually one of the reporters learned enough about cameras to be able to help out in the shooting. In 1962, two men were added to the department; one of them a full time photographer. The department size fluctuated from here on, but was considered at full capacity with six members. By 1968 the two photographers were shooting 3000 feet of film a month, all in color. Coverage by the reporting team had broadened to include the other two cities within the prime coverage area, and the anchorman was allowed some degree of flexibility: he no longer had to go out and cover stories; he could spend time at the station, planning, writing, and polishing his newscasts. Channel 0 has always carried the traditional news sponsors: banks, gasoline companies, and other companies concerned with image promotion. This has been to the station's liking. They have had no desire to try to sell the program to another type of sponsor, which is in keeping with the rather conservative nature of the station, as it shall develOp throughout this paper. When Channel 0 first began its news operation, they were limited in what they could cover, simply because of lack of manpower. When a reporter did get out into the field, he was confined to the city Channel 0 calls home. For some reason, although the management recognized their audience in the areas surrounding the immediate city, they did not recognize them as news sources. They felt that their news audience was limited to the residents of their home city, and therefore were late in developing their secondary coverage areas. Within the realm of the immediate city they cov- ered, there were also some taboos. Despite the fact that the city is the state capitol and the home of a large uni- versity, these two institutions constantly found themselves out of the prescribed coverage area of Channel 0. This seemed to be the policy of the station owner. The reason he did not see fit to cover the university was because it was a place for thought and philoSOphy, and not factual material. And the university served as a haven for lib- erals, which the owner is not. The capitol of the state was not covered because,to the owner, it fell under the umbrella of state-wide coverage: something his station did not have the physical capacity to cover adequately, nor did it have the audience interest in his mind, that would be necessary to increase audience viewing of the news programs. So, for the first years of the news opera- tion at Channel 0, these two major news sources were almost completely neglected by the station, and were given at best, minimal treatment when they were covered. As the owner of Channel 0 went through more and more news directors, he became more aware of their Opinions. The station would not release an exact number of news directors to the author, but by her own count, there have been eight, with long periods with no leadership, none having stayed longer than nine months, and one having lasted only two weeks. A big complaint of news directors was lack of sufficient coverage of both the home city and the coverage area. Gradually, the owner came to see that point of view. He began tO realize that people in his news audience were genuinely interested in the events at the capitol, and at the university, which is a nationally 10 acclaimed institution. Through talks with his news direc- tors, and with help from his advisory board, the owner became aware of the need to offer total coverage of the city, and eventually to expand the coverage to the total I O 2 Vlerng area. Editorial Development Around 1961, the broadcast media came under public attack from the FCC and other media, for not taking stands on issues of the time. The broadcast media, especially television, were taken to task for trying to pacify the public, and to please all the people all the time. At this time, Channel 0 decided to combat this view of the medium by beginning an editorial program. Editorials were aired within the half hour news block, with no real contro- versial content, and without any frequency. By 1965, Channel 0 was receiving enough response to its editorials that it began to realize the effective- ness they could have. The station at this point began to editorialize on a frequent basis (once a week, approximately). And up to the present time, it has continued to editorialize more and more often, until now it airs two or three edi- torials a week, on a wide variety of topics. The station did not really begin to take stands on controversial issues until around 1967. Up until that time, editorial content was usually of the following type: 11 If you look-~while standing directly beneath it-- it resembles a gigantic spider descending ominously from a cobweb in the sky. A side view will likely give you the impression that an octopus is extending its tentacles from the lamp post. What is it? Why, it's (the city's) downtown Christmas decorations. Apparently--the adverse comments of citizens and visitors who encountered last year's tinseled arms which hung from the downtown lamposts--failed to reach the ears of City Officials--or whoever is responsible for selecting Christmas decorations. Christmas is a most festive and beautiful season and it seems to us that our downtown streets, which are the scene of holiday activity, should be deco- rated with beauty symbolic of the occasion. Un- fortunately, they are not. We don't know this year's theme, but we h0pe that the spider or octopus or whatever it is hanging from the lamp posts does not attack the gay unsus- pecting Christmas shoPpers or give holiday visitors the impression that this is (the city's) idea of Christmas . . . it definitely is not. This example of Channel 0 editorials is repre- sentative of the lack of controversial, substantive content in the early days of their editorial programming. Channel 0, as the only CBS affiliate in the market, had little to fear in the way of possible audience loss. But audience size, and related sales, have always held such an incredibly important hold over station operations (as shall be seen later), that the owner seemed afraid to antagonize anyone. Eventually, he realized his power as the only CBS affiliate in the market, and as the only commercial station in the city. These two pluses combined to show him the potential power his editorials could wield. He began to realize that he could use his station as an effective voice, both for himself and for the public. This developed his editorial content, through the efforts of his Operations manager, 12 beginning in 1967. Examples of this new style Of edito- rializing will be seen later in the thesis. Public Affairs Programming DevelOpment Public affairs prOgramming, by FCC definition, is programming in the public interest, for public convenience, and for public necessity. To define public affairs pro- gramming as it relates to this thesis, it is necessary to add to this basic definition the definition offered by the Operations manager of Channel 0, and by the author. The Operations manager at Channel 0 Offered the FCC definition at first. When pressed, he explained that in the eyes of Channel 0, public affairs programming is programming that deals with current issues of public con- cern; issues that have been reported in the news, and re- quire in-depth study for full understanding. The author would add to the definition of the Opera— tions manager by saying that public affairs programming must also include programming that brings to the public view new issues that, in the station's opinion, should be, or will be, of public concern in the future. It is the job of the station, through public affairs programming, to be an investigator and an innovator; to search out problems, expose them to public concern, and to initiate public ac- tion in overcoming the problem, or in reacting (negatively SE positively) to a situation. Public affairs programming is programming that is an extension of the news: programming 13 that delves into the news in detail, and develops it for public consumption. The area of public affairs programming has been, and is, one of the most vaguely drawn areas at Channel 0. Public affairs programming has been, traditionally, a haphazard, last minute affair. If a topic of some sort of interest arises, and can be conveniently filmed, a pro- gram is produced. There is no schedule, no program cate- gories, no special crew assigned to public affairs. The main source of public affairs programming at Channel 0 has been on the air for almost seven years. In 1964 it was begun, as a weekly presentation, which fea- tured different occupations and innovations within certain fields from throughout the state. It is not dated at all, and is not really related to news, in that it does not usually contain material that was derived from newscasts or stories currently making the news. It is almost a feature program, and although it falls under the broad umbrella of public affairs programming, it cannot be said to be public affairs as they relate to hard news. The university is allowed use of Channel 0's facilities on occasion, and from this arose, three years ago, a prOgram produced by students about the campus and events going on there. Although the program has made in the past an attempt to be relevant to the community, it has, since its beginning, become pretty much a vehicle for 14 university students to express themselves and their actions within the university. In November of 1969 Channel 0 began presenting a weekly prOgram about area community and junior colleges. The program was produced at various places throughout the state, so the burden of production expenses did not always fall on Channel 0. The show again, while falling under the public affairs category, was not public affairs as it relates to hard news and presentation of those news events in depth. The catch-all category for publiclaffairs program- ming at Channel 0 went on the air in 1966. It was not regularly scheduled, it did not have a production staff assigned to it, and it did not fit into any specific mold with regard to content. The philosophy behind public affairs programming at Channel 0 has been slow to develop. It was viewed for many years as a sort of required loss of profit, by the owner of the station.4 The idea of creatively programming public affairs has not yet come to light, with the manage- ment of Channel 0. Until it can be proven to the owner that public affairs programming can and should be a profit- able, worthwhile investment, this type Of programming is not too likely to play the role it is capable of playing at Channel 0: the role of surveyor of community needs and 15 actions; innovator in community planning and develOpment; and public forum for discussion of issues and events of concern to the viewing audience. CHAPTER III THE OPERATION TODAY News Programming The staff of the news department has recently undergone a few drastic changes. There has been, as of January 4, 1971, the addition of a new man, who although not given the formal title of news director, is viewed by the other staff members to have that position. His formal title is assignment editor. He began in broadcasting in 1956, as an all-purpose announcer, with an eventual empha- sis on news, at WCAX-TV, in Burlington, Vermont. In 1965 he came to Channel 0 as a staff announcer, host of a children's program, and substitute anchorman for news, weather and sports. He left Channel 0 in 1968 to be news anchorman at WKBD-TV in Detroit, Michigan. From there, he went on in 1970 to become press secretary to the Mayor of Detroit, and then to direct a successful candidate's public relations campaign in his quest for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court. He returned to Channel 0 in January of 1971 to fill his present position. . The man who was acting writing editor has the most seniority on Channel 0's news team. After graduation from college in 1965, he taught speech in a Michigan high school. 