Steve M. Barkin - American Television News: The Media Marketplace and the Public Interest

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AMERICAN TELEVISION NEWS

AMERICAN TELEVISION NEWS

The Media Marketplace and the Public Interest

STEVE M. BARKIN

First published 2003 by M.E. Sharpe

Published 2015 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyrights 2003 Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notices
No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use of operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Barkin, Steve Michael, 1945
American television news : the media marketplace and the public interest / Steve M. Barkin.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7656-0922-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 0-7656-0923-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Television broadcasting of newsUnited States. I. Title.

PN4888.T4 B29 2003

070.195dc21

2002075887

ISBN 13: 9780765609236 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 9780765609229 (hbk)

For Wendy

There is no boredom or misery to equal the pursuit of distraction alone. We do not slip into happiness. It is strenuously sought and earned. A nation glued to the television set is not simply at a loss before the iron pioneers of the new collective society. It isnt even having a good time.

Adlai Stevenson, 1959

So where does that leave us, the readers and the watchers? It leaves us as victims of an intense competition, between and among not only ABC and CBS and NBC, but also PBS and C-SPAN and Fox and Warner and CNN and TNT and Nickelodeon and Comedy Central and QVC and Court TV and A&E and Blockbuster. I grew up believing that competition was good, that it was invigorating, that it promoted research, that it improved the product, that it lowered the price, that it made everybody feel good. Reluctantly and painfully I have concluded that almost the opposite is true in television.

Roger Mudd, 1995

Human kind Cannot bear very much reality.

T.S. Eliot, 1935

Contents

About eight years ago, it became evident to me that American television news had profoundly changed, breaking with decades of tradition. The changes had not happened overnight, and they were not unrelated to developments that were occurring more broadly throughout American journalism. Nevertheless, the practices and purposes of television news, I believed, were differentand the difference was worth understanding. By some point in the 1990s, the center of gravity in TV news had shifted. Neither the stern, unyielding predominance of the profit motive nor the blithe (perhaps even arrogant) rejection of the goals of public service and civic responsibility was new, but, it seemed to me, they had finally carried the day in an unquestioning, and disturbing, spirit. That view was shared, I later learned, by a surprising number of practicing TV journalists. This book is an effort to tell the story of the last twenty-five years of television news in the context of the social and cultural history of American broadcasting. Trash television does not emerge from a vacuum; neither do broadcasts of the highest quality.

, Electronic Journalism in a New Era, presents an overview of television news in the United States today. It focuses on the changes of the last two decades and the concerns those changes have arousedwithin the industry as well as among many members of the viewing public.

, Beginnings: The Ethic of Commercialism, examines the creation of a regulatory and financial framework for American broadcasting. Radioand subsequently televisionwere held to a public-interest criterion of service in the law that governed broadcasting, but they were not held to account in practice. Radio and television were defined in the 1920s and 1930s as, above all else, commercial enterprises that would be supported by advertising and provide entertainment. The material in the chapter about the early history of television focuses on the 1950s and 1960s, relating the local and national evolution of television news to the early history of American broadcasting and to considerations of the impact of mass culture on individuals and society.

, The Era of Network Dominance, traces the arrival of TV news at the center of American public life, with particular attention to the expectations of public service that network news then carried for itself. The era of network dominance ushered in the new prominence of the anchorman, as American television journalism continued to evolve differently from its counterparts in Western Europe, where the tradition of news readers held sway.

, 60 Minutes and the News Magazine, examines the economic and cultural impact of the landmark CBS program that premiered in 1968. The success of 60 Minutes changed assumptions about the role television news could play economically and journalistically, gradually producing changes throughout the industry.

, Tabloid Television and a World of Talk, examines news and news-related programming that may present ethical and professional questions for journalism practitioners as well as the public. The 1980s and 1990s were characterized by an increased focus on sensational and, in some instances, salacious news coverage that challenged societal assumptions about taste, morality, and objectivity. Talk television raised the same issues and underscored an ongoing debate about who, indeed, is a journalist in a society as saturated with information as ours.

of Prime-Time News Values, as prime-time news-magazine programs multiplied and then multiplied again, bringing about a change in journalistic standards that accompanied the shift of news programming into prime time.

, The Impact of CNN, traces the history of the Cable News Network and assesses the effect of around-the-clock news. All-news cable programming has in many respects added up to something less than what might have been desired, but the nature of one presidential election and many international crises and domestic issues have been dramatically changed by the omnipresence of CNN, MSNBC, and, more recently, Fox News.

, Celebrity News, examines a cultural phenomenon: the endless fascination of audiences with celebrities, entertainment, and the lives of the wealthy. The full flowering of celebrity journalism is not unrelated to the growth of tabloid television programs.

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