How Television Influences Society
* You are the news director of a local television station. The city council has just voted to close city parks 3 days a week to save money. Meanwhile, a major celebrity has died. The park story has greater effect on your viewers, but the celebrity death will get bigger ratings? Which do you make your lead story and why?
For some unknown reason, news has become more than a center of information. It has become the platform of entertainment. Ratings have increased when the news includes celebrity highlights or “gossip.” This is where it gets hard as a news director. Trying to make the best judgment to not jeopardize ratings but to also be informative. Standing between what affects the viewer and what will bring more rating to the station. This is where as a director I would have to play it smart.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind. One is the fact that there are important things going on in the city that the citizens need to be aware of. Some people work hard and as a result don’t have the time to sit down and read a newspaper even if is online. They depend solemnly on the night news. Then we have on the other side the ones that like news that pertain only about entertainment, and this is where it gets tough. In order to keep both parties happy you try to come up with something to catch the attention of both types of viewers. Having a good marketing team that learns how to capture the different viewer’s attention is the key to these kinds of situations.
In this case as the director of the local television station I would play the “keep them waiting” tactic. Meaning I would announce in the beginning a short review of what we will be discussing throughout the night, making the death of the celebrity one of the first things announced but the last one to mention. Always making a comment about it before going into commercials to keep the viewer hooked to the station, waiting for the news and at the same time obtaining the ratings that kind of news would get.
For some unknown reason, news has become more than a center of information. It has become the platform of entertainment. Ratings have increased when the news includes celebrity highlights or “gossip.” This is where it gets hard as a news director. Trying to make the best judgment to not jeopardize ratings but to also be informative. Standing between what affects the viewer and what will bring more rating to the station. This is where as a director I would have to play it smart.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind. One is the fact that there are important things going on in the city that the citizens need to be aware of. Some people work hard and as a result don’t have the time to sit down and read a newspaper even if is online. They depend solemnly on the night news. Then we have on the other side the ones that like news that pertain only about entertainment, and this is where it gets tough. In order to keep both parties happy you try to come up with something to catch the attention of both types of viewers. Having a good marketing team that learns how to capture the different viewer’s attention is the key to these kinds of situations.
In this case as the director of the local television station I would play the “keep them waiting” tactic. Meaning I would announce in the beginning a short review of what we will be discussing throughout the night, making the death of the celebrity one of the first things announced but the last one to mention. Always making a comment about it before going into commercials to keep the viewer hooked to the station, waiting for the news and at the same time obtaining the ratings that kind of news would get.