Why they hate us

[garrow]

I decided to become a journalist because all my favorite writers (Frank Herbert, Raymond Chandler) had been. Gave no consideration to the angry, political side of reader responses because I knew nothing about that.

I guess I am attracted to jobs that the public hates and thinks they know how to do better. That is why I am announcing right now my candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Win big. Win narrow. Vote for Garrow.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Anchor or bust? Also depends -- not on the market but what a particular station thinks of you. If I left tomorrow, our ratings would not change. Wouldn't go down. Wouldn't go up. If my female co-anchor left tomorrow, we'd probably lose 15-20% over the next six months. That explains why she makes 40k more than I do

How does your station know the female anchor affects ratings and you do not? Seriously. It seems that just from reading about audience research in local news there is a fair amount of quackery among the consultants.

 

[Pilot]

I also think that when people have an image of the media that they hate, it's the things they see on TV. It's the national media, the big time outfits. I think they've lost grasp of the fact that the troops on the ground, as it were, be it in Houston or Tallahassee or Yakima are their neighbors, possibly their friends. Just regular people doing a job that they would really like to do well. And they don't want to be blamed when a source says into the camera a blatant lie. Do we not show live clips of press conferences anymore? Is the press responsible for people blatantly lying in the moment? No, but if you talk to people they think we are. But again I think that's a based on what people think of the mainstream, national media and not the dude who lives down the street with three kids.

Agree with most of that, but would say I think the image of "the media" is different from person to person.

Some people who say "the forking media is the problem with this country" and mean Fox News and Breitbart, OAN and Gateway Pundit.

Some people say "the media sucks, etc." and mean everything from MSNBC to Vox to NYT and ABC.

They all definitely agree the media sucks, though. They're just talking about entirely different media.

That's only part of the problem though.

I think about how much hate I see The Athletic get on my college football message board and I have a hard time processing it. How can you hate The Athletic? It's mostly talented people trying their damnedest to tell good stories about their local teams.

These are the kind of people who have no sort of nuanced understanding of the state of sports journalism, though they think they do and are positive they know what's wrong at ESPN .

Nevertheless, there's a significant contingent that's actively hoping for the site to fail. I see no logical reason besides just a deep, ingrained hate of journalists.

 

[Azrael]

This sort of stuff has always been present, directed at politicians and journalists, bubbling away just below the surface.

It has moved from the outraged margins to the outraged mainstream.

 

[Azrael]

If you were working in the news business in the 1970s in the American midwest, you were all too aware of the threat posed by violent white supremacist/neo-Nazi terror groups like Posse Comitatus.

Encyclopedia of the Great Plains | POSSE COMITATUS

 

[Jake from State Farm]

If you were working in the news business in the 1970s in the American midwest, you were all too aware of the threat posed by violent white supremacist/neo-Nazi terror groups like Posse Comitatus.

Encyclopedia of the Great Plains | POSSE COMITATUS

In Marquette, where two of the three networks came in on transmitters from Green Bay, we were very aware of the RWNJs comprising the Posse Comitatus

 

[JimmyHoward33]

Speak for yourself, no one hates me. Cept maybe my father in law

 

[Regan MacNeil]

This sort of stuff has always been present, directed at politicians and journalists, bubbling away just below the surface.

It has moved from the outraged margins to the outraged mainstream.

Nothing exists until the NYT discovers it.

 

[I Should Coco]

Depends on the market. You get to some markets, like Minneapolis, Denver, Portland, Seattle and they are fantastic "storyteller" markets. These shops often have good ownership (Tegna takes a lot of hits but they do have superb reporters in each market).

Anchor or bust? Also depends -- not on the market but what a particular station thinks of you. If I left tomorrow, our ratings would not change. Wouldn't go down. Wouldn't go up. If my female co-anchor left tomorrow, we'd probably lose 15-20% over the next six months. That explains why she makes 40k more than I do

There is a serious reckoning going on in TV news right now as more and more people are leaving because the salaries are abysmal for 70% of us -- pretty much every TV news person in Markets 100+ and then, for most reporters/producers/photographers in Markets, oh, 50 and smaller. The station owners have been printing money for years but they'd kept salaries down because they could. Now they've run into a problem.

22-year-olds aren't putting up with shirt treatment anymore. I admire that. I wish, 26 years ago, I could have stood up for myself a little more. But, I was in sports and I beat out 175 tapes for my first anchor job. No leverage.

May I mention here that I appreciate the insight into the TV news business that people like exmediahack and PC (among others) provide on this site.

It's easy for us print guys (if we can still be called that in the newspaper business) to complain about local TV broadcasters reading our copy on the air, doing their inane Friday night sports highlights, and parking their van in the fire lane at crowded games/events. But just like newspapers, the local TV stations are trying to squeeze every last ounce of blood from the turnip, and it's making a bitter stew for their employees.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Cable news networks are getting the perception of cable sports networks
Just like MLB, NFL and NHL networks, Fox is the Republican network and MSNBC the Dems, though the most notable thing are all the former Republicans who work there
I think that's why right wingers give CNN the most shirt since it claims objectivity

 

[Jake from State Farm]

May I mention here that I appreciate the insight into the TV news business that people like exmediahack and PC (among others) provide on this site.

I had an appreciation from working the TV/radio beat, which has disappeared
If you think newspapers is a nomadic business…

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

The thing TV news does that newspapers rarely do is to promote their journalists as personalities. Maybe the people would love us more if they knew how much we love them.