I apologize for the formatting of this blog, but apparently you can't attach spreadsheets to this blog site. I have spent far too much time trying to get this to post properly. I now give up.I decided to analyze the Channel 5 mid-day and nightly news programs individually and together. One might think the two news programs would essentially be the same, but they are quite different. I should state that I do not watch the nightly news, and only occasionally watch the mid-day news. I do however watch the morning news on channel 5. I mention my news watching habits in order to illustrate my lack of knowledge regarding these programs. I admit I had a negative preconceived opinion of the nightly news in that I think those programs are more about sensationalism and ratings than reporting the news in an objective manner. With that being said, I tried my best to look at both programs objectively.
The first mid-day news segment (stories that take place before the first set of commercials) began with a male and female anchor, Art Barron and Vineeta Sawkar, respectively, sitting at their studio desk reporting on the top story / local story – the Red River flooding. The anchors then spoke with Elizabeth Ries who was reporting live from Breckenridge where the flood waters were cresting. This story set the pace (a sense of urgency in the voices) and tone (serious) for the rest of the stories prior to the teaser story before the first set of commercials. The teaser story was almost whimsical as it was about Dancing with the Stars which airs on channel 5. The teaser also served as a time to self promote the station’s website.
The second mid-day news segment started with a serious tone, but not quite the same sense of urgency as in segment one. This segment contained the weather forecast which spent a great deal of time talking about the Fargo area. This tone and sense of urgency again changed when the promotional story (Dancing with the Stars week 3 recap) began. The teaser story before the second set of commercials was delivered in a more serious tone. The teaser also served as a time to self promote the station’s website.
The first three stories of the third mid-day news segment started just like segment two, but changed to a less serious, matter-of-fact delivery for the rest of the stories, including the teaser story, to end this segment. The teaser also served as a time to self promote the station’s website.
The fourth mid-day news segment was more relaxed as the anchors and weatherman used a matter-of-fact delivery to recap the top story and weather. These three were happy and smiling as they thanked the viewers for watching, and talked amongst each other as the show went to promote its website.
The times for the segments were 7:45, 7:25, 2:50, and 1:30, respectively. In addition there was 11:30 of commercials. There were two male and three female reporters used throughout the program. If we count the top story as a local story, then local stories were reported at a rate of approximately 2:1 when compared to national stories. The top three amounts of time for this program are as follows: 38.3% commercials, 27.8% local stories, and 15% weather. National news was 12.8%.
The first nightly news segment began with a male and female anchor, John Mason and Leah Mclean, respectively, sitting at their studio desk reporting on the top stories - the Red River flooding and a MN man found dead in Mexico. The anchors first spoke with Tim Sherno who was reporting from the studio on the Mexico story. Then Jennifer Griswold reported live from Fargo by the Red River, followed by Bob McNaney who was reporting live from the Fargo Dome. These stories set the pace (a sense of urgency in the voices) and tone (serious) for the rest of the stories prior to the teaser stories before the first set of commercials. The teaser stories were delivered in a less serious manner, and tried to entice the viewers not to turn the channel by promoting their special report on superheroes in Minneapolis.
The second nightly news segment began with the special report. In and of itself, this was the story that received the most air time (4:30). Chris O’Connell reported from the streets of downtown Minneapolis where he walked around with several superheroes. The superheroes proceeded to show Chris their weapons (these are legal) that they carried. Then an interview with a Minneapolis police officer was shown. The officer stated that he was worried these superheroes could become vigilantes. The story ended with Chris talking with the superheroes about their various acts of goodwill towards the community. The reporter almost seemed to be mocking the superheroes as he talked with them about their patrols.
The stories between the special report and the weather carried the same less serious tone and pace as the special report, but without the mocking. Once the weather started, the tone got more serious and urgent as Dave Dahl reported on the weather up in Fargo. This tone changed immediately when the teaser stories for the third segment were played. All of these stories occurred in the studio.
The third nightly news segment was devoted exclusively to sports. This segment was reported by Phil Aldridge who delivered the various local professional and amateur stories in an upbeat, enthusiastic manner whilst sitting at the studio desk. There were no teasers at the end of this segment.
The fourth nightly news segment began with the only national news story, followed by the show’s wrap up. The wrap up consisted of the two anchors, Dave, and Phil sitting around the studio desk smiling. Dave gave one last weather report, and the anchors thanked the viewers whilst engaging in happy banter amongst themselves.
The times for the segments were 9:10, 9:50, 3:05, and 0:45, respectively. In addition there was 12:10 of commercials. There were seven male and two female reporters used throughout the program. If we count the top stories as local stories, then local stories were reported at a rate of approximately 22:1 when compared to national stories. If the special report is included in the local stories, then the ratio of local to national stories becomes 30:1. The top three amounts of time for this program are as follows: 34.8% commercials, 29.8% local stories, and 12.9% special report. National news was 1.4%.