16 17 The following year he went to WPON radio in Pontiac, Michigan as a newsman. In 1966 he entered the Army as an education television specialist, and later as a corre- spondent in Vietnam for the Americal Division, in television news. In the fall of 1969 he came to Channel 0 as a news- man, and anchorman for the Noon News, aired daily from noon until 12:10. The man who was acting assignment editor is second in seniority at Channel 0. He began his career in 1966 as a part time news OOpy boy at General Electric Broad- casting in Schenectady, New York. In 1968 he went to WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana as a reporter/cameraman. He arrived at Channel 0 in September of 1969 as a reporter. He came at the persuasion of the new news director at Channel 0, who had been his boss at WSBT. The junior member of the Channel 0 news staff has had perhaps the widest variety of broadcast experience. In 1960 he was floor director at WMBD-TV in Peoria, Illinois. From 1961 to 1965 he was with the public relations depart- ment of the Navy, dealing with print media. In 1965 he went to UPI in Chicago, as a news writer for the national radio wire. After three months he went to WJML-FM in Petosky, Michigan as news director. From there, in 1966, he worked at WTOM-TV in Cheboygan, Michigan as news and sports director, and the only on-air personality at that station. From 1967 to 1970 he went to school at Michigan 18 State University, to earn his B.A. and M.A. in Radio and Television. While there, he worked at WKAR as assistant news director, WMSN as station manager, and WFMK-FM radio as a staff announcer. In 1970 he came to Channel 0's radio Operation as a newsman, and in November Of that year, joined the television news staff there. The news staff is served by three cameramen. They have all come to Channel 0 within the last six months (since July of 1970) and all without any previous film experience. Their ages are all under 25. The lack of experience of these three men has taken its toll in the quality Of film aired recently, as well as the editing and camera shots being of poorer quality than the staff is used to airing. The station's equipment is at an all-time high, in quantity, as well as quality. There are two Bell and Howell silent film cameras, an Auricon PRO-600 sound camera, two General SS III sound cameras. The sound cameras have completely portable sound and lighting gear, contained within aluminum trunks. All film is magnetic striped, and cameramen run the sound as well as film. The film processor is a Filmline gravity pull color processor, that runs through 14,000 feet of Ecktachrome EF-7242 film per month. Out of this 14,000 feet comes not only news film (10% of which is allotted to the sports 19 department) but public service programming, and commer- cial filming. The station owns four cars. Two Opal station wagons are on call for the news crew only, at all times. There is also a large Oldsmobile station wagon that is used on occasion, and an Olds sedan. All cars are equipped with mobile telephones, for contact with the station. Each reporter is provided a transistor tape re- corder, to be carried with him. Its purpose is to get the audio portion of an interview on tape casette, for editing purposes at the station. It is an added safeguard for every sound-on-film story covered. The station is served by the Associated Press Radio Wire Service; the Western Union weather teletype service, hooked in with civil defense and the U. S. Weather Bureau; and the CBS daily electronic feed: a fifteen minute feed, with five or six national and international stores. Channel 0 has seven police and fire monitors: state police, city police and fire, county sheriff, uni- versity police, neighboring county sheriff, and police from a suburb of the city. All monitors are on at all times of the day and night. The station also subscribes to the three newspapers of the cities within its prime coverage area, takes two county weeklies, and gets the morning paper from a nearby large city. 20 Budget has always been a touchy subject with the management at Channel 0. They were not too free with their information, and the author has had to rely mostly on figures based on a memo from the latest news director to the station owner. The operations manager told the author, "There is no overall week-to—week systematic bud- get in the news department."5 The operations manager then explained that the news department is the most ex- pensive department of Channel 0 to operate. News costs, as everything else, have been increasing steadily. Now, with salaries, film, equipment, and the like, Channel 0 spends between $200,000 and $250,000 each year on its news Operation. This amount does not now appear to be suffi- cient to run the department. As of January 14, 1971, the department had already totally used up the January film allocation (35 400-foot rolls).6 Equipment purchases are made on no set schedule; just when the need arises, or the owner can be persuaded that a new piece of equipment would be beneficial to the station. Salaries are a source of great dissatisfaction among staff members. Raises are given only at the begin- ning of each calendar year. For 1971, no raises were given within the news department, with the explanation that 1970 had been a difficult year for the department. 21 Salaries during 1970 averaged $575 per month, for the reporters and the entire camera crew. This low base was partially due to the fact that the staff, for the most part, was relatively new to Channel 0. But the owner starts all his help at extremely low salaries, and is not known for generous raises. Management of the Channel 0 news department is right now in a changing period. It had been run by the opera- tions manager, in the absence of a news director. Under any circumstances, the department is indeed run by the Operations manager, since the news department falls under his jurisdiction. Up until January 4, 1971, the operations manager had been the real force in guiding the department. Under him, two men--senior members of the staff--worked together closely as assignment editor and writing editor, to run the department on a day-to—day basis. Under any unusual circumstances, however, they reported immediately to the operations manager. Now the department finds itself with a new member, who has been given the official title of assignment editor. He uses the news director's office, anchors the 6:00 P.M. news (their major newscast), and for all appearances seems to be the news director. The staff of the department imme- diately recognized him as such, based on his previous em- ployment at Channel 0, his age (he is approximately fifteen years older than the other staff members), and the way he 22 was introduced to the department: a memo pinned to the bulletin board by the back door. That was the staff's first hint of a new person being brought in. He was intro- duced in the memo as assignment editor, and as the person who would "oversee" operation of the news department. But he still must report to the operations manager, and follow his lead. The Channel 0 news department is responsible for three newscasts daily, Monday through Friday. They run a ten minute newscast from 12:00 noon until 12:10 P.M., anchored by the junior member of the news staff. There is the 6:00 P.M. to 6:30 P.M. newscast, anchored by the assign- ment editor. He has approximately eleven minutes for his newscast. The weather follows him, for approximately six minutes. And finally, the sportscast is placed, with the remaining time. The emphasis in this broadcast, with re- gard to the news portion, is strictly local and regional. There is never any national news, unless it is something from the station's coverage area that has made national news. At 11:00 P.M. Monday through Saturday, Channel 0 again runs a half hour news block. This show is anchored by the man who was acting writing editor. His news block runs again, about eleven minutes. Sports following for around six minutes, and weather is last, with the remaining time. 23 If there is an editorial on any given day, it is aired in both the 6:00 and 11:00 newscasts, immediately following the news segment of the block. The management of Channel 0 is in a transitional period in its approach to news. Over the past three years it has become aware of the competition. And it has also become aware of its own potential as an aggressive, in- formed, seeking-out new operation. The ratings have always shown that the news block belongs to Channel 0. For a news block, Channel 0's news has sold well, both locally and on a national level. But with the addition of the present operations manager, and with the short tenure of the latest official news director, the owner of Channel 0 has been made to more clearly see his responsibilities to his audi- ence, and to himself, to present the best possible newscast under the best possible conditions. He has become more aware of the possibilities, given adequate staffing, better equipment, and a higher film budget. His philOSOphy to- wards the news department is changing, gradually, from one of news as a dictated evil, good only to keep the station license, to news as a visual, complete story of the events of the day, told to the people who will be affected by them. Editorial Commentary The editorials at Channel 0 are written by the Operations manager. They are occasionally written by the 24 owner (who up until the arrival of this Operations manager wrote all editorials), and all must have his approval before being aired. This, of course, presents a problem of ex- pression for the operations manager if he differs in view- point from the owner. In most instances where this is the case, the operations manager avoids editorializing on the topic unless told to do so by the owner. The owner's one tragic flaw in editorial comment is that he too often involves himself personally in his editorials. He has been accused (although no decision has been reached in the case), by the Federal Aviation Agency, of discriminating in his editorials against the local air- port, because a business venture he entered into at the airport failed. He often takes stabs at the local news- paper, which is his only real competition as far as per- suasive ability goes, within the city. The newspaper in turn is often as petty in its criticism of Channel 0, since the feud has reached the point of all emotion, no reason. Channel 0 was recently involved in one of the most publicized editorial decisions ever made in the industry. In November of 1969, Vice President Agnew blasted the tele- vision medium for its "instant analysis" of presidential speeches; claiming that the network interpretations did not give the viewers time to analyze the speeches on their own, first. A few days later, on November 14, Channel 0 ran an editorial agreeing with the Agnew criticism, and stating 25 that the station would no longer carry the CBS news analy- sis immediately following the President's speeches. Frank Stanton, president Of CBS, attacked the sta- tion a few nights later, in a feature on the CBS evening news, carried by Channel 0. He claimed that the station was not living up to its responsibility of total news coverage, and was failing its audience by refraining from network interpretation. Stanton criticized the station for giving in to the Vice President's attempt to censor the medium. Channel O at this point turned to its viewers to ask their opinion. They were (and had been to that point) overwhelmed with mail favoring the instant analysis. Deeply embarrassed by the situation, the owner used this idea of letting the audience make the decision, as an ex- cuse to return instant analysis to the air. The former news director said that regardless of audience opinion, analysis would have been returned to the air, to help the station (owner) regain his good standing with the network personnel. Editorials currently are on no set schedule. They are written when a suitable topic arises. This now seems to average about two editorials a week. As stated earlier, when they are scheduled, they are inserted immediately following the news segment of the news block. A11 edi- torials are taped earlier in the afternoon, the day of 26 broadcaSt, and are read by the assignment editor. They are read on Tele-Prompter, from the news set, with the newsman in his Channel 0 news jacket. Opportunity for individuals and groups to reply to Channel 0 editorials is readily available. It is often wished by the staff and management at Channel 0 that con- cerned citizens would take the time to air different views than those presented on the station. When individuals do reply on the air, they are allowed to come on themselves, if they wish, or to have the Channel 0 anchorman read their statements. At the end of each editorial, the sta- tion carries a standard close, requesting people with opposing views to comment. . Content of editorials ranges from the daylight savings time controversy currently being aired in Channel 0's state, to election stands, to stabs at local charities. As will be seen later, the content of Channel 0 editorials has become considerably broader and more issue-oriented than it was ten years ago. Public Affairs Programming Public affairs programming still ranks unfortunately at the bottom of the Channel 0 priority list. There is no public affairs staff. If someone is needed to fill a spot on a public affairs program, they are borrowed from the news staff. 