In travels around the media village here during the Democratic National Convention, when there was no breaking news from the floor (which was often), talk turned to the media’s favorite subject: the media.
Namely, the declines in media circulation, ratings and profitability.
The idea that some newspapers could become online-only, once unthinkable, is a very real possibility. More news outlets are turning to the “one-man band” model of reporter equipped with video camera, audio recorder and reporter’s notebook.
“I tell kids coming up they have to learn to edit on a laptop, and operate a camera,” said CBS “Early Show” anchor and former Denver broadcaster Harry Smith. “There will not be as many network news opportunities, but reporters will be one-man bands.”
The rise of the blogosphere was apparent, even as the mainstream made big splashes with their grills and double-decker sets. In fact, the difference in approach between MSM (mainstream media) and bloggers was minimal. Everyone’s twittering, everyone’s blogging, everyone’s eager to appear everywhere possible as often as possible.
As the spotlight moves to St. Paul, the numbers suggest the public embraces the online aspects of old-style media: PBS said special online convention coverage of the DNC boosted Web traffic on the “Online NewsHour” by as much as 92 percent. Preliminary figures show 3.5 million viewers watched Barack Obama’s speech on PBS Thursday night.
As usual, the public broadcaster is offering the most clear-eyed, non-disruptive coverage on the dial that stayed focused on the content, not the network branding. PBS’s numbers are up compared with 2004 convention coverage.
Another strong performer: David Gergen on CNN, who may take Tim Russert’s place in our minds as TV’s go-to commentator with insider experience.
The best news for the media this summer? Even cynics observed that the Olympics proved the viability of the MSM.
NBC’s $894 million multiplatform gamble paid off beyond expectations. The network easily won all 17 nights, chalked up $1 billion in revenue and the 2008 Summer Games became the most-watched event in U.S. television history. Some 214 million of us — about 11 percent more than the second-place Atlanta Olympics of 1996 — saw at least some of the games from Beijing. That meant an average 27.7 million viewers a night.
Nielsen reported 38.3 million viewers showed up for the DNC’s Thursday night (across 10 networks).
When TV offers exceptional programming, the masses still show up.
Specifically, when the emotional, non-sports side is accentuated, women show up in even greater numbers than men.
The ongoing convention coverage by local stations on multiple platforms is demonstrating how adaptable newsrooms can be. KUSA’s wide-ranging TV-laptop-PDA-Channel 20 flow of coverage is only the most highly rated. Others include KCNC’s collaboration with KBDI political analyst Aaron Harber.
The media question for this week: How will the coverage play during the Republic National Convention in St. Paul?
At deadline (a phrase that’s a holdover from the old dead-tree media days), the news divisions were preparing for split-screen coverage of the GOP and Hurricane Gustav. Instantaneous online coverage will only increase in importance going forward, where news keeps pace with the weather.
For now, institutional memory, context and perspective still counts for something:
With Michael Chertoff on the cable news networks talking about evacuations, we’re having Yogi Berra moments — “deja vu all over again.”
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
