HOW CAN WE CHANGE LOCAL TV TO BRING VIEWERS BACK?
A guest commentary by Joe Barnes, former news director, KOMO-TV, Seattle

Deborah Potter is right (see Bringing Viewers Back). The viewers are right. People aren’t watching local television news because most of the stories are just not relevant to their lives. Why you say? After all, people in every newsroom work so hard to cover the news.

Here are some possibilities why viewers don’t find local television newscasts relevant, must-watch TV, and some suggestions for change:

Possibility number one: No context. Before coming to KOMO-TV I was a consultant for 12 years. Despite my love for television news, I found I could miss newscasts in my local market. The content wasn’t must-watch. It didn’t affect my life. Yes, it covered what happened, and there were some interesting franchises, but in not watching---my life went on just fine. Funny thing. It was the same for my neighbors who rarely watched TV news. I learned that “covering the day’s local news” isn’t enough. It gets down to how you cover the news and who covers the news. How: You can bring context to an event and still do interesting TV. Who: I want information from someone who knows what they are talking about.

Possibility number two: Crime. There is too much crime on the news and it is a downer. Yes it makes for good pictures, it is what happened, it makes for breaking news, and you can make an argument for its being important. But the fact remains that unless you can help the viewer understand why this crime is important, or how it will affect their lives, or who is working on solutions for that crime---it doesn’t resonate with your viewers. Unless you make those connections, and add context, crime is irrelevant to viewers unless it’s in their backyards. Worse yet---teasing crime as a reason to watch.

Possibility number three: Unhelpful news. Stations should empower their viewers. If there is a major vote on a state or national issue, local television should tell viewers ahead of time, and say whom they should contact on the issue. In listening to people, they want to participate in government, but TV news doesn’t help them learn how to do that.

Possibility number four: Disconnected journalists. Stations should know what their local viewers are talking about today. Not just the biggest story, but what they are talking about at breakfast, in cars, on buses, in restaurants, etc. One of the best things I ever did as a consultant at one station was to go to the Waffle Shop each morning before the assignment desk meeting to listen to what people were talking about. Listening to what they are talking about can guide you to a story every day.

Possibility number five: Choices. Every day we wake up for the rest of our lives, the viewers will have more choices for information, whether on TV or somewhere else in their lives. We are not competing against other news organizations. We are competing for the survival of local television news. For us to survive, we must be needed. We must be relevant. We must cover news that affects the lives of our viewers. We must have investigative stories that push for positive changes in the community.

Edward R. Murrow said it best when he talked about TV: This intrument can teach, it can illuminate, and yes it can inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to those ends. Otherwise it is nothing but wires and lights in a box.”

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