But there is a new battle emerging between the two forms of media. And it's one that has less to do with the relentless pursuit of truth and its presentation. Instead of pinning the news on airwaves against the news on recycled trees the fight for viewers has now hit the Web.
And now that the playing field has been leveled—do newspapers have something to brag about?
Round 1: Newspaper Web Media
After reading Steve Outing’s article on Poynter.org, I found that in a recent report Borrell Associates (a company that helps local media with online advertising strategies) pointed out "We found that most local TV operators view the Internet more as a marketing opportunity and less as a business. Radio stations view the Internet much the same. ... We also found a startling lack of 'Internet vision' among most TV and radio station owners." Broadcasters must be “ceding” to newspapers as Outing puts it. After turning to annual reports it was the newspaper companies that decided to proudly display their “online ventures”.
And this seems to be warranted after an article on the Online Journalism Review by Terry Anzur—an anchor/reporter—referred to broadcast news as the Web’s “Beached Whale”. He says, “The whale on the beach is the traditional TV newscast and the receding waterline represents the shrinking broadcast audience.” And all of this came after a news/web summit in the nation’s capital for the Radio Television News Directors Association that dealt with the growing demand for media on the Internet.
And because TV news got off to a slow start in meeting that demand, the print medium rushed ahead and started perfecting their web design before broadcasters had any sort of clue as to what their audience wanted. Captivating pictures tend to cover the front page of newspaper websites—much like the front page of their newspapers. The day’s and now the hour’s top stories are front and center, ready for the short and sweet click of the mouse.
Newspaper websites are clean and simple. They provide a large number of links and now even a vast number of videos. Take that jab, TV.
And many news sites today follow the Los Angeles Times in also having a link for the day’s most read stories—an added bonus a reader doesn’t get from the newspaper. It increases a sense of community, letting the reader know they are reading what everyone else is.
But in the end—if all else fails—we must turn to the numbers. In 2000, the RTNDA found that even though almost all TV stations have news on their websites, only 25% of the sites actually turn a profit. An even larger number—one third—are losing money.
After I asked him about newspaper revenue, Steve Henson, and sports reporter and columnist for the Los Angeles Times applauded what the Internet does for newspapers. He says the staff at the Times is past the point of caring about everyone’s 50-cents and rather more concerned with being the number one place people turn to for Los Angeles news.
Bottom Line is—TV news directors can’t seem to find the bottom line when it comes to news on the web.
Round 2: TV Web Media
Broadcasters are born with an inherent advantage. That is, they can promote their websites to a larger audience. And while critics can refer to broadcasters and their Internet sites as “beached whales” they do so almost in secret. This gives broadcasters time to perfect their websites without suffering the public’s scrutiny (at least in this instance). And since the RTNDA’s first meeting in Washington D.C. in 2000, television journalists and their news directors have had plenty of time catch up to the demands of convergent media.
And in 2006 in an article on Poynter.org, Romonesko pointed out that the Project for Excellence in Journalism study was able to boast that network and cable television websites did a better job on Election Day than newspapers. The study found: “For top newspaper sites, finding the balance between speed and offering a rich narrative still has to be reconciled…They are still struggling with the possibilities and risks of real time news, something television has more experience with.”
Broadcast news websites have kept the spirit of TV news alive by having video to add to each story. Most TV news websites like Los Angeles’ leading stations CBS-2 and ABC-7 update their videos to keep in time with breaking news throughout the day—an idea that print journalists are now reluctantly having to imitate to keep up in this battle for the Web.
Broadcasters have a list of archives for their videos—and this has helped clear up any clutter on their sites. Also, like their competitors, TV news sites have helped organize their news in sections by creating links for local, national, world, political, entertainment, and sports news.
Most assuredly to the liking of Mike Ward, author of Journalism Online, ads don’t consume TV news pages either. While print sites must provide a space for their advertisements, the news tends to give advertisers 10 seconds before a package or other news story starts to roll. For the viewer, the TV news site is then easier to manage.
And like print journalists that are now having to play copycat, TV personalities are also having to write blogs to add to their websites. Stories that accompany video are no longer limited to just stories copied from the Associated Press either.
Also, most assuredly each anchor and reporter has a short biography included on the site. This gives TV news sites much more personality—which coheres with the spirit of TV news.
And besides, who wouldn’t love knowing the person they are reading and watching loves sushi and grew up in Rhode Island?
Exactly. TV news—winner by knockout.
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