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From: davem%ersys@nro.cs.athabascau.ca (Dave McCrady)
Newsgroups: comp.society
Subject: NBC Coverage Decisions
Message-ID: <1677@limbo.Intuitive.Com>
Date: 30 Jan 91 02:18:19 GMT
Sender: taylor@limbo.Intuitive.Com
Organization: Edmonton Remote Systems, Edmonton, AB, Canada
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Approved: taylor@Limbo.Intuitive.Com

Dave Taylor writes:

> Whether the NBC national news covers the peace demonstrations is, most 
> unfortunately, a function of their belief in whether they can get "the 
> best ratings" of the news shows competing for the viewer dollar.  The 
> National Broadcasting Company ultimately cares little as a commercial 
> organization about the morals and ethics of the current situation; 
> they're more concerned with people flipping to CNN instead of NBC for 
> the news, taking away their advertising revenue.  

Mr. Taylor says he is a journalist.  Then he must know that coverage 
decisions are based on an editor's (or producer's) perception of what 
is of interest to the viewer.

As a TV assignment and lineup of editor with many years experience, I 
can tell you that each and every day, we are forced to not cover
certain events ... or, having covered them, drop the item ... because 
when it comes to getting the program together, it simple isn't possible
to squeeze 35 minutes worth of material into a 25 minute hole .. it
just can't be done.

There is more to the packaging of news for television than just
covering everything that happens.  The coverage has to be there, of
course.  But the program also needs the things that make television
work:  pacing, a mix and hard news and feature stuff, analysis.

We are >not< newspapers of the air.  We cannot cover everything.

We do what we can with the time alotted to us with a view to attracting 
the interest of as many viewers as possible.  Those decisions are made 
by people and people, as we all know, sometimes make errors in judgement.  
We're not perfect.  But who is, particularly when you are in the 
business, literally, of reading viewers' minds?

I'm prepared to stand accused of making a mistake in judgement when it 
comes to coverage decisions.  After all, I'm human.  But don't accuse me 
of being biased when I decide not to send a crew to your staged event 
because I feel there would be more interest in some other story.  I don't 
care if somebody managed to get a quarter million people out to a rally 
in S.F.  Does anyone who wasn't there really care?  That's a drop in the 
NBC audience bucket.  I can well understand their decision to pass on it, 
given the REAL news that's happening in this world of ours right now.

Dave McCrady