The San Jose Mercury News reports on Bay Area television stations and declining ad revenues as more viewers switch to web content as their information source.
Check it out:
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_12424461?source=email
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Spreading the swine flu ... story by story
Ever since the swine flu pandemic hit the news, we've watched it grow and multiply. Front page headlines, team coverage, the latest at eleven. The media infected the public with a deluge of facts, reaction and speculation. It's as if the first few gasps of the swine flu outbreak broke out into a contagious cough that every news outlet caught and spit back out. I kept up on the plethora of perspectives until the swine flu hit home.
No, no one here has the flu but I felt its effects when my daughter's school just canceled its parents weekend. My daughter is attending school out of state and parents weekend is held twice a year. It's a much anticipated time to visit your kid and enjoy special events on campus. I've been looking forward to my daughter's dance concert for months. Now the concert and other activities have been called off; parents are discouraged from visiting the campus because if even one swine flu case is detected at the school, administrators say they will be forced to cancel classes.
I understand the concern but is it warranted? Is it reason enough for us doting parents to miss that long-awaited dance performance, musical concert or sporting event? I think not.
Today the San Francisco Chronicle discussed the media scare, "The Swine Flu Outbreak - Some describe media coverage as overblown" - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/05/03/MN3B17CKP7.DTL
Writer Joe Garofoli adeptly points out how the 24-hour cable news outlets have covered the outbreak using details and visuals that "inspire fear." Garofoli says, "No detail about the flu -- often delivered without context -- has been too tiny to go unreported ... "He acknowledges some insightful coverage by CNN and NPR but he adds all too often, journalists themselves don't know what to do with all of the information or perhaps, misinformation if you look at the abundance of ink, or airtime, devoted to the virus
Yes, health-related stories sell, just like animal stories do, but I don't want my front page or tonight's top stories to be homogenous. I also don't want to learn about the 'tiger attack at the zoo' or the 'inhumanely treated chickens' through the voice of paranoia or fear. Just the facts will do, thank you.
I'm still going to visit my daughter this weekend. Whether it's an official parents weekend or not. After all, it's Mother's Day.
No, no one here has the flu but I felt its effects when my daughter's school just canceled its parents weekend. My daughter is attending school out of state and parents weekend is held twice a year. It's a much anticipated time to visit your kid and enjoy special events on campus. I've been looking forward to my daughter's dance concert for months. Now the concert and other activities have been called off; parents are discouraged from visiting the campus because if even one swine flu case is detected at the school, administrators say they will be forced to cancel classes.
I understand the concern but is it warranted? Is it reason enough for us doting parents to miss that long-awaited dance performance, musical concert or sporting event? I think not.
Today the San Francisco Chronicle discussed the media scare, "The Swine Flu Outbreak - Some describe media coverage as overblown" - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/05/03/MN3B17CKP7.DTL
Writer Joe Garofoli adeptly points out how the 24-hour cable news outlets have covered the outbreak using details and visuals that "inspire fear." Garofoli says, "No detail about the flu -- often delivered without context -- has been too tiny to go unreported ... "He acknowledges some insightful coverage by CNN and NPR but he adds all too often, journalists themselves don't know what to do with all of the information or perhaps, misinformation if you look at the abundance of ink, or airtime, devoted to the virus
Yes, health-related stories sell, just like animal stories do, but I don't want my front page or tonight's top stories to be homogenous. I also don't want to learn about the 'tiger attack at the zoo' or the 'inhumanely treated chickens' through the voice of paranoia or fear. Just the facts will do, thank you.
I'm still going to visit my daughter this weekend. Whether it's an official parents weekend or not. After all, it's Mother's Day.
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