Crime News Failure

The solution to this first problem is to dismiss such mistaken myths in order to make room for supported techniques and ideals that will contribute to a lasting and successful form of local TV coverage. “To produce better content that will really attract viewers, journalists have to first let go of deeply ingrained assumptions about the audience, the medium, and their own abilities” (Rosenstiel 164). New professionals must understand that when it comes to the audience, a defensive approach to frighten or trick people to watch in order no not lose viewers is not ideal. A more effective strategy is to build viewership on a basis of good storytelling about important issues and events. People care more about issues presented in a well-rounded story

“The absence of enterprise and the elements of effective storytelling may explain why incident-based crime news fails, by itself, to attract viewers” (Rosenstiel 80). Thus the study in the book found titillation, like flashing lights and yellow police tape, neither holds viewers, nor builds audiences. The authors also found that “it’s a mistake to assume people don’t care about events outside their community and to cede or even drive viewers to cable” (Rosenstiel 81). The study found local TV news audiences have nearly as high of an interest in national and international issues as they do in local matters. The final thought when it comes to correcting incorrect assumptions about audiences is that the study found that making quality stories longer typically leads to better ratings, refuting the concept that viewers won’t watch long issue stories. In fact, when policy event stories were longer, they became more likely to hold or increase their audience. However, making spot news stories longer did nothing to attract more viewers, which shows spot news doesn’t need a lot of reporting, while issue stories

Contrary to the popular belief, immediacy is not the most important value. Even without important breaking news, a newscast can hold or attract more viewers by showing an enterprising story that was reported well about an important topic, even if it isn’t as late breaking. “Given the choice of immediate or significant, most local TV news people will still opt for immediate. The numbers show that that approach is misguided” (Rosenstiel 64). Although it is easier, takes less time, less expertise and less imagination to rely on visuals to provide appeal for a story, the extra effort of attracting audiences through reporting, information and storytelling is worth it in the end. Pictures were found to not be more important than words and ideas, and covering stories in a way that is interesting to the audience attracts and holds viewers better. “How a newsroom covers a story- the degree of thoroughness, the amount of enterprise and, ultimately, the investment of a newsroom’s time, resources, and energy – has a greater influence on ratings than what the story is about. In other words, contrary to the popular belief, treatment trumps topic” (Rosenstiel 71). Therefore, longer and more complete stories about important local stories will build viewership. If news professionals not only understand the truths that invalidate