Local News – Old Media in a New Media World?

In a world where media delivery is evolving at a rapid pace, there is one constant - the local news. Local news has been delivered in the same way, on the same schedule for decades (likely since it first aired).  Each story is delivered with the same old “hook and hold” story structure taught in Journalism 101 in Universities across the country, and often only brushing the surface of the story. When thinking about the local news and it’s place in the new media world it is reminiscent of a business that refuses to let go of the dot matrix printers (yes, I was recently in an office that still uses one of these!).  While businesses still have a use for a printer, they certainly should have upgraded their dot matrix to a laser printer a long time ago.   

 Now on to the question raised – “how can local news be improved?”  This is a good question, and one that many news stations should be asking themselves, particularly at a time when news stations are struggling to stay profitable and are facing competition in the form of bloggers, tweeters and any Joe Schmoe walking down the street with a phone that record. 

The first thought that arises is to make the news more relevant.  One would think that by being ‘local’ news it would be relevant to the people living within the area.  Do people in Northern Seattle, care about a break-in in Renton?  Do people in Renton care about a fire in Shoreline?  As consumers, we have become accustomed to being fed information based on our preferences – as the news is currently delivered, the consumer (aka viewer) is given what the editors and journalists feel is important which is not necessarily what the consumer wants.

Moreover, it would benefit news stations to differentiate themselves more from the other stations. Why should I watch KIRO over KING or KONG?  On each channel, the news is, for the most part the same, perhaps with some slight variations due to personality of the broadcaster.   Perhaps each channel should use a model similar to ESPN or CSPAN – focusing on specific areas of the news thus allowing viewers to select a channel based on the information they are looking for.   

At this time, I don’t have the answer to the question presented, I just know it is time to get rid of the old model  - aka the dot matrix printer – and bring in new model - one that gives the media consumer more control over what they watch, when they watch it and how they watch it.