27 Public affairs programming falls exclusively under the domain of the Operations manager. If a public affairs program is requested by Traffic, or if a worthy issue comes up, the idea for the program and the arranging of details is all carried out by the Operations manager. He does not have to seek out approval of program ideas from the owner, but his ideas are presented to him in most instances, to protect against misunderstandings. There is no set budget for public affairs program- ming. If film is needed for a program, it comes out of the news department's allocation. This is on an infrequent enough basis that the news department can usually set a little film aside, to prepare for the onset of another public affairs program. Public affairs programming is given exceptionally poor time slots at Channel 0. Their weekly program on community and junior colleges is aired at 4:30 Saturday afternoons. Their program on employment and new innova- tions in modern living is aired Tuesday nights at 10:00, in the time that the CBS network returns to local stations, bi-weekly. Their umbrella public affairs program fills time returned by the network in evenings, or is aired usually from 7:00 to 7:30 P.M. Saturdays. This is typical of the poor placement given public affairs programming in most stations. 28 As stated earlier in this paper, there is no real attitude towards public affairs programming in existence at Channel 0. It is viewed with some disdain by manage- ment, as something that is required to keep a license. But it is not given the chance, either monetarily or cre- atively, to be visually stimulating and informative. The operations manager views public affairs programming as coming from "the minutia of news."7 He takes events of local concern, and reports on them with the people involved, in a sterile set, with a news personality, and literally no other visual interest in the program. A recent example of this type of programming occurred when the local uni— versity selected a new president. Rather than show the man in a variety of ways, such as at work, visiting the campus, talking with students, with his family, etc., the station brought him to the studio, sat him down against a panelled wall with two reporters facing him, and taped a half hour of rather routine questions and answers. This is the norm for public affairs programming. It receives as little attention as possible, and always has. It shows no signs, from the point of view of station management, of ever being develOped to its fullest potential, or even being expanded to a wider variety of types of programming. Public affairs programming is, according to the Channel 0 operations manager, programming that appeals to highly educated, community-oriented people. He believes 29 that peOple who are genuinely concerned about public af- fairs will watch public affairs programming, regardless of format. He says that this type of audience is composed of few people, yet they are loyal to public affairs program- ming. Public affairs programming, in his eyes, is not appealing to people other than those with a high community involvement because it does not affect the rest of the potential audience in a direct way. And that greater mass of peOple is not concerned with public affairs unless the programs directly confront and affect each individual audience member. CHAPTER IV CHANNEL 0: A CRITIQUE FROM THE COMPETITION TV Stations Comment Channel 0's most direct competition is with an NBC affiliate that shares its time with the educational tele- vision station at the local university. The NBC affiliate—- we will call it Channel Y--is located in a town that is included in Channel 0's primary coverage area. The author spoke to the news director there, to find his impressions Of Channel 0's news Operation. Channel Y suffers from a lack of money. As a shared-time station, they lose a great deal of potential profit each year, and have a hard time finding money or talent that is sufficient to develOp the station. The staff at Channel Y is young and largely inexperienced. Yet, for the equipment available, they produce a reSpectable news program. Channel Y's news director seemed to be greatly con- cerned with the immediacy aSpect of Channel 0's coverage. He challenged the station's policy on news bulletins, say- ing that too often they announced bulletins before the public should be notified, or they made bulletins out of incidents that should not have had so much significance 30 31 placed on them. As examples, he cited laSt Spring, when the campus of the university was briefly upset by a group of students that broke windows and vandalized area stores. The police had requested that no announcements of the disturbance be made until it was relatively well under control. According to Channel Y's news director, Channel 0 went ahead and released the bulletin, causing several curiosity seekers to move to the scene and disturb the police by getting under foot. The news director then cited a recent incident of a fire in a suburb of the city Channel 0 is located in. The fire turned out to be a small one, causing perhaps $3,000 of damage. But Channel 0 put a bulletin out on the fire, saying that the downtown business district Of this suburb was on fire, and extent of the fire was not known. The fire was in an apartment upstairs from a store on the edge of the business district. When the bulletin was read, again curiosity seekers took to the scene, to find that the fire was already out, and that they were only in the way of firemen, who were cleaning up. After taking Channel 0 to task on these points, Channel Y's news director changed his attitude. He spoke then of the improvement of the department, and discussed what he felt to be a definite trend of growth and develOp- ment at the station. He said that he was impressed most with the station's attempt to become a visual news depart— ment. Their attempts at making a high percentage of their 32 stories filmed ones, and of trying different types of shots (reporter walk-ons, cut-aways, unusual angles, etc.). Especially since the arrival of the last news director in June of 1969, he had noticed an increased attempt at real professionalism in presentation. He felt that that news director had worked hard at establishing himself and his reporters; at gaining recognition for his staff as reporters for certain areas of the community, and for himself as a sort of coordinator of the news, and producer of the pro- gram. He felt that this was the first time the station had really begun to establish a pattern of continuity, and a structure of organization, to lend professionalism to the on-air product. Since the departure of the news director, Channel Y's news director sees the staff of Channel 0 as sort of "struggling to maintain a new-born image."8 Without leadership of a formal nature, he realizes the problem the staff faces in maintaining control of their finished prod- uct. He has high reSpect for the men who were acting as- signment and writing editors, and sees them as the two forces who worked to try to keep up the image, and to develOp it further, despite the lack of leadership they faced. Channel 0 also competes with an ABC affiliate, in the third major city within its coverage area. This sta- tion shall be referred to as Channel X. Channel X has a 33 well established news department, that does an excellent job of coverage and production for such a small station. As an ABC affiliate, it is not exceptionally well Off financially, but, as the other two stations, it is the only commercial station in its city. The news director there has put together a young, competent staff, and has been able to hold onto his personnel rather well, and develop a favorable news image for his men as individuals as well as a team. This news director Spoke of Channel 0 as a growing competitor. He seems to feel that his department is cur- rently superior to that of Channel 0, but that Channel 0 is raising the quality of its news product continually. He said his main complaint against Channel 0 was their some- what biased news coverage. He said that too Often the owner's views were subtly influencing the broadcasts. As an example, he cited the owner's rather vocal distaste for one of the local city council members. This councilman has yet to receive any air time on Channel 0, despite any news he may have created. When he is mentioned on the air, it is in editorials, and then he is treated rather harshly. Channel X's news director stated that this sort of "ex- 9 is the type of thing that has clusion from the news" kept Channel 0's credibility as a news department very low, over past years. He feels that too often Channel 0 has underestimated their audience, and thought they could be J4 swayed in their Opinions without having heard the full story. Although Channel X's man is not one to overestimate the intelligence of any given audience, he does see this as a vital problem to Channel 0's coverage. He credits them with vast improvement in their coverage and tech- niques, but at the same time, takes management to task for not doing a job that is suitable for the market being served. Other Media Comment The city Channel 0 is located in is served by one daily newsPaper, circulated in the evening. This paper has a standing rivalry with Channel 0, and despite similar political stands, the two companies go at each other's throats as often as possible. It is the feeling of both the Channel 0 management and the people at the newspaper that this is an old rivalry founded on'a fight for the license for Channel 0, which the neWSpaper lost. Although that was a number of years ago, the feud continues, now based on little else but tradition. Finding someone who could/would objectively analyze the news Operation at Channel 0 was a little difficult at the newspaper. The editor of the newspaper spoke of the station with as much objectivity as possible. He rated the news Operaton at Channel 0 as an up-and-coming situation, with a lot of room for expansion. He discussed the paper's role in relation to that of the television station, and 35 commented that the main difference between the two, in his Opinion, was that television served as an immediate news source, for persons interested in the basic facts on the major news stories of the day, as interpreted by each organization's news staff. His paper's role, then, is to 10 11 provide a "complete, in—depth" report of "all the news" of the day. The editor's main criticism of the station Opera- tion was that it took so much effort to try to scoop the paper, when the purposes of the two media are so different. He claimed the owner of the station constantly gives his newsmen memos regarding Obtaining stories before the paper prints them. He said that too often the desire to beat the other media to the story led to inaccurate reporting, and misplaced emphasis. Here he cited, as had the news director at Channel Y, the case of the station bulletin on the suburban fire. He said that the other reporters, both at his paper and in other media, felt the station made the announcement for the sole purpose of being the first to do so. Part of Channel 0's problem as he sees it, is a lack of leadership. He sees this as partly the fault of manage- ment, for not providing a news director and keeping him. But he also feels the relatively young age of the staff is a factor. These young men are not as experienced as other newsmen, and therefore cannot be expected to handle all situations well, and he feels they will only learn with 36 time. The problem lies in the high turnover rate, which results in frequent hiring, usually of young, inexperienced help. Then, the station is left back at its starting point: it must re—educate its staff to its own style of reporting. The author spoke with the regional bureau chiefs for both the Associated Press and United Press Interna- tional. Channel 0 subscribes to AP, but both men are familiar with the station's Operation. The criticisms were almost identical. Both men cite the lack of leadership as the main stumbling block for Channel 0. They both attri- bute the lack of leadership to poor management; Specifically, to the character of the owner. They said that the reason the station cannot keep leadership in the form of a news director