Local TV facing newspaper-like drain swirl

I recently answered a question on Quora about why someone should consider an internship in "traditional media."

First, on the print side, I pointed out to the lady the recent mass firings at Puff Hoes and ButtFeet.

Second, I referenced another answer by a local TV guy, a programming engineer, who said, "We're doing great."

No, you're not. Per this piece, based on Pew research published early last year, the audience for local TV news is declining, and the younger the age, the sharper the decline. More about that here, from a couple of years ago. Overall, by demographics, TV news viewing by age is similar to that of newspapers. Hiring is flat, though not in direct decline; ditto for revenue, with more data about all of that here.

And, more here from Bloomberg, within the last six months.

Finally, per the NYT, the rise of non-news "TV" on alternative online outlets is also cutting into TV news watching. And with that, broadcast TV ads are on the decline.

And, on the peruser side, it's not that newspapers have lost subscribers as much as it is that they've lost advertisers. Go here for more; local TV program engineer, take note, as that's what's started to happen to you and is projected to get worse.

News deserts

The Texas Observer has a good piece about news deserts — entire counties without a newspaper — and what happens with that.

What happens is that
1. Fewer people turn out to vote, especially in local elections, but a bit in state/national ones, too.
2. More gossip gets mongered on Facebook. Just as news aggregators became the enemy of daily papers cuz AP news was there, free and instantaneous, Facebook Groups are an enemy of local newspapers. But, the AP was news; it was just the issue of where you saw it. Facebook Groups generally aren't.  And, even on something like a local city, county or school district Facebook page, factually accurate items may lack context.
3. Clubs lose membership with lack of news about their meetings.
4. Advertising loses reach. (I say this not just to tout newspapers as a business, because, more and more, more and more newspapers blindly kiss advertisers' butts at the least bit of worry, as circulation continues to drop.

In counties that aren't too, too, small, a local radio station may still partially pick up the slack. But, what if there's not even a radio station?

The paper in the next county may help, but at times, they're stretched.

And, contra Duval County, no, having residents write your stories doesn't cut it. They don't know libel law, first, in all likelihood. Second, given national sites like Vox et al, they don't know, or have unlearned, the difference between news and editorial.

Third, what if George Parr or his equivalent were around today? You'd have Landslide Lyndons every election, and no newspaper to challenge that; George would be supplying all your volunteer writers.

Spell-check your redesigns

This one is not my error. (There's actually a second, slightly less obvious one than the big one.)

It's of the editorial looie at the eastern front's local outpost.

Placed without further comment.