In order to compare these two programs equally, they would both have to be the same length of time. The mid-day program was 30 minutes long, but the nightly program was 35 minutes long. After looking at the data, it became clear that the big difference between the two programs was the nightly news special report. It seems that channel 5 extended their nightly news coverage by five minutes to include the special report. If the special report and 30 seconds of commercials were removed from the nightly news program, then each program would be the same length of time. This is what I did in the Adjusted Amount of Show column of the comparison table.
The following are similarities between both news programs: (1) consisted of four segments; (2) the top three amounts of time were in the same order; (3) and each spent the same amount of time signing off.
The following are differences between both news programs: (1) there was more than ten times spent on national news stories during the mid-day news; (2) there was no sports report during the mid-day news; (3) even though the nightly news had one fewer teaser, there was twice as much time spent on the nightly news teasers; (4) there were two top stories during the nightly news as opposed to one for the mid-day news; and (5) there was a promotional story for ABC programming during the mid-day news, but nothing during the nightly news.
The above mentioned differences definitely show that the mid-day and nightly news programs are two separate programs, but there are three more differences that really separate the two programs: (1) the mid-day news used more women than men during the broadcast whilst the nightly news used considerably more men than women; (2) the mid-day news had two out of five reporters that were minorities whilst the nightly news had no minorities. I would like to think racism doesn’t exist, especially in the media and entertainment industries, but this makes me think; and (3) the nightly news seemed more concerned with sensationalism.
It seems that the station prefers to use women in more serious roles than men. In both programs, women never did the “softer” stories. Instead, they were anchors, reporting live on the top stories, or representing the national news that ABC was covering. Men were used for less serious roles such as sports, weather, and the special report. I wonder if men are used in these lesser roles because the station is making a feminist statement, which in essence is condescending and discriminatory. As an aside, I have watched the morning news on channel 5 for the last ten years, and have seen two female anchors on numerous broadcasts whilst never seeing two male anchors.
The nightly news seemed to promote sensationalism, especially through the special report. As I watched the special report, it seemed like I was watching a comic book movie. The police are worried about these superheroes becoming vigilantes (this is the premise of Batman, Spiderman, and countless other comic books). There were many interviews with flood victims; showing people in emotional stress, thus supporting my preconceived belief that nightly news is very sensationalized and concerned with rating.
Overall, the mid-day news represents my own personal idea of what news should look like; racial and gender variety along with a more balanced ratio of local to national stories. There was very little sensationalism and thus made me take the reporters more seriously.
The first mid-day news segment (stories that take place before the first set of commercials) began with a male and female anchor, Art Barron and Vineeta Sawkar, respectively, sitting at their studio desk reporting on the top story / local story – the Red River flooding. The anchors then spoke with Elizabeth Ries who was reporting live from Breckenridge where the flood waters were cresting. This story set the pace (a sense of urgency in the voices) and tone (serious) for the rest of the stories prior to the teaser story before the first set of commercials. The teaser story was almost whimsical as it was about Dancing with the Stars which airs on channel 5. The teaser also served as a time to self promote the station’s website.
The second mid-day news segment started with a serious tone, but not quite the same sense of urgency as in segment one. This segment contained the weather forecast which spent a great deal of time talking about the Fargo area. This tone and sense of urgency again changed when the promotional story (Dancing with the Stars week 3 recap) began. The teaser story before the second set of commercials was delivered in a more serious tone. The teaser also served as a time to self promote the station’s website.
The first three stories of the third mid-day news segment started just like segment two, but changed to a less serious, matter-of-fact delivery for the rest of the stories, including the teaser story, to end this segment. The teaser also served as a time to self promote the station’s website.
The fourth mid-day news segment was more relaxed as the anchors and weatherman used a matter-of-fact delivery to recap the top story and weather. These three were happy and smiling as they thanked the viewers for watching, and talked amongst each other as the show went to promote its website.
The times for the segments were 7:45, 7:25, 2:50, and 1:30, respectively. In addition there was 11:30 of commercials. There were two male and three female reporters used throughout the program. If we count the top story as a local story, then local stories were reported at a rate of approximately 2:1 when compared to national stories. The top three amounts of time for this program are as follows: 38.3% commercials, 27.8% local stories, and 15% weather. National news was 12.8%.
The first nightly news segment began with a male and female anchor, John Mason and Leah Mclean, respectively, sitting at their studio desk reporting on the top stories - the Red River flooding and a MN man found dead in Mexico. The anchors first spoke with Tim Sherno who was reporting from the studio on the Mexico story. Then Jennifer Griswold reported live from Fargo by the Red River, followed by Bob McNaney who was reporting live from the Fargo Dome. These stories set the pace (a sense of urgency in the voices) and tone (serious) for the rest of the stories prior to the teaser stories before the first set of commercials. The teaser stories were delivered in a less serious manner, and tried to entice the viewers not to turn the channel by promoting their special report on superheroes in Minneapolis.
