Originally posted by News Is Broken:
Jesus H. Cruise, you guys need to read this:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />
KFTY's general manager and vice president, John Burgess, who will remain at the station, said the changes were part of a new strategy in which viewers and users of KFTY's Web site will determine much of the station's programming decisions.
"Literally, the mission of the station is to become a viewer-driven station, where they are supplying content," said Burgess, who joined TV50 in 1992 as news director.
The drastic changes echo those taking place in news and media organizations around the country. They are swept by the Internet and related technologies that have revolutionized how people select and exchange news, a process formerly directed largely by staffs at TV and radio stations, newspapers and magazines.
At KFTY, news of the restructuring was delivered to employees Friday, and viewers were informed only on the station's purple-hued Web site in a four-paragraph note by Burgess to "Valued TV50" viewers.
"We are no longer in a position to access the advertiser base required to maintain two long-form newscasts," he said.
Neither the 7 p.m. nor 10 p.m. newscasts aired Friday. A weekend "Week in Review" show also was canceled.
None of the laid-off employees could be reached for comment Friday night. Burgess said the layoffs will drop the number of employees to 25 to 30.
A four-hour morning news show, with two staffers, will continue, he said.
Burgess said the changes were pushed by forces that are roiling most of the media industry, primarily the availability of free and alternative sources of news and entertainment on the Internet, as well as innovations that make it simple for people to post their own opinions on the Web in print, audio and video format.
"In my opinion, we're all looking at better ways of truly touching our customers and I think for the television industry, if you're not engaging your viewers and Web site users in two-way interactivity, you're not going to be growing, especially over the next three to 10 years," he said.
"That as much as anything is the reason for this decision," he said.
TV50 went on the air in 1981 as a privately owned, independent station. Founder Wishard Brown sold KFTY for $2.25 million in 1990 to Gary Heck of Korbel Champagne Cellars. Heck sold it to the Ackerley Group in 1996 for $7.8 million
In 2001, radio and advertising giant Clear Channel Communications bought the station. Now Clear Channel has said it will go private and will sell its TV properties.
Burgess said a sale will take place, but that had nothing to do with the programming changes.
According to Nielsen's ratings, on average 163,000 households watched TV50 at least once a week in November, he said.
Now, he said, those people will be asked to play a much larger role in deciding what appears on their TV.
A public affairs program will debut in February and each week its topic will be determined by viewers, he said. Other planned programs include segments on which video footage from community groups and others will be aired.
That's the model of the future, Burgess said.
He said the station plans to work closely with area nonprofit and other community groups, and he argued that while the North Bay will no longer have a TV newscast dedicated to its issues, it may find it replaced by better local news coverage.
"Typically, news is decided by a news department, not by a reader or a viewer. We're saying we're going to flip that model," he said.
"We want viewers to tell us and supply us with the content that they want. It's much like having a bunch of citizen journalists. Frankly, I think we're going to do a much better job of covering local issues than we are doing right now."
Are you freaking kidding me?! Dear God it's like Rosenblum had a retarded stepchild or something.
Uh, Mr. Burgess? Yeah, umm... that idea is not really new. It's called Local Access and cable companies have been doing it for years.
Wow. Just... wow. Discuss.</font>[/QUOTE]Coupla things ... why is the station's web site described as 'purple-hued'? What does that add to the story? Also, there's no WAY this ND actually believes what's spewing out of his mouth ... that's gotta be job protection by spouting the company line.