M (uh, T?) MMM #5

Home PC problems delayed the regular Monday Morning Media Memo...hope to have the problem fixed soon. In the meantime, a somewhat delayed MMMM:

Television News Departments have allowed themselves to become promotional tools, and their credibility has suffered as a result. Ever notice how stations will jump at the chance to do a story about a new TV show...so long as it is on their network? Use a stopwatch on an average local newcast and count up the number of minutes devoted to stories that promote sponsors or the station itself. It goes back decades, to the first time some TV Sales Manager sold commercials to a State Fair and agreed to have the station's newscasts done "Live! From The Fairgrounds!" as part of the deal. So there were the anchors sitting at the fair talking about....the fair! Would they dare offer any critical comment? They had been sold out as shills for the sponsor, and the rest is history. The above chart shows the reduction in the number of people who say local TV new is highly credible. Selling cotton candy was one of the first steps in that decades long plunge. The chart came from an annual study of the media, including the decline of TV news credibility. To read it, visit The Project For Excellence In Journalism website.