is that the news directors there are forced to work with incredibly little money, and with an owner who is in a constant state of flux with regard to what he feels should be covered by his staff, and what must not be al- lowed on the air. They could give no Specific examples of instances where this had occurred, but rather seemed to base their comments on the owner's reputation as it has gone before him. They both commented, however, on the station's improved visual coverage. They said that they felt as though the news team they were watching, while young and inexperienced, was aggressive, concerned, and learning with experience. They also commented on the 37 reputation of the news staff within that select group of peOple who regularly make the news. They both agreed that the reputation of this reporting team, as a trustworthy, reliable group, had improved substantially in comparison with other reporters who apparently had gained a reputation for Channel 0 as a rather unreliable news department. News sources apparently had complained freely that Channel 0 reporters repeated confidences, broke stories before scheduled release time, and generally did their best to discredit the department. The author spoke with two radio news directors in the city. Both were reluctant to comment on Channel 0's news operation, saying that they didn't know much about it, and were more concerned with the company's radio news since it is direct competition. Both news directors were, however, eager to point out that their respective stations repre- sented the only "liberal" views presented in the city. They commented on Channel 0's editorials, saying that they were usually written by the owner, to be against a personal enemy of the owner of his company. They commented on the Slant that the department put on its news, by omitting cer- tain people from coverage, and by even going so far as to cut those people out of film in which they appeared with a group. None of these comments could be backed with specific instances. When asked how he viewed the news department at Channel 0, the mayor of the city said that he believed they 38 were genuinely concerned with the welfare Of the city (and then proceeded to list exceptions such as the airport affair mentioned earlier), but that their news gathering tactics, until recently, had not been the most ethical. He Complimented the reporter who has been covering city hall, as being a thorough man who always checked all sides of a given story before reporting it. However, he cited times in the past when he believed the station had been unethical: tape recorders at special council sessions, favors to city employees in return for "scoops," and some stories that the Mayor believed had been falsely reported. An aide in the Governor's office had high praise for the Channel 0 news staff. She stated that they were a much-improved team, that gave fair and thorough coverage of the state's daily news as it arose in the capitol. She praised the coverage given the Governor as exceptionally fair, and very extensive. She stated that while the sta- tion gave a thorough capsule of the news from the capitol, they did not dwell on detail, and represented, in her opinion, an outstanding example of news editing competence. There were a few comments that the author found to be common to all the interviews conducted. One was the idea of the owner being at fault for the fluctuating news policy. Although most comments were based on Old stories passed around the press rooms, the idea Shows how prevalent 39 the station's--and the owner's--reputation is. All the peOple interviewed commented on how underpaid the news staff at Channel 0 is, and how they are forced, out of pride for their work and by management order, to work overtime on many occasions with little compensation. The men interviewed all also commented on the lack of suffi- cient equipment for the staff at Channel 0. They had all seen the equipment at one time or another, and referred to the frequent times cameramen and reporters had struggled to keep a tripod up, or to get an old light to work. They assumed this all to be part of the owner's reluctance to put money into the news operation, when-it could not re- turn any. As good newsmen, they all showed proper resent- ment for this point of view, stating in various ways that news is a necessary part of every station's operation, and cost should not be such a major factor. Another comment the author found common to all interviewees was with regard to the development of the news staff over the past two years. Since the arrival of the last news director (all interviewees cited this event as a real starting point for development), they had all noted a stronger approach to news coverage: more aggres- sive reporting, stronger identification for the individual reporters, and a sense of growing organization within the department. CHAPTER V CHANNEL O VIEWED BY ITS PERSONNEL Previous News Directors The author found only two former news directors still in the general area of Channel 0, who were willing to Offer experiences and opinions of their time there. The first was news director for six months, during 1965. During his brief tenure, he found the most frustrating aspect of the job to be his total lack of power within his department. He constantly struggled with the owner to be granted some degree of authority within the depart- ment. For other than doing day-to-day assignments and doing most Of the writing for the program, he had no power. He was told what to cover, how it should be covered, and which one of his staff was to cover the event. He had no say in equipment purchases, departmental organization, or budgeting. At the time, the owner was very much involved with keeping costs at a bare minimum. No threat was posed by either Channel X or Channel Y, and the owner found he could get by with a minimum amount of expenditures, and still come out first in the ratings. In short, the news director at that time found conditions intolerable, and moved out of broadcasting after six months at Channel 0. 4O 41 During his time at Channel 0, the news director read all editorials (as is the policy now). His major com- plaint was having to carry out this function. He has strong feelings about mixing editorial comment with news, and felt that his image as an objective newscaster was dangerously eroded by his appearance as an editorial com- mentator. Whenever there was public comment on Channel 0 editorials, it was directed at the news director, as though he had written the editorials, and it was his opinion. This news director felt this was the single greatest cause of loss of credibility for his news department. He worked at Channel 0 with at times as little personnel as one other reporter, and only two cameramen. He was then forced to spend a great deal of time in the field, gathering stories. But at the same time, he was criticized by the owner for not having broader coverage, with reporting from the two other major cities within the coverage area. When he explained that with only one other reporter, and a film deadline of 4:00 P.M., he could not send the man to two cities in one day, he was told to bud- get the reporter's and his own time more carefully. The owner said there was no need for additional personnel if the two men were more conscientious in their use of time. When the author spoke with the national sales manager of Channel 0, she was told that this news director had been hired away from Channel 0 by a company that 42 Channel 0 was trying to help become stable, financially. The sales manager appeared to be quite bitter toward the man, and toward the company as well. When asked why Channel 0 seems to have such a difficult time employing and retaining news directors, with Specific reference to the last two news directors however, he answered, "No comment."12 The latest news director at Channel 0 arrived in July of 1969. He had been a radio news director in Indianapolis, Indiana and for five years after that with WSBT-TV in South Bend, Indiana as a reporter, writer and anchorman. He was 27 years of age when he arrived. At the time of his arrival, he was staffed with three camera- men (one part-time), and two reporters. He immediately set to work to outline for the owner the equipment, budget, and personnel he believed would bring the department up to minimum operating standards. This news director's recommendations included the addition of two regional reporters, to cover the other two major cities in the coverage area. In addition, he recom- mended the hiring of two new reporters for strictly local coverage, and the addition of an anchorman/reporter. These three positions had been authorized by the owner, as part of a verbal agreement when the news director was hired. 43 The department was Operating with one sound camera when the news director arrived. A second camera was on order, but did not arrive until December, 1970. The news director recommended that a third camera (all General SS-III's) be ordered, and that the one camera then owned by the station be equipped with a power supply, to give it portable capability. Two additional silent cameras were also requested, to be used by the suggested regional re- porters, and a third one was requested, since one of the two cameras then owned by the station was not operational. In addition, the news director recommended that the part time cameraman be hired on a full time basis, and that a fourth cameraman be hired in addition. He then recommended salary increases for two key personnel: his chief cameraman, who was being paid $575 per month, and his senior reporter, who had been acting assignment editor and anchorman, and was earning $560 per month. Additional recommendations included the installa- tion of direct two-way communication systems in the news cars (the station owned two, which were shared with the radio news department), and purchase of basic lighting equipment and camera tripods.13 The owner of the station let the news director then hire two full-time reporters, and one part-time man, to strengthen regional coverage, and provide more complete 44 local reporting. He did not allow additional photography staff to be employed, nor did he purchase the requested equipment. He also failed to give raises to the two men the news director had requested them for, and soon there- after lost the services of the two. When the news director was hired, he was told that he had an eleven man department. He arrived to find eleven men, but they were from television and radio. He found the 11:00 P.M. news anchored by a part-timer: a moonlighting school teacher. News at noon and on the daily women's program was being aired by the host of the daily children's prOgram. The 6:00 P.M. news was written, anchored and pro- duced by a man who had been hired as assistant Sports director, and admitted hating news. When the news director arrived at the station, he found that no announcement had been made of his hiring. Morale was very low, because there had been no leadership structure for some time within the department. Most of the staff was limited in their ability (with the exception of the chief photographer), and did not have the desire or the incentive to learn. The news director took it upon himself at that time to try to instill in the men a sense of professionalism and pride. With the addition of two reporters (who were to become acting assignment and writing editors after his de- parture), the news director began to build his department. 