The Big Picture, Why Broadcast and Print News is on Life Support

Los Angeles, CA—I’ve worked in TV news as an investigative freelancer for nearly 30 years. I never sought nor obtained a formal journalism education but was drafted into TV news strictly for my investigative ability. I was lucky to be given a, second to none, on the job journalism education by many gifted reporters, producers, media lawyers and TV news consultants.

For the last 15 years I’ve watched the slow death of news, as we knew it. News consumers have left broadcast and print news in droves. They’ve escaped to Internet bloggers and vloggers for their information.

Left behind are the folks that simply never learned computers or even smart phones. Because they’re technophobes they’ve become a captive audience for television and print news. Then there are the illiterate and poor. Few of these folks are great targets for advertisers other than drug and reverse mortgage companies.

I think print is failing as society has moved away from reading or even writing to video or voice. Its sad but simple literacy has been on the decline in America since the invention of radio and TV.

Despite vast technology changes TV news has changed little since the days of Edward R. Murrow. A TV news anchor sits at a desk and drones on from a teleprompter. Reporters in the field tell their stories all in identical fashion. In this mix is nearly zero originality or creativity. Every channel is virtually the same! To add insult they even run their segments of news, weather and sports at the same time. Even the commercials are run in identical time slots.

Murrow has been dead for over five decades! Since then technology and our capabilities have changed dramatically. Still the suits running TV news are too cowardly to change with the times.

However ownership of big media has introduced massive amounts of political propaganda. The endless talking heads claiming to be experts in government do little more than alienate 50% of the audience. Today you get a little news while the talking heads tell you who to hate! Anymore, it’s never a case of, “We deliver and You Decide. “ It’s more about, we tell you what to think.

The lack of creativity along with the over-abundance of Leftist opinion is killing broadcast news. The serious decline in literate Americans at the same time is destroying print news.

YouTube has really broken the mold. They’ve somewhat democratized the process of just who is allowed to produce video content. It’s true that most offerings are experimental crappy video made by those that don’t yet have a clue. However some have developed both terrific video making skills and personality. Over time they’ve learned the craft quite well.

There the Internet standouts that became millionaires like Casey Neistat. They don’t provide news, just diversions and entertainment. Others run the gamut of the political spectrum. Nobody seems to provide pure news anymore.

Because of serious competition TV News business must be like Barnum and Baily’s Greatest Show on Earth, or it will simply fail today. TV news must learn from talented bloggers like Neistat who can make a creative and interesting story out of something as boring as paint drying. Our audiences that advertisers count on are not sophisticated or particularly wise. There is that thing called, the lowest common denominator and they need to be entertained with serious eye candy and music.

If TV news wants to survive they need the millennials. TV news has no choice but to quickly learn from Casey Neistat and move forward.

Avoiding controversial editorial opinions is also something that can unify rather than divide and jettison your audience.

A 40 Caliber Nightmare Is Caught On Tape.

So you’re confident that that .40 caliber S&W service round will keep you safe. Maybe you’ll have second thoughts after you see this video. One hot summer night in 1994 Tempe and Mesa Arizona police were involved in a pursuit with this suspect who ran into a stranger’s apartment to hide after being shot TWICE in the chest. He was shirtless and you can see the blood pumping out of those two wounds. What’s really frightening is just how agile this fellow is as he struts to the ambulance. If he was not handcuffed and had a knife or a gun, ask yourself if he could still hurt you, your partner or a hostage? If your jurisdiction demands that officers carry either the 9MM or the .40 Caliber S&W it’s time to show this video to your bosses and lobby to have the .45 ACP round authorized. The switch may well reduce the screaming by self-appointed community activists about how many rounds police had to use on a suspect. The really talented and courageous video journalist, Karen Ke...

The origin of the feature film, COME FRIDAY…

CLick On the pictures to see full size versions. Long ago there was a young lady I had the hots for in a big way (Yes, I know that hots is not a word). She was pretty, incredibly bright, and had some real elegance about her. She had a love for children and basic kindness that you don’t often see in someone her age. I met her parents and could understand she came from a much more stable home than mine. I was raised by a single, welfare mom and suddenly found myself way out-classed. For whatever reasons things did not workout they way I had hoped. Sadly for me, we went on our separate ways. From time to time I’d run into this lady in various places where our job had taken us. Whenever this happened my heart would skip a beat or two. I left my hometown Chicago, and moved to Arizona where I founded my detective agency. As a private eye and soon a TV news producer too, my career took me to the highest profile criminal events in Arizona and throughout the country. There’s no question that ...

America Will See Its Worst Race Riot Yet This Summer

Star Prosecution Witness, Rachel Jeantel Sanford, FL —Yes, the George Zimmerman trial here has thousands of African-Americans getting ready for some serious bloodletting. I don’t want to make idle and dire predictions but this nation has never been so divided and racially sensitive. Our African-American President took sides on this case at the very beginning. That ratified a George Zimmerman guilty verdict in the minds of millions. There’s just one little problem, and that is the murder case should have never been filed. It was filed purely for political reasons despite the fact that it was a simple justifiable homicide. Zimmerman was on the block watch lookout program and followed a suspicious Trayvon Martin after he used an improper entrance to a gated community. Zimmerman was acting as the eyes and ears of the Sanford Police Department. Martin did not like being followed and knew that he could easily beat up the out-of-shape...

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