Digital Tools Can Begin To Fill Gaps in Local Reporting, Say Public Media Advocates
The use of digital tools is allowing the media industry to make strides in local journalism, but reduced resources and news staffs are taking a toll on local coverage, public media officials said Tuesday. Universal broadband is key to filling gaps, said Steve Waldman, former aide to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. He led work on the report issued in June on the future of the media industry. “You have these gaps that are really significant,” but “we can have the best media system we've ever had if we can figure out the right way on how to do these things,” like ensuring that non-profit media has sustainable business models, Waldman said during a symposium at the University of Missouri’s journalism school.
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Staffing at newspapers has declined and coverage of issues related to the courts, schools and statehouses took a hit, Waldman said. On the TV side, “the amount of hours of news has gone up” by 35 percent over the last seven years. In crafting the report, researchers looked at whether gaps are being filled on the digital side, Waldman said: Digital tools “allowed for more voices” and technologies “reduced the cost of gathering, producing and distributing news.” Journalism was most improved at the hyperlocal level, which allows citizens to fill coverage gaps, he said. Waldman said there are several outlets that emerged to serve local communities, but “there’s a shortage in the amount of certain types of reporting."
Compared to public TV, public radio news coverage is growing, Waldman said. Public TV has done well with education and children’s programming but hasn’t done much with local news, he added: Partnerships among various news outlets and non-profits are “a key part of the solution."
Bob Priddy, news director at Missourinet, was critical of the approach to local news in the radio industry: “There are too many places where the wheels have fallen off.” Some legacy stations don’t have a news staff and some local markets are served by just one news reporter, he said. “If you look at the Internet sites of any radio station, you're not going to find anything of any value to the local community."
The use of interactive technology can help balance the news that people want and the news they need, said Marty Sidall, general manager at KOMU-TV Columbia, Mo. It can be used to “bring new information or perspective to a story,” and develop and build on content, he said. “But it’s important that it’s used constructively.”
The dedication to in-depth local reporting at some radio stations leads to partnerships with other outlets, said Frank Morris, executive supervisor at Harvest Public Media, based at KCUR(FM) Kansas City. “It used to be difficult to collaborate with the Kansas City Star. Now it’s a piece of cake,” he said: The attention to local issues puts public radio “on equal footing with some of these other organizations.”