45 He worked to get each man identified with a single news beat, and to build a professional approach within the men, in their coverage techniques and on-camera appearance. He encouraged creative photography, and tried to establish with the owner the importance of a visual newscast. He was working on a film budget of 33 400-foot roles per month, which he found totally unsatisfactory. By October the news director decided that lack of film was one of his most severe problems. He approached the owner with a request for a raise in the budget to be- tween 55 and 60 reels per month.14 He justified his re- quest with the comment that two men had been added to the reporting staff, and the part-time photographer had been made full-time. The owner replied by saying that the 30 extra rolls the news director had used during the preceeding month would come out of his November budget (thereby leaving him with 3 rolls of film for the entire month).15 He went on to say that the department could cut down on the film being used by not using "random shots" of meeting rooms and backs Of heads. He then told the news director, "Another place to cut down is a reduction Of film taken at City Hall. I reminded you of this on several occasions that we are an 'area station' and the normal proceedings of City Council and comments of city officials, etc., are not to be in- cluded on TV news."16 46 At a later date, the owner called the news director into his office to complain that city council was not being covered sufficiently, and as the core of city Operations, should be included in most newscasts.17 Another example of the inconsistency the news director faced was in the wrap-up for both the 6:00 and 11:00 P.M. Shows. The owner sent word to the news director that he favored a post-show wrap-up, with the Sports, weather, and news men Spending 30 seconds or so talking with each other. He noted it favorably with the following memo, when the wrap-up was not done one night: "I noted that there was no wrap-up or rapport between the three of you in last nights [news]. I think this is a good bit which added a little personality to the show and would like to have it continued as it has in the past."18 A few months later, the news director received a memo complaining about how poorly the news segment time was being used. With reference to the post-show wrap-up, he said, "I think you are all experienced enough to time this segment to come out on time and not have to fill with unprepared pretty amateurish comment."19 The news director came into work every morning by 9:00 A.M. He had been told upon hiring that he would be expected to anchor both the 6:00 and 11:00 P.M. news, until his name was established throughout the market. At the end of five months, the news director felt that his name 47 had been established with his audience. A memo from the owner had stated that indeed, his name was becoming well- known throughout the community. So, the news director naturally assumed the time was right to move out of the 11:00 P.M. anchor spot. His memo to that effect was never acknowledged by the owner, and he continued to put in a 14 hour day until he left the station. When asked what his impressions of the Channel 0 news operation were, the former news director listed two major problems: too little film budgeted, and too many hours per day expected. He was impressed by the peOple he worked with for the most part, and enjoyed their ideas, talent, and mutual understanding of the situation. In all situations, the news director found he could rely on the operations manager for help. Since the news department was forced to share its meager film budget with the Sports department, and much of the public affairs programming that the station produced, it often found it- self short of film. The news director found that many times he could request the operations manager stretch figures on film used for public service programming and station features, in order that the department be reim- bursed with the supposed extra film used, and thereby re- ceive a bit more film to work with. By the time the news director left Channel 0, he felt that despite the handicaps he had faced, a respectable 48 news operation had begun to develop there. He was pleased with the develOpment of the new men he had hired. He had managed to get the part—time photographer to a full-time basis. He had increased the film budget to 35 rolls per month, and had seen a purchase order for a P-H meter go through. He also had improved editing conditions for the staff. They had previously been unable to view sound film when editing it, and only one person could edit at a time. Conditions had been approved for editing facility expan- sion, and sound film viewers. Channel 0's Present Staff The staff at Channel 0 seems to have widely diver- sified opinions on the station. It is interesting to note, as it shall become clear, the difference between the younger, less experienced staff members and those people who have been at the station for some time, or have worked at a number of other stations. The junior member of the reporting team is also the man with the most experience in broadcasting. He told the author that staff rapport was as high at Channel 0 as he had found it to be anywhere else. Considering the conditions management enforced upon the department, he considered morale to be high, and believes Channel 0 is a good place to work, in regard to co-worker relations. His main compalint is lack of a news policy. There is no news policy statement in written form at the station, 49 and it is his belief that if there were to be one, the inconsistencies that arise would be alleviated. Because of the reputation the station has as a difficult place to work, he believes that many peOple come to work at Chan- nel O with the idea that it is short-range employment. This is part of the reason as he sees it, that peOple become dissatisfied with the situation there rather quickly, and do leave.‘ He also cites the lack of motivation for professionalism. There is no reward for good work there, either monetarily or verbally. And it seems to him that often ineptitude is rewarded: peOple doing a good job receive no positive reinforcement, while many peOple who do not exert even a half-way effort are left on the staff with no reprimand. He, of course, complained that news has very low status at Channel 0 (most newsmen feel they are not given enough recognition). He cited the recent political cam- paigns, during which news air time was cut to six minutes Of the half hour, in order that candidates could air poli- tical advertising. Such placement of priorities--news below political advertising--cannot help but have an effect on staff attitude towards both management and their own position in the station organization. He said that if the owner would make more Of an attempt to reward good work with verbal compliments, that would raise the status of the news department in the staff's eyes. 50 The sports director at Channel 0 has been with the station since June, 1969, when he was hired as a part-time radio newsman. He became radio and television sports director in April of 1970. This is the first commercial station he has ever worked for. He is a 1969 graduate of the local university, with a major in television and radio. The sports director views the lack of positive re- inforcement as the main problem at the station. When ques- tioned about low pay scales, he said that he believed it wasn't so much not receiving the extra pay, but knowing that the owner could afford to pay more, and would not, that seemed to upset the staff. For all the work, there was very little reward, either monetary or verbal. It was the sports director's feeling that the news department should have complete autonomy. As it is now, he feels that the department head(s) has no real authority, and serves as token leadership. He stated that if the de- partment were allowed internal control, the quality of the aired product would probably improve. Despite this, he felt that the quality of the news program was very good at present. He said that it was because of individual pride among the staff. If the program looks bad, the blame falls on the man on the air, not the owner. The senior reporter on the staff came to Channel 0 because he was excited at working for the last news director, whom he considered to be a dynamic, progressive broadcaster. 51 Since coming to Channel 0, he has found that there seems to be no real commitment to a quality news organization. There are, in his mind, no long-range image plans made for the news department. He sees the lack of an attempted image for the department as its main drawback. By estab- lishing staff members in specific positions within the department, by striving for a more exciting (visual) news- cast, the department can create the image it needs to be a reSpected organization, according to his beliefs. The physical equipment within the department is also of primary concern to him. With only one projector available to run news film on the air, there is a limited ability to air film in the first place. The other two pro- jectors in master control must be reserved for commercial film within the news block. Again, he points out, this seems to stress the overall lack of concern about the news department compared to the commercial aspect of the station. Perhaps a little less pessimism comes from the man who was acting assignment editor. Although he agrees with the basic flaws that the senior reporter complained of, he is encouraged by the attitude of the peOple in the depart- ment. He feels that although the department lacks experi-' ence and polish, the desire for self~improvement is high, and the attitude towards management is healthy. By that he means that although management is contradictory and difficult to interpret, the staff manages to work well 52 around the circumstances, and get through a respectable program despite the stumbling blocks. He too was drawn to Channel 0 by the former news director, whom he had worked with before. Naturally, it was difficult for him to cope with the situation after the news director quit. He feels that it has been good experience for the whole staff, how— ever, in that it has given them a chance, although in- directly, to have a taste of the management side of news work. The education has been valuable for the entire department, he feels, and the lack of leadership has been something they probably would not have experienced for as long a period of time at any other station, as they have at Channel 0. The opinions rendered by the new assignment editor were probably the most mellowing, and most realistic of- fered. This, of course, is due to his years of experience with broadcasting, and the variety of situations he has faced over the years. He sees the main problem at Channel as being high turnover. But his reasoning for this plight is that Channel 0 is a middle market station. They get talent from smaller markets, develOp them, and then lose them when they become good enough to move to a larger market, where pay will naturally be higher. What he hopes for, then, is just to be able to get the best qualified personnel possible, and then hold on to them for as long as possible. But he is realistic in saying that peOple 53 will move to a better market, and it is just a part of the industry that he accepts. He is very pleased with the quality of the present staff. He feels that his cameramen lack experience, but are eager to learn. And the reporters seem to him to be well informed, respected by news sources, and very aggres- sive. He sees his role as a sort of counselor, to keep his department on an even keel, and oversee its Operation. Unlike the rest of the staff, he is willing to accept the owner as the supreme power in the organization, and to accept his decisions, even though they may not be the ones that someone else would make. The assignment editor's one wish is that he had time and staff to do more in-depth coverage. He realizes the important role in-depth reporting can have in television programming, and sees it as an essential area of reporting. He realizes that the management of the station does not now recognize the potential in public affairs programming of this nature, and knows there is little he can do about it. Of course, he would like to see the news department developed to its fullest, before there is much more emphasis placed on public affairs programming. But he is emphatic in his desire for a fuller public affairs programming, for the future. The assignment editor has definite Opinions on his role as anchorman. He is now anchoring the 6:00 P.M. news, 54 while the former writing editor and anchorman anchors the 11:00 P.M. news. In addition, the assignment editor reads the editorials. He also is called upon to do occasional commercial announcing for the radio operation. These two functions are very much against his better judgement. He feels that these jobs influence his credibility as a news- man, and strongly believes he should not be allowed to carry out either function. The final member of the staff to be Spoken with was the operations manager. As a mouthpiece for the owner, it was difficult for him to give his opinion exclusively. Perhaps his actions, especially with the former news director, speak louder for his beliefs. He did say that he was pleased with the attitude of his news staff: they are wil- ling to learn without resenting correction, yet they fight for their individual principles. He considers them all to be very bright and talented, and feels they have all pro- fited from