Couple Investigates How Profitability Affects TV Journalism

May 25, 2009 by John Rook

Turn on your evening news and chances are you will be bombarded with images of crashes and fires, and stories of crime in your area, enough to make you want to turn the channel in search of some upbeat sitcom reruns.
The old adage of “if it bleeds, it leads,” has been a motto in almost every newsroom in America for decades, yet, according to Cheshire residents Karin and Bill Schwanbeck, that concept of news has been brought to new heights over the last several years.
“People always say that the news is so negative and that they are tired of the same stories all the time,” said Karin Schwanbeck, an associate professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University. “The truth is, many reporters are tired of them as well, and I wanted to document that and tell people why they see what they see on the air.”
So the Schwanbecks, back in 2005, set out to make a documentary chronicling the relationship between corporate bottom lines and local news, and how one always seems to impact the other. The result was Deadlines and Dollars, an hour-long film that follows local reporters in their daily routine, showing how each is forced to “feed the beast” and fill airtime as best they possibly can.
“Many of these places operate for maximum profitability,” explained Karin Schwanbeck. “The reporters in this (Connecticut) market are wonderful but they are not used to their potential and they are beating their heads against the wall. It was important to explain to the public that the reporters are as frustrated as they might be.”
The project has already garnered the couple awards and accolades, earning the duo the Award of Excellence at the Festival of the Media Arts at the Broadcasters Education Association annual meeting in Las Vegas last year and this year the work has been nominated for a regional Emmy award by the Boston/New England Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
But, Karin Schwanbeck insists that such recognition is simply “icing on the cake,” and that her true mission was to simply show the negative effect the corporate bottom line has had on journalism.
“When I was doing this, I kind of thought of my mother and the type of questions she would ask,” she said.
The film focuses on several different reporters from around the region, including Len Besthoff, a reporter for WFSB Channel 3, and explains how each one is forced to jump from one story to another during the course of each day without the ability to put the necessary time and energy into each piece.
The film explains that WFSB dedicates 58 percent of coverage to crime and “spot” news — typically live feeds from the scene of an accident or fire — while only five percent is dedicated to government stories. Also, WFSB leads their newscast with crime and spot news 80 percent of the time, while WTNH Channel 8 leads with such stories 70 percent of the time.
Why?
According to Bill Schwanbeck, also a professor at Quinnipiac, the answer lies in the profitability in such stories.
“What does it take to cover a murder trial?” he asked. “We have said that our niece could go and cover that. It doesn’t take much. Many of these channels are producing six or more hours of news a night, so they ask themselves ‘what’s a quick and efficient way to fill that time?’ and that’s why you see so much spot news.”
In the film, reporters speak openly about their dissatisfaction with the types of stories they are required to cover each day and Karin Schwanbeck stated that she was impressed with how open and honest each one was.
“They weren’t nervous about speaking to us at all. I was actually more nervous for them,” she said, laughing.
Describing each journalist as feeling as if they are simply “stuffing the sausage” each week, Karin Schwanbeck insisted that the reporters were “hungry” to share their frustrations and get their side out to the public.
In the case of Besthoff, both Bill and Karin stated that, on the day they followed him, he was fortunate to be able to focus more on one particular story, a departure from his usual day where he is responsible for three or more stories. However, the constraints on his time were obvious.
“He really had to crank the stories out, even on that day,” said Karin Schwanbeck.
“A lot of them said, ‘Hey, we are not just another widget in the assembly line,’” added Bill Schwanbeck.
Deadlines and Dollars took more than a year and 53 tapes to complete, a daunting task for two journalism veterans who had never attempted a documentary. However, the experience was so rewarding, and the subject so fascinating, the two have already begun to plan for their next project.
“We are going to be looking at the ‘brain drain’ on reporters and how many of them are becoming frustrated or being forced out because of layoffs,” said Bill Schwanbeck. “We are also going to be looking at how the business model for news is changing.”