Swept up by Sweeps...

The unending media blitz that is sweeps will be coming to a close shortly. Some people think sweeps months are a good thing, some think it's evil. Every friend I have in the business dread sweeps. It means even more work (to people who are ALWAYS on call, and work typically 10-12 hours a day) and a lot more heat if by chance, you screw up on something.

When I was producing, I looked at sweeps as a chance to showcase what we had been doing throughout the year already. More and more news stations are now sensationalizing sweeps months, to the point that the "news" they are airing can barely pass as news.

Basically sweeps has become a time to flash people as they drive by your station. Show them the goodies, and hope they come back for more. Unfortunately, these goodies rarely deliver. Stories on the dangers of MySpace ad nauseum, or a deep look into what hotel rooms "really" look like (with black light and all) litter the landscape of TV news during sweeps. Hell, if you're lucky a reporter might even take a taser shot for your viewing enjoyment. Is any of this journalism? Not really. Basically, it's scare tactics meant to tittilate and excite.

I agree that MySpace is an interesting social experiment, and there definitely is a dark side to it... and there are sex offenders lurking there. But what about the sex offenders who live in your neighborhood... Level 3 sex offenders, who are out of jail because they have been "rehabilitated"; or because their initial sentence was just much too short for the crime they committed? For instance, there is a halfway house in Syracuse for convicted sex offenders that borders a few local neighborhoods where children are outside playing all the time. I've never seen that on the news -- but I have heard how MySpace predators are ready to pounce on your kids through the Internet about 15 separate times. Yes it's scary, but compared to real dangers, not nearly as important.

Most news organizations are just too lazy or just plain not interested in covering real news, and real problems in their respective cities. It doesn't help when the marketing geniuses latch onto a story, and milk it for all its worth with over the top promos and deep voice guy scaring the bejeesus out of you.

In any case, enjoy the ride that is sweeps month. And while you're doing that contemplate how much you're learning when you see random news guy writhing on the floor after being tasered.

And always, always remember this: The hotel sheets may look clean, but damn there was something nasty going on in there before you reserved your room. Cue the dusco music, dim the lights, and pray for June... when the media whores will go back to doing stories on the latest abandoned house fire.

And with all this sweeps business happening, does it actually change the way news is done? Nope. You'd think the suits at television stations would realize people are tuning them out at record levels, and that maybe a change needed to be made. Instead, the lemmings continue to plow into the ocean, doomed to drown, without ever asking "what are we doing wrong?"

Here's a sobering look at the state of TV news: The Bad and the Ugly

TV Killed the Radio Star...

So first, an explanation. This blog is set up in part because Professor Mike Scully started one, and I thought it was a good idea. It's also a way to keep in contact with many of my students past and present. It's also an outlet to discuss broadcast journalism, and the crossroads the medium is at.

Which segue way's nicely into the name of this blog -- "Thieves and Pimps Running Free." It's actually a line taken from the great Hunter S. Thompson. It's found in his book called "Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s." Here's what he wrote about the TV biz:

The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.

So that's what Hunter S. Thompson thought of TV as it stood back then. Unfortunately it's not much better now. That's also the purpose of this blog; to discuss good broadcast journalism, and bad broadcast journalism.

For your viewing pleasure, here's an example of BAD broadcast journalism: