News Crash: Light News Expected

Michael Hedges December 5, 2022 - Follow on Twitter

A path forward is increasingly dreary for news outlets. This is not simply a seasonal effect. After three years - or so - of multiple, often intersecting newsworthy events those reporting, broadly, are catching up with the listeners, viewers and readers. This means, as several analysts and executives have noted, stepping back. It’s a cycle.

UK publishers association Impress released a university study last week suggesting correlation between trust in news media and journalists with knowledge of how the news media works. Correlation, of course, is not causation. Media literacy - defined by UK publishing trade portal Press Gazette (December 2) as “the ability to critically process, analyse and evaluate news” - rises with educational attainment. Therefore: “Trust in journalists was slightly higher among people with more education.”

Coinciding with the Impress report - and extending the reflection on socio-economics - UK broadcast/internet regulator Ofcom published (November 30) a few recommendations for public broadcaster BBC. Viewers from the lower income brackets are “less likely to give a positive rating” to BBC content, said the annual report. The recommendation, which the BBC has embraced, is to offer “lighter” programs, more sports, more crime drama and more comedy drama. Ofcom intends to conduct an “in-depth review into how the BBC connects with audiences on lower incomes.” News output was not specifically mentioned.

Journalism advocates often cite the value of trust. It is a simple survey question. It is also rife with ambiguity like all measures of “feeling.” In the latest Trust in News report (September 2022) from Reuters Institute the authors explore the myriad of dimensions involved in the academic question. “Indifference rather than growing hostility towards news may be the more insidious and ultimately existential challenge facing the industry. News is rarely what most people are looking for when using these services, and platforms have been increasingly looking to oblige.”

News consumption has been widely studied. This is based on the long held view that an informed public is essential to functioning democracy. The number of functioning democracies in the world keeps falling. News consumption has been sliding since the arrival of certain digital media. In recent months the drop has been even more precipitous.

News outlets are feeling the pain. Smaller, local publishers and broadcasters have disappeared, state subsidies drying up. Bigger outlets - including the well-known - are drawing up the bridge. The recent news binge, not unexpectedly, has run dry. It’s a cycle.

With dramatic effect, CNN chief executive Chris Licht set the news world alight announcing a yet bigger round of staff redundancies, reported Deadline (December 1). About 200 positions - salaried and contributor - were shed within the next two days. A significant few were well-known anchors and correspondents. Mr. Licht telegraphed earlier that as many as 1000 news people would be exiting. The HLN channel - originally CNN Headline News and created by Ted Turner - has been binned, effectively shuttering the Atlanta headquarters.

Everyone with eyes wide open saw this coming. The acquisition creating Warner Bros Discovery continues a huge challenge for chief executive David Zaslav. The debt load is mammoth, mostly due to that of predecessor AT&T. Money never sleeps and debt never goes away. The CNN product is expensive; lots of people, stuff and, er, recurring expenses. In Mr. Zaslav’s previous position, chief executive of Discovery, the major offering was Animal Planet, the quintessential “light” channel.

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