The second nightly news segment began with the special report. In and of itself, this was the story that received the most air time (4:30). Chris O’Connell reported from the streets of downtown Minneapolis where he walked around with several superheroes. The superheroes proceeded to show Chris their weapons (these are legal) that they carried. Then an interview with a Minneapolis police officer was shown. The officer stated that he was worried these superheroes could become vigilantes. The story ended with Chris talking with the superheroes about their various acts of goodwill towards the community. The reporter almost seemed to be mocking the superheroes as he talked with them about their patrols.
The stories between the special report and the weather carried the same less serious tone and pace as the special report, but without the mocking. Once the weather started, the tone got more serious and urgent as Dave Dahl reported on the weather up in Fargo. This tone changed immediately when the teaser stories for the third segment were played. All of these stories occurred in the studio.
The third nightly news segment was devoted exclusively to sports. This segment was reported by Phil Aldridge who delivered the various local professional and amateur stories in an upbeat, enthusiastic manner whilst sitting at the studio desk. There were no teasers at the end of this segment.
The fourth nightly news segment began with the only national news story, followed by the show’s wrap up. The wrap up consisted of the two anchors, Dave, and Phil sitting around the studio desk smiling. Dave gave one last weather report, and the anchors thanked the viewers whilst engaging in happy banter amongst themselves.
The times for the segments were 9:10, 9:50, 3:05, and 0:45, respectively. In addition there was 12:10 of commercials. There were seven male and two female reporters used throughout the program. If we count the top stories as local stories, then local stories were reported at a rate of approximately 22:1 when compared to national stories. If the special report is included in the local stories, then the ratio of local to national stories becomes 30:1. The top three amounts of time for this program are as follows: 34.8% commercials, 29.8% local stories, and 12.9% special report. National news was 1.4%.
In order to compare these two programs equally, they would both have to be the same length of time. The mid-day program was 30 minutes long, but the nightly program was 35 minutes long. After looking at the data, it became clear that the big difference between the two programs was the nightly news special report. It seems that channel 5 extended their nightly news coverage by five minutes to include the special report. If the special report and 30 seconds of commercials were removed from the nightly news program, then each program would be the same length of time. This is what I did in the Adjusted Amount of Show column of the comparison table.
The following are similarities between both news programs: (1) consisted of four segments; (2) the top three amounts of time were in the same order; (3) and each spent the same amount of time signing off.
The following are differences between both news programs: (1) there was more than ten times spent on national news stories during the mid-day news; (2) there was no sports report during the mid-day news; (3) even though the nightly news had one fewer teaser, there was twice as much time spent on the nightly news teasers; (4) there were two top stories during the nightly news as opposed to one for the mid-day news; and (5) there was a promotional story for ABC programming during the mid-day news, but nothing during the nightly news.
The above mentioned differences definitely show that the mid-day and nightly news programs are two separate programs, but there are three more differences that really separate the two programs: (1) the mid-day news used more women than men during the broadcast whilst the nightly news used considerably more men than women; (2) the mid-day news had two out of five reporters that were minorities whilst the nightly news had no minorities. I would like to think racism doesn’t exist, especially in the media and entertainment industries, but this makes me think; and (3) the nightly news seemed more concerned with sensationalism.
It seems that the station prefers to use women in more serious roles than men. In both programs, women never did the “softer” stories. Instead, they were anchors, reporting live on the top stories, or representing the national news that ABC was covering. Men were used for less serious roles such as sports, weather, and the special report. I wonder if men are used in these lesser roles because the station is making a feminist statement, which in essence is condescending and discriminatory. As an aside, I have watched the morning news on channel 5 for the last ten years, and have seen two female anchors on numerous broadcasts whilst never seeing two male anchors.
The nightly news seemed to promote sensationalism, especially through the special report. As I watched the special report, it seemed like I was watching a comic book movie. The police are worried about these superheroes becoming vigilantes (this is the premise of Batman, Spiderman, and countless other comic books). There were many interviews with flood victims; showing people in emotional stress, thus supporting my preconceived belief that nightly news is very sensationalized and concerned with rating.
Overall, the mid-day news represents my own personal idea of what news should look like; racial and gender variety along with a more balanced ratio of local to national stories. There was very little sensationalism and thus made me take the reporters more seriously.
What would you say to a TV exec. who says, "If we don't punch up the news stories, we won't be in business anymore." How critical is TV news in today's internet environment? I think less and less so...they feel that pressure and that may mean more and more 'drastic' measures...like sensationalizing more stories.
ReplyDeleteWow, its so interesting to see the similarities between the formats of the news programs. It is also interesting to see how the tones of each segment can create different feelings in us. Great analysis!
ReplyDelete