their time at Channel 0. Although he would not admit to having too small a budget, it would seem evident that he believes that, as he was so helpful in finding extra film for the former news director. The Operations manager is the first to admit to a great change in editorial policy at the station. The editorials have taken a turn for the better primarily since his arrival at Channel 0. He has written most of the 55 editorials for the past three years. It was through him that the owner decided to take a definitely aggressive stand and approach to editorializing. He firmly believes it is a station's duty to express a point of View on any given public issue. He has no fear of the other media, or of losing his station's strength in the market because of editorial views. Once he was able to instill this attitude in the owner, he was allowed to begin an aggressive edi- torial approach. His scope is somewhat limited however, in that he believes the announcer-on-camera is just as effective a method as any of presenting editorials. When asked how he viewed editorials backed with film evidence, or with interviews, he declared them "unnecessary"20 to the influential nature Of the editorial. His views on public affairs programming were even less evident. He views all public affairs programming as a product Of news, but does not seem challenged to approach it in a creative style. Again, this may be because of the tight money Situation he is faced with. But he expressed no concern about having any consistently scheduled public affairs programming that related to news—in-depth coverage. He classified the community college program and the employ- ment series as public affairs programming, but then ad— mitted that they were not the product of any hard news information as such. The only real hard news related pro- gram is his irregularly scheduled, catch—all program, that 56 is produced whenever a locally newsworthy event occurs that can be studied in depth in the Opinion of the Operations manager. The Operations manager recognizes that his news department is not yet developed to its fullest capacity. He feels that once it has been developed, public affairs programming will come into its own at Channel 0, and be- come a major influence in the community. He would not set a time table for the development of public affairs, but did not seem optimistic that it would occur in the near future. He does see tremendous progress within the news department, and has been greatly encouraged by "the enthu- siasm of the staff for in-depth coverage of news and public affairs."21 CHAPTER VI CHANNEL 0 IN COMPARISON Channel Z is a station in a midwest market, similar to the size of the market Channel 0 is located in. Chan- nel Z is a group-owned NBC affiliate, and competes with an up-and-coming ABC affiliate in the same city. The CBS affiliate is located in a nearby city. TO give the reader a clearer picture of how Channel 0 is operating, the author has chosen to compare it to Channel Z. Channel 2 is probably one of the finest group- Owned stations in a middle American market. Its group is news and public affairs-oriented, and therefore the news staffs are exceptional. Channel 0, while not at the other end of the spectrum, is a good example of what a Single owner, middle market station can be, and too often is. News in Comparison Channel 0 has four television reporters and three cameramen. Channel Z has eight reporters and five camera- men. Each reporter and cameraman has his own silent Bell and Howell film camera. There are six Auricon sound cam- eras as well. Channel 0 has two Bell and Howell silent cameras, two General SS III sound cameras, and an Auricon 57 PRO-600 sound camera. 58 rolls of 400 feet each, per month. rolls each month. Channel 0's film allotment is 35 Channel Z shoots 106 Where the average full salary of Chan- nel 0 employees is $575 a month, Channel Z starts its employees at a minimum of $660 a month. There is only one man at Channel 0 who makes more than that. The following table represents a comparison of Channel 0's and Channel 2's news programming schedules: Channel 0 Channel Z 7:25-7:30 A.M. Morning Monday-Friday Local Noon-12:10 P.M. 12:30-1:00 P.M. Mid—Day~ Monday-Friday Monday-Friday National & Local National & Local Early Evening 6:00-6:30 P.M. Monday-Friday Local 6:00-7:00 P.M. Monday-Friday Local Late 11:00-11:30 P.M. Monday-Saturday National & Local 11:00-11:30 P.M. Monday-Sunday National & Local The format at Channel 0 is highly structured: straight news at noon, news, weather and sports at 6:00 P.M., and news, Sports and weather at 11:00 P.M., with the edi- torial (if one is scheduled) always immediately following the news. Each Show is bought by a different sponsor. 59 Channel 2's news format is loose. The weather usually carries over the 6:30 P.M. spot (usually from 6:28 to 6:32 P.M.) but is flexible. The Show is formatted by the producer, according to the most significant story of the day. If it is a sports story one day, then the sports- caster will lead off the hour. Editorials are always scheduled at the end of the 6:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M. time blocks. The Channel Z news show is sold to Spot buyers; not to package buyers. Editorials in Comparison Channel 0 editorials are written by the operations manager, approved by the owner, and aired by the anchorman from the 6:00 P.M. news. All of their editorials are re- searched by the Operations manager, and he alone decides their content. Channel Z editorials are written and aired by the news director. This is his only on-air function. He does not have to have approval from high management. His re- porters often bring him ideas for editorials, and research them for him. Editorials are aired at the end of their entire news block, whenever they are written. Channel Z has always follwed an aggressive, challenging editorial trail. They have long led the community in editorial com- mentary and influence. Unlike Channel 0's recent aware- ness of their potential, Channel Z has long seen itself as an Opinion leader in its market. 60 Public Affairs in Comparison In public affairs programming, there is no real contest. While Channel 0 has no real public affairs staff, no budget for public affairs programming, and very little production of public affairs programming, Channel Z is the exact opposite. It is so involved in public affairs programming that it has formed a documentary production unit, with complete autonomy from the news Operation. It is separately budgeted, and given free reign on program content. The station (Channel Z) runs two weekly public affairs programs: one is a review of local and regional news for the week, and the other is a youth-oriented pro- gram. It has been public affairs oriented to a high degree since the early 1960's, when one of the news staff pro- duced a half hour program dealing with the city's Skid Row.22 The station is very much aware of its potential impact, as a visual medium. They strive to make all their public affairs programming as visually attractive and varied as possible. As stated earlier, this is not the case at Channel 0. Overall, the difference between the two stations is almost overwhelming. It does prove what advantages news and public affairs-oriented group ownership can have for an enthusiastic, creative broadcaster. By the same token, 61 it shows the challenge that is to be met at the individu- ally owned station; the potential that lurks there, and the long road that station must travel to fulfill its potential. Channel Z, as a group-Owned station, finds funding for experiments in prOgramming easier to obtain. Channel 0, owned by an individual, is faced by that indi- vidual's natural fear of taking too big a risk, and losing most or all of his money. This, at least, is the fear of the owner, despite a financial position stated in the April 22, 1968 edition of "Television Age," in which the owner states that his profit margin is 29.6% Of gross: 23 "much larger than the industry norm." It would seem that with a profit margin like that, the owner would feel free to experiment with his programming, and invest money to improve his product. However, his intent is to make money; not spend it. He makes no bones about being most concerned with profit, and not really thinking his audience would appreciate a substantial investment in program improvement on his part. Certainly, cost is a factor that all middle market stations must constantly work against, while trying to improve their program content. The owner's image of his station is still one of a struggling middle market station: not a station that has proven itself financially. CHAPTER VII CHANNEL 0 LOOKS AT THE FUTURE Management's View The managerial level of Channel 0 seems to have different h0pes for the future of the department within the varied levels of management. The Operations manager tends to look at the news department in terms of personnel, and the staff he hopes to have, eventually. His eventual goal would be to have one man as a news director, to administer the department, and do some reporting, but not to anchor the news. Since working without a news director, and having the administrative duties Split between the two senior reporters, he had been pleased with the results. But with the arrival of the assignment editor, and the staff's al— most immediate acceptance of him, the operations manager became aware of the need for the staff to have one central figure to look to for guidance. Beyond the addition of the news director, the Opera- tions manager would like to have two reporters on the beat in the home city, to insure coverage of the state capitol, City Hall, and the university. He would then have one man to cover the remaining two major cities in the coverage area, and a few stringers to complete the station's coverage. 62 63 Additional equipment and a higher budget are things that the operations manager believes all stations always want. But he is realistic about the situation at Channel 0, and realizes that in the owner's mind, each equipment pur- chase, raise, and film increase request will be weighed carefully against how well the news block is being sold. Certainly, at this stage, the owner finds it difficult to justify even such modest purchases as camera tripods, as long as old ones can be made to stand. The station has been considering going to a full hour of local news at 6:00 P.M. This is due partly to the half hour of prime time programming that has been returned to the local stations by the network. It is felt however, that right now the station's staff size and the "lack of newsworthy events"24 prohibit that extension of time. Eventual plans, however, do include an extension of time for the 6:00 P.M. report. In talking with the assignment editor, it became evident that his hOpes for the future of the Channel 0 news department centered around production quality. A complete, concise Show, run tightly, with peak perfor- mances on the part of the entire staff topped his list of future hopes. Of course, he wished for a larger staff. In the future, he would like to have four cameramen: two for the home city, and one each for the two other cities in the market. He would like to have a reporter in each 64 of these secondary cities, and three in the home city itself: one for coverage of the capitol, one involved with the city proper, and one for the university and the surrounding towns. With regard to public affairs programming, manage- ment does not seem to have many realistic plans for the future. Both the Operations manager and the national sales manager agreed that it would be nice to be able to run a public affairs department comparable to that of Channel Z. But both also said that in a market like that of Channel 0's, such a project was not foreseeable in the near future, due to station income and to "lack of sufficient program 25 Neither man seemed at all concerned with material.“ immediate quality improvement of present programming (adding more visual interest, etc.). The assignment editor had a different viewpoint. He would like to see a great deal more public affairs pro- gramming being done. And he feels that once his news department has established itself with stable personnel, and complete coverage of the market by reporters with a strong image, public affairs programming can and will be entered into much more heavily. He believes that the station must, because of the large number Of peOple it serves, make an extensive effort to program public affairs: news in depth, social and political situations within the market, and features about the people the station serves. 