Four of our colleagues died last week. They died doing what they loved - covering news. We all love it, but most of us don’t have to take the kind of risk Scott Bowerbank, Jim Cox, Craig Smith, Rick Krolack and their airborne colleagues across the country must take each day. The crash raises many questions, some of them uncomfortable. Why do we cover car chases? Why do we need five helicopters in the air? Why are pilots asked to do so much at once? Should the person who instigated the chase on the ground be charged in the death of the people in the air?
That first item is one of endless debate of course. The simple reason to cover them is that a high speed chase drives ratings. Are they of news value? Sure, some. But the folks most affected by a car chase are in their cars - not near televisions.
On the day of the crash, five news helicopters were in the air: KTVK/Independent, KSAZ/Fox, KPNX/NBC, KNXV/ABC and KPHO/CBS. Each had to do a delicate balancing act as they worked to bring back live pictures of the chase. Each station also must put out millions to keep the choppers flying throughout the year. Think of the dollars saved, the time saved - and maybe even lives saved if stations in large markets pooled their helicopter resources. If one pool helicopter were in the air that day last week instead of five, this likely would not have happened.
Several Phoenix stations did stories about how much helicopter pilots in that market must do at once. Fly the chopper, communicate with the tower, communicate with other helicopters, communicate with producers, talk to anchors and follow the “action.” It takes an enormous amount of focus and dedication to do all that - but is it too much for one person? Perhaps.
Moments after the accident, one of the Phoenix anchors said they felt the person responsible for the chase should be held liable for the crash. Police haven’t ruled out charges against Christopher J. Jones in connection with the helicopter crash.
Former newspaper columnist Allan D. Mutter has some strong words on the use of choppers in news gathering:
Apart from the lives of the newsmen lost in helicopter crashes over the years, it costs no less than $1 million a year to operate a modest-sized news chopper carrying a crew of two, according calculations based on information published at Helinews.Com. That’s enough money to hire 10 to 15 journalists to develop real stories.
If this latest accident finally causes the industry to wise up and ground its extravagant fleet of noisy and air-polluting helicopters, then the grieving families of the Phoenix newsmen would have the modest comfort of knowing their loss wasn’t in vain.
No ratings number, not profit margin, no “big get” is ever worth the life of a human being - let alone four.
July 30th, 2007
That headline got your attention. So should the latest blog entry from Bill Adee, the associate managing editor for innovation at the Chicago Tribune. While he might have an awesome title, he’s coming right at you with a challenge: “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be the main online source of video for Chicagoland users.” And to get there, he says the Tribune has 31 staff photographers with video cameras, and the multimedia team has video cameras. Let’s be conservative and say that’s 40 video cameras shooting video around Chicago. After working in Chicago, I can tell you with certainty that there is no TV station with that many cameras out on the streets. Take a look at some of the videos in Bill’s blog post and ask yourself how long until this post’s headline is reality.
July 30th, 2007
So there’s this thing called the Internet, and people have figured out how to put their favorite shows on it. Then, in some board room somewhere, an executive had the great idea of leaking their fall shows to get the people who use them Internets to watch the show and want more of it, like crack or Krispy Kremes. TV Week confirmed for us that the shows are online. The sarcasm could end here, but it’s just getting good. Click for the best part.
Read the full post July 30th, 2007
Here’s your funny for today: check out this screenshot of a WGN story on oil company BP dumping mercury into a lake. Notice the ad in the upper right corner…
July 30th, 2007
The New York Times and NBC News said today that they would work together to cover aspects of the 2008 presidential campaign. Both news organizations say they will share breaking news back and forth. The agreement spans all their mediums: on their web sites, in video and in print. NYtimes.com will also get NBC News political video. “The 2008 campaign is already the biggest political story of our lifetimes, and getting bigger and more complex with every passing day,” said Mark Lukasiewicz, vice president of Digital Media for NBC News. (The full press release is available after the jump.)
Read the full post July 30th, 2007
Pownce is a new social networking site under construction that marries the functionality of Twitter with file sharing and events. And Digg’s Kevin Rose is one of the founders, so naturally, everyone wants an invite to the private beta. But there are so few available, some are selling on eBay for $10 a pop.
Update: Well, invites aren’t that hard to come by. Just check out the comments below.
July 30th, 2007
The second quarter hits keep coming. Belo reported a 15 percent drop overall, largely due to dismal newspaper returns that pointed fingers on softening real estate, a scapegoat we’ve heard named from other publishers. On the broadcast side managed to produce slim increases, with local business advertising sales climbing 3.9 percent compared to national spot growth at a mere 1 percent. But, perhaps thanks to some very bright bulbs in the online division (cue to Cory), Belo’s web-related TV activities were up 48 percent.
July 30th, 2007
Dallas Fox affiliate KDFW’s chopper crash-landed this morning - just days after a fatal accident in Phoenix killed four people aboard two news helicopters. This time, the station is calling it a “emergency landing” - but the pictures make it look much worse. Three people were onboard — and all made it out OK.
July 30th, 2007
