Are we being provided rigorous information to help the individual be a productive citizen in a society?
ROUNDTABLE FOCUS –Theoretically, local news can produce rigorous, actionable, hyper-local news stories that can’t be found online. But local broadcast news stations are generally not set up to facilitate that; Reporters are constantly “feeding the beast,” and producers are filling the remaining air time with non-local news. We would like to discuss how (or if) that time could be put to better use.
RESEARCH METHOD - Stories are being categorized on three local stations for the amount of time in an hour-long newscast devoted to local news vs. everything else.
Preliminary results show there is more Florida, National and International news in the Fort Myers-Naples market than there is local news. Hours of available news time are dedicated to non-local news. We will use this data to lead a roundtable discussion. We hope to lead a discussion on whether local news can provide adequate rigorous information to help viewers become productive citizens in their communities.
About the presentersJudd Cribbs
Judd Cribbs was a writer, reporter and managing editor for 25 years before becoming a teacher. Before working at the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cincinnati television stations, Cribbs was an early digital news producer as a “teletext” writer and editor in the 1980s. Cribbs is now an assistant professor of journalism at Florida Gulf Coast University. His main areas of interest include News Literacy, Media Law and Ethics, and Broadcast Journalism.
Jim Goin
Senior Producer at WGCU Public Media, PBS for Southwest Florida. Over 35 years experience in newspaper, cable, and commercial and public broadcast news and production.
Mike Walcher
Mike Walcher is an adjunct instructor in the Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) Journalism program. Before becoming a teacher, Mike spent decades as a local television reporter and anchor.
He worked in the Minneapolis-St. Paul and southwest Florida TV markets. As a reporter he focused on government, political and environmental news. He received several awards for outstanding work.
He is a graduate of Northwestern University and has a Master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.