65 He would use film much more extensively, get public affairs programs out of a question-and-answer format, and try to involve more of the public both in production and in reac- tion to programming. Personnel Views The staff agrees on one item that probably will never come to light, but which they feel is essential to the successful Operation of Channel 0's news department. That is: complete autonomy for the news department. They all believe that the owner is the main source of news de- partment problems, primarily because he is trying to con- trol something he knows very little about. If they were under the sole control of a news director, they feel their time and money would be more effectively budgeted, and their product would be of a much higher quality. However, the men realize that autonomy is something the Channel 0 news department will probably never have. For the future, the staff seems most concerned with equipment. They all agreed that there is a growing awareness of the importance of news on the part of the owner, and that because of that, more of their equipment needs are being met. They will be going to Chrome—A-Key soon, and feel this is a major indication of a growing new attitude on the part of management. They see, for the future, an additional sound camera, a higher film budget (most peOple thought between 50 and 60 rolls per month 66 would be alloted), and eventual salary increases. The salary increases they believe will have to come about when the owner realizes the importance of having a news staff that the audience can identify readily, and count on as credible information disbursers. Since that can only be done by retaining a stable staff, salaries will have to be increased. Because the staff for the most part is so young, they tend to be easily discouraged. And too, they do not look upon their tenure at Channel 0 as anywhere near per- manent. The author found in her discussions with the staff members, that their short-range plans for stay at Channel 0 left them more with individual goals, and with individual plans for the future. Their plans for Channel 0 were based on using the station as a place to gain experience, and work under reputedly poor management, to learn how not to be managed. When discussing Channel 0, their thoughts on the station's future ran to short range ideas: new equipment purchases and the like. When asked about aspects of the Operation such as increased program time, and more exten- sive personnel for complete area coverage, for the most part they did not think these things would happen. When asked about public affairs programming, the staff was even more dismal in outlook. They seem to feel that management will never consider public affairs to be anything more than a requirement for keeping a license. 67 And with that attitude, they feel that public affairs pro- gramming at Channel 0 will always be as it is now: a once- in—a—while thing, with little real effort at increased production techniques. Most of the staff did say that they believed that eventually management would settle on one or two members of the news staff to be on-air person— alities in public affairs programming. At present, the station uses whoever is available at the time of taping, for their moderators and hosts. Eventually, though, the news staff thinks the station will use only one or two men, to try to establish a public affairs-oriented image for the men and the station. The most realistic outlook for the future came from the assignment editor. He spoke freely of the reputa- tion the owner has at Channel 0, and in fact throughout the state, as a poor manager, and a hard man to work for. He (the assignment editor) said that it is his belief that management at Channel 0 is not really so poor. He admires the owner for keeping in touch with what goes on in his station. And although he does not always agree with the owner or his approach to management, he believes that he is typical of management. All management has its quirks, in his eyes, and this particular owner may have a few more than others, but even so he is one of a special type of person. The assignment editor believes that it takes a Special kind of person to manage a broadcaSt company. The 68 owner of Channel 0 is that type of person, and is financially very successful. He plans shrewdly for the future, and although slow to act, is nevertheless always driving his station upward in respectability. These Opinions give the assignment editor the most tolerant view of the station, and the most realistic ideas of what will happen in the future of the station. He seems very much aware Of his position in the organizational structure, of the attitude of the owner, and of what he can expect of his staff and of the Operations manager. His ideas on the develOpment of the station: a slow, but complete development to its full- est potential in both news and public affairs, offers a realistic idea of what and how station development will occur . CHAPTER VIII THE AUTHOR'S ANALYSIS News Development A station's philOSOphy of news is evidenced by the product that appears on the air. Over the years, Channel 0 has had a varied philOSOphy, no philOSOphy, and now, a changing philOSOphy of news. The appearance of the on-air product is the key to the development of the station's news department. The station's approach to news can best be divided into three parts to represent the overall change: the period of time before the last news director, the time the last news director was at Channel 0, and the time that has passed since he left the station. Before the news director, film footage was at a minimum. There was almost no film being used in the news block: two film stories per Show seemed about average. The emphasis in these early newscasts was on strictly local stories. The other two major cities within the market received minimal coverage, if at all. The newscasts seemed to the author to cover trivial stories, such as suburban fires, suburban council meetings, and features that were easily available from the area within the city.26 69 70 The arrival of the last news director at Channel 0 brought numerous changes, both to staff organization and to the on-air product, almost immediately. Within two weeks after his arrival, film usage within the news block had increased tremendously. Film stories were used up to eight times within one show. Coverage was branched out, to in- clude the other two major cities in the market, and the smaller towns as well. The news director, as he employed and came to know his staff and their capabilites, placed each man on a specific beat, so that the audience would be able to establish an identity with each reporter, with re- gard to what coverage he would be reporting. This news director also brought with him a new style of writing for the station. Where former writers had written in a style that was composed of everyday words and short sentences, this news director brought a large vocabulary with him, and put it to use. His stories were composed of long sentences, with a good deal more back- ground in them than had been present in other newsmen's products. The Operations manager commented that at first he was concerned about the news director's exceptional grasp-- and on-air use--of the language. During the time the news director was on the air at Channel 0, ratings rose from 28 and 13 at 6:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M. respectively (according to November, 1969 ARB reports), to 30 and 14 during those 71 same time periods in the May, 1970 ARB report.27 It would seem, according to the Operations manager, that ratings indicated that the audience did not object to the news director's extensive vocabulary. The main difference that developed when the news director came was a sense of professional pride that de- velOped within the news department. With the arrival of a specific person (the news director) to look to for leader- ship, the staff in the department developed a sense of unity and identity that became evident not only in their on-air presentation, but in their attitude toward themselves as professionals. The changes were obvious to people who were employed at the station during this transitional period, including the author. There was a real desire for a full-functioning, complete coverage, aggressive depart- ment. That reality was well on its way when the news director left Channel 0. After the news director left, there was a deep sense of frustration within the department. He had left suddenly, after a dispute with the owner of the station. Mrs. Richard Nixon was in town, and the news director had only 100 feet of film to shoot the event with. A request for film was denied by the owner, so the news director was left with that amount of footage for the event. Later that day, a CBS news correspondent arrived at the station to edit her film of the event. She had shot four reels of 72 film on the event, and ended up throwing most of it away during the editing process. Her final product was not even used on the CBS news that evening. The sight of all that film going to waste was the last straw for the news director, and he simply walked out of the station. The news director's staff was in complete sympathy. They had all benefited from their time under him, and tried to carry on their departmental development without him. Amazingly, they did a reasonably good job of doing so. The film coverage continued to be excellent. Re- porters were still assigned to a single beat, although it was more difficult, since now one man was forced to remain at the station, to write and produce the Show. The polish sometimes faded from the production: not quite as much accuracy, some sloppy film work, and some stories not covered adequately. But that was all due to the lack of a single leader within the department. Without one central figure to guide the staff, they could not be expected to function with as much certainty and professionaliSm. They could, however, work with the goals that the news director had left behind him. They continued to strive for complete coverage of the viewing area; more film to be used within the program; a reputation for themselves based on their own ability, not the reputation of the station owner. The station's main problem in the area of news resides in indecisive management. This is found in the 73 owner. The operations manager, the assignment editor, and everyone else involved in news production at Channel 0 find themselves faced with an owner who must constantly be reminded of the importance of news; who must be told and re-told the necessity of having the most basic equip— ment to air a respectable program; who authorizes purchases, approaches to news, and personnel changes, then turns around and denies ever having done so. Part of his inde- cision--his sudden changes Of heart--are due to his chang- ing philOSOphy towards news. Once he comes to the full realization of the importance of his news department, he will not be so changeable in his attitudes or behavior, and will have a reSpectable news operation under him. Until he recognizes its importance, and until he can give another man--a news director--complete control of the de- partment, he will have a department that is in a continuous state of flux as is the case at present. When the owner can develop a sense of public re— sponsibility; a realization that he is in business not only to make money, but to serve the public via the medium that -is theirs under law; he will begin to allow the news depart- ment to develop to its fullest. The owner presently is obsessed with pride in how profitable his station is. That is his primary concern. He seems unaware of the reputation his station has had, as a money-grabbing,irresponsible, irresponsive station. The 74 station has never been given credit for being concerned about a respected operation, or respectable operating practises. Until the station can overcome this image, it will never have the public reSpect that is so necessary to public communication and community develOpment. But before the public can realize that Channel 0 is a respected station to be reckoned with, the owner must come to realize that his station is not looked upon as a credible news source, or as an ethically Operated depart- ment. Only when the owner comes to these realizations will the news department begin to come into its own. Editorial Development The change in approach to editorializing is the most startling event at Channel 