Saving Black Rock from Itself
Hugh Hewitt has challenged bloggers with the following question:
What should CBS do to "fix" the CBS Evening News?
Here are my thoughts:
1. The anchor needs to be fair, young, and unassuming, preferably with equal measures of gravitas and humor. Since CBS News is infected with liberal bias, the man at the top ought personally to be conservative in outlook, and thus an effective bias detector at that organization. I suggest Tony Snow take the top spot.
2. The program needs focus. I suggest dividing the show into three segments. The first, a news roundup. This should get smaller and smaller as it sinks in that the vast majority of the audience knows what the news of the day is already. The second segment should be taking the top news story in depth, including short on-air interviews with smart and savvy leaders on both sides. No talking points or spin, just one or two simple, open-ended questions to lend context to the biggest story of that day. The third segment would be a panel, featuring smart and savvy opinion columnists from the blogosphere and talk radio. For this, I would recommend La Shawn Barber and Hugh Hewitt. For the lefty seat on the panel, I struggle with whom to recommend, since the big liberal bloggers would simply be unsuitable for an evening news broadcast given their tendency to encourage profanity and hate speech. Also, as the MSM is the official propaganda arm of the Left, it might be easier just to pick a smart, telegenic liberal and go with that. Personally, I'd like to see Donna Brazile in this seat---I may not agree with her, but she always says something interesting, and usually with great candor.
3. The major overhaul need at CBS News is to drop the pretense. They should be newsbreakers, not newsmakers, and the anchorman and news director needs to ruthlessly eliminate any producer or on-air personality who doesn't know the difference. The best way to do this is simply to stop chasing "scoops"---focus instead on breaking new angles of stories already on the radar screen. If you see it on the other networks or in the newspapers it is verboten on your precious airtime. Emphasize the "new" in "news". This will encourage unbiased thinking, as the liberal angle will already be out there by the time you go on air.
4. Devote the final 5 minutes to viewer feedback. Select e-mails at random and run them as is. This will make the experience more participatory and expose the staff to public criticism, always a palliative to ego and bias.
Or they could simply undertake the best and most daring reform of all---simply run a Fox News Chanel feed every night at 6:30 pm.
What should CBS do to "fix" the CBS Evening News?
Here are my thoughts:
1. The anchor needs to be fair, young, and unassuming, preferably with equal measures of gravitas and humor. Since CBS News is infected with liberal bias, the man at the top ought personally to be conservative in outlook, and thus an effective bias detector at that organization. I suggest Tony Snow take the top spot.
2. The program needs focus. I suggest dividing the show into three segments. The first, a news roundup. This should get smaller and smaller as it sinks in that the vast majority of the audience knows what the news of the day is already. The second segment should be taking the top news story in depth, including short on-air interviews with smart and savvy leaders on both sides. No talking points or spin, just one or two simple, open-ended questions to lend context to the biggest story of that day. The third segment would be a panel, featuring smart and savvy opinion columnists from the blogosphere and talk radio. For this, I would recommend La Shawn Barber and Hugh Hewitt. For the lefty seat on the panel, I struggle with whom to recommend, since the big liberal bloggers would simply be unsuitable for an evening news broadcast given their tendency to encourage profanity and hate speech. Also, as the MSM is the official propaganda arm of the Left, it might be easier just to pick a smart, telegenic liberal and go with that. Personally, I'd like to see Donna Brazile in this seat---I may not agree with her, but she always says something interesting, and usually with great candor.
3. The major overhaul need at CBS News is to drop the pretense. They should be newsbreakers, not newsmakers, and the anchorman and news director needs to ruthlessly eliminate any producer or on-air personality who doesn't know the difference. The best way to do this is simply to stop chasing "scoops"---focus instead on breaking new angles of stories already on the radar screen. If you see it on the other networks or in the newspapers it is verboten on your precious airtime. Emphasize the "new" in "news". This will encourage unbiased thinking, as the liberal angle will already be out there by the time you go on air.
4. Devote the final 5 minutes to viewer feedback. Select e-mails at random and run them as is. This will make the experience more participatory and expose the staff to public criticism, always a palliative to ego and bias.
Or they could simply undertake the best and most daring reform of all---simply run a Fox News Chanel feed every night at 6:30 pm.
1 Comments:
You know, that term "newsbreakers" just doesn't mean what it used to to me ever since those freaks started getting into broadcasts. (newsbreakers.org)
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