What’s your holiday news present wish list?
Steve Safran December 9th, 2006
LR Pal Scott T. sent me a great idea: What would you like for a holiday gift from the land of news? I don’t mean a gadget or something real. Scott wants a simple 24-hour news channel streamed to his desktop, like the old Headline News without a bunch of hoo-hah options. Headlines at the top, features the rest of the time. Seems like a reasonable request. I’d like a local channel that embraces local community content and doesn’t replicate its newscasts online. What would the LR Faithful like this holiday season?
16 Comments Add your own
1. flotsam | December 9th, 2006 at 9:51 am
an end to “breaking news.”
2. Jason Parker | December 9th, 2006 at 11:12 am
In a word: guts. Guts to try new things, to embrace new technologies, to challenge viewers’ conceptions, and to respect their intelligence. That’s way to much to ask, though.
3. Cory | December 9th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
TV news staffs that stop worrying about all the gossip in the industry and start worrying about the future of their own jobs if they don’t take responsibility for covering news online.
oh, and and an end to TV teasing, which treats viewers like idiots. instead, just give a quick summary of what’s coming up.
4. Charles | December 9th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
For websites to become part of the news stations “canon”, as it were. The website shouldn’t just be a dumping ground for different stuff. And repurposing a interview or two and calling it a “podcast” doesn’t really count. It has to be real effort and should be a entire extension of the newsroom, not a print version of the evening newscast. Don’t make it cheap, make it canon.
5. Darrien | December 9th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
Al Jazzera English
6. Vinny | December 9th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
A tazer that I could use on any news org that uses the following inappropriately:
Breaking News
Exclusive
Top Story
7. someone | December 9th, 2006 at 10:53 pm
Certain stations in Spokane to actually report local news instead of spending half their newscasts on college sports. Oh yea, unlike say, an accident blocking a major road, a coach’s new job isn’t “breaking news” and doesn’t belong in the alert sections of your website.
Fix the new Belo template. It sucks on dialup and there isn’t no cheap broadband out in the sticks.
8. El Dangeroso | December 9th, 2006 at 11:30 pm
Nancy Grace’s head in a box.
9. thedetroitchannel | December 10th, 2006 at 8:35 am
for safran to continue to refer to websites as “channels”.
oh, and nancy grace’s head in a box would be great too. the only question is “who has a box that large?”
maybe rosie o’donnell?
10. Mindy McAdams | December 10th, 2006 at 8:38 am
Al Jazeera English is at the top of my list.
I would also like to get BBC International. Not the extraordinarily lame BBC America. Why do we have such garbage — when the rest of the world gets good BBC news programming and documentaries?
11. B. Madison | December 10th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
1. Developers / programmers who would develop web-related systems that would make sense and be easy to use for the end users and not other developers and programmers.
2. News development and programming that was dictated by news management and not sales.
3. The power to strike down with great vengeance and furious anger :
a. Any and all reporters who come from small markets and think because they got a leg-up in a bigger market and because they’re in front of the camera and not one of the minions behind the camera they’re you-know-what doesn’t stink.
b. Any and all news directors who hire anyone who fits into a.
c. Anchors that don’t take the time to read their copy before air-time, Heaven forbid a teleprompter goes out and leaves you looking like a buffoon.
4. For stations to make their news websites equally as important as their on-air news product.
5. And a plastic rocket and a pony.
12. Tim | December 10th, 2006 at 6:17 pm
My two items:
1. For news personnel on all channels (cable, local, whatever) to quit asking me questions (”will it rain tomorrow? The answer after the break”) and wasting my time.. give me the answers and facts not the questions you wrote down to get them.
2. To get some government/political news in which all of the sources have names.
13. Mike Escutia | December 10th, 2006 at 11:07 pm
BBC World would be nice.
But what I’d really like is a 24/7 cable news channel that isn’t mostly talking heads like CNN, FNC, and MSNBC are. But maybe I just miss old-school Headline News.
14. Alyssa | December 11th, 2006 at 8:47 am
Nancy Grace’s head in a box next to Bill O’Reilley’s. They both shout and accuse more than inform.
To never see another “Why washing your hands can be dangerous! Tonight at 11!” sweeps promo again. (Yes, I really did see a promo very similar to that last year in Boston).
And a partidge in a pear tree.
15. Alan A. Reiter | December 12th, 2006 at 3:03 am
A big “ditto” to everyone who wants more foreign news. I’d love to get (and even, gasp, pay for) a package of news channels such as CNN Europe, CNN Asia, BBC World News, Al Jazeera (English), France 24, etc.
Whether it’s available on cable, as a streaming Web service or even on a cellular phone, I want it!
And, I’d love to see newscasts that have ** daily ** segments on important topics — science/technology, health, economics — rather than the daily reports by cliche-infected sports reporters.
16. Chris Rooney | December 12th, 2006 at 11:11 am
To never again hear snow referred to as “the white stuff” or to hear another Britney Spears story that begins with “Oops, she did it again…”
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