0. The editorial quoted on page 11 of this thesis is just a sample of what used to be stock editorial content at the station. Other edi- torial commentary the author read included statements in 28 favor of Traffic Safety Sabbath, people being more care- ful of fires, because there have been a lot of house fires 29 and an anti—crime statement that came out in the city, with the controversial decision that "we would like to see joint efforts by (the city's) influential organizations to work at solutions to the crime problem."30 Once the station decided to use television effec- tively as a public forum for airing opinions, it plunged in wholeheartedly. The station editorializes an average Of 75 three times a week. Although too often its statements are based on what-is-good-for-Channel-O-is-good-for-everyone, more and more frequently this bias is disappearing to a real concern for the public interest. A good example is this editorial, aired January 12th of this year: Quietly, and behind the scenes, the structure of the (city) United Community Chest is being altered in some important ways. Since the organization is directly and totally supported by the citizens of the community, it is prOper that broad policy deci- sions be subjected to the closest public scrutiny. The recent decision by the Chest to withdraw funding from the Community Planning Council is of genuine concern. For 10 years the council has been the planning and research arm of the chest and has made a significant input in terms of providing direc- tion and initiative. While there are apparent ad- ministrative justifications for unifying this acti- vity under the umbrella of the Chest . . . there is evidence that the move is not being made for these reasons but that the Planning Council is being dis- solved partly as the outgrowth of policy dissention between the two groups. With such questionable motivation, it is not likely that transferring the planning responsibility to the Chest staff will prove to be a constructive, farsighted resolution of the philOSOphical disparity. In another controversial move the Budget Steering Committee of the Chest has prOposed that funds be withdrawn at the end of 1971 for the Family Service Agency, the (state) Children's Aid society and the Catholic Social Service Agency. The plan would be to replace these three organizations with a "super agency" that would provide broad social services. The Chest Board will act on this proposal tonight. On December 15th the Community Planning Council submitted a comprehensive feasibility study of this proposed merger to the Community Chest. It is a thoroughly researched document resulting from five months of intensive investigation and study. This report makes it abundantly clear that the merger is not in the best interests of the community. The savings, if any, would be minuscule . . . more im- portantly, the peOple would be deprived of service in a very personal and sensitive area. There simply is no valid argument in the public service field for 76 bigger and bigger bureaucracies . . . the Federal government is the best example to show you don't improve things by going that route. An essential ingredient of the United Community Chest has been its basic pluralism . . . its infinite variety. There is recent hard evidence that the Chest support is waning . . . action to arbitrarily withdraw funds from these four organizations will hardly be salutary for the success of future fund raising efforts. Editorializing like this is what makes the editorial department the most hopeful Sign of future improvement in both news and public affairs prOgramming at Channel 0. It would be the Opinion of the author that Channel 0 edi- torials could be made more visual, through filmed support of stands, interviews with people involved, and other more visual techniques. However, at present there are no plans for this type of expansion. At present, the owner seems to be growing more and more Open to a wide variety of types of editorials. He seems now to recognize that there is no area of public affairs he cannot attack or commend via editorial state- ment, if he so desires. This awakening on his part, to the power that his station's voice can wield, is the most encouraging sign the staff has, as to the possible future of local programming at Channel 0. Public Affairs Programming Development Public affairs programming at Channel 0 has been, in the past, the most dismal area of the station. There has been no attempt whatever at creative, informative public affairs programming. Unfortunately, such is also 77 the case at the present time. The lack of concern, on the part of the owner, is almost overwhelming. AS far as he is concerned, there is not any way to sell public service programming, so he cannot see any point in investing much in it. When the author tried to Obtain the station's license renewal application, to study their three-year public affairs programming prOposals, she was told flat out that that material could not be obtained. Upon insisting that the application is a matter of public record, She was then told that she would be contacted when it could be found. Several hours of fruitless telephone calls and visits were conducted. The personnel at Channel 0 claimed that they could not find the application, because many records were in the process of being moved around within the building. The fact that this obvious reluctance to Show the author the application would seem to be evidence in itself that Channel 0 has not, and does not intend, to live up to its promises in the area of public affairs programming. The outlook for the future of public affairs pro— gramming is dim at Channel 0. Few peOple there hold any hOpe Of a favorable attitude developing on the owner's part. He seems unaware that with proper production_ and an aggressive, imaginative approach, public affairs pro- gramming can be the success that it has come to be at 78 Channel Z. Until the owner is willing to budget the staff, money, equipment, and time for development of effective public affairs programming, the station will approach this type of programming as it has been doing: haphazard scheduling, whenever a subject can be brought into the studio for a question and answer session with members of the news staff. The overall view of Channel 0's management is a view of change. The owner has built a national reputation among broadcasters as a miserly, contradictory manager, who cannot hold a newsman on his staff for any length of time. And, in years past, this proves to have been the case. The author sees a distinct change, however. The owner is financially secure with his station now. He realizes his position within the market, and knows that position is secure. As he becomes more aware of his sta- tion's power, he becomes aware of its potential, and now, slowly, is beginning to develOp it. Channel 0's outlook for the future is bright. As the owner's attitude matures, he will develOp a fully equipped, stable news staff, and will represent his market well in the area of television news. After he has what he feels is a good news department, with able leadership, then perhaps he will begin to move into the area of public affairs programming, and bring Channel 0 up to the level its audience deserves in this area of broadcasting. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. FOOTNOTES Personal interview, sales manager Of Channel Y, February 8, 1971. Personal interview with national sales manager of Channel 0, January 12, 1971. Channel 0 editorial aired November 27, 1967. Personal interview with last news director of Channel 0, November 14, 1970. Personal interview with Operations manager of Channel 0, August 3, 1970. Personal interview with acting assignment editor of Channel 0, August 18, 1970. Personal interview, operations manager, Channel 0, January 22, 1971. Personal interview, Channel Y news director, October 15, 1970. Personal interview, Channel X news director, October 7, 1970. Personal interview, editor of daily newspaper in home city Of Channel 0, October 22, 1970. Ibid. Personal interview, Channel 0 national sales manager, January 12, 1971. Inter-Office memo, from news director to owner, July 23, 1969. Inter-office memo, from news director to owner, October 6, 1969. Inter-office memo, from owner to news director, October 7, 1969. 79 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 80 Inter-office memo, from owner to news director, October 7, 1969. Personal interview, former news director of Channel 0, November 28, 1970. Inter-office memo, from owner to news director of Channel 0, September 9, 1969. Inter-Office memo, from owner to news director, February 10, 1970. Personal interview, operations manager of Channel 0, August 7, 1970. Personal interview, operations manager of Channel 0, August 11, 1970. Personal interview, public affairs director, Channel Z, January 22, 1971. "Buildup of a Group," Television Age, April 22, 1968, p. 53. Personal interview, national sales manager, Channel 0, January 12, 1971. Ibid. Channel 0 news scripts, January 16, 1968 and March 4, 1967. Personal interview, sales manager of Channel Y, February 8, 1971. Channel 0 editorial, November 17, 1967. Channel 0 editorial, January 3, 1967. Channel 0 editorial, March 20, 1967. Channel 0 editorial, January 12, 1971. BIBLIOGRAPHY 81 BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Berlo, David K. The Process of Communication, An Intro- duction to Theory andIPractice. New York: HOIt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960. Bluem, A.William; Cox, John F.; McPherson, Gene. Television in the Public Interest. New York: Hastings House, Publishers, 1961} Bluem, A. William, and Manvell, Roger (eds.). Television: The Creative Experience, a Survey of AngIO-Amefican Pro ress. New York: Hastings House, Pfiblishers, I967. Friendly, Fred W. Due to Circumstances Beyond Our Control . .‘. New York: Random House, 1967. Froke, Marlowe. The News Director's Role in Information Programmipg. University Park: Pennsylvania State University, 1959. Interaction. Television Public Affairs Programming . . . at the Community Level. TeIéviSion Information Office, I960i Unpublished Material Graziano, Joseph D. "Local News Operations Of WOOD-TV." Unpublished Master's Thesis, School of Journalism, Michigan State University, 1961. Other Sources Personal interview with Operations manager of station under study, August 3, 7, 11, and 17, 1970; November 5, 20, 1970; January 5, 7, l4, 19, 21 and 22, 1971. Personal interview with acting assignment editor of station under study, August 18 and 24, 1970; January 21, 1971. 82 83 Personal interview with acting news editor of station under study, August 26, 1970; January 22, 1971. Personal interview with acting feature editor of station under study, August 31, 1970. Personal interview with junior reporter Of station under study, January 15, 1971. Personal interview with permanent assignment editor of station under study, January 8, 1971. Personal interview with national sales manager of station under study, January 12, 1971. Personal interview with former news director (June, 1969 to March,l970) of station under study, November 14 and 28, 1970. Personal interview with former news director Of station under study, December 14, 1970. Personal interview with UPI bureau chief, in market of station under study, December 18, 1970. Personal interview with AP bureau chief, in market of station under study, December 9, 1970. Personal interview with news director of chief competition of station under study, October 15, 1970. Personal interview with news director of local radio sta- tion "A" in market of station under study, October 2, 1970. Personal interview with news director Of local radio sta- tion "B" in market of station under study, Septem- ber 17, 1970. Personal interview with news director of television station in similar market, January 22, 1971. Personal interview with sports director of station under study, October 13, 1970. Personal interview with news director of secondary compe- tition of station under study, October 7, 1970. Personal interview with public affairs director of tele- vision station in similar market, January 22, 1971. 84 Personal interview with editor of daily newspaper in city of station under study, October 22, 1970. Personal interview with mayor of home city of Channel 0, September 17, 1970. Personal interview, aide to governor of state, September 17, 1970. Personal interview, sales manager of Channel Y, February 8, 1971. 40 IllllHlllHlHIllH 175 0 NIIHIIHHIIIHIIIIH III 3 0 3 9 2 1 3 IIHIUIHIII