Legacy journalism is seeing some hard times, as the situation at ABC illustrates: its news division has announced it is going to close all of its brick and mortar bureaus around the nation (except the one in Washington DC) and will cut half of its domestic correspondents. Those who are left will be asked to work out of the local ABC affiliates.
[ABC News President David] Westin said the network would cope with the reduced manpower on breaking news stories by hiring freelance crews and making use of its expanded team of digital journalists, staffers who would be able to handle multiple tasks. Although a majority of stories will still be covered by traditional four-person crews, Westin said he expected a “plurality” of pieces would be done by people shooting and editing their own video. The digital journalists will be stationed in two-person teams around the country.
In other words, ABC News plans to make do with less, as millions of other businesses around America are doing. In this economy, it’s becoming a sadly familiar story.
What stands out, however, is how ABC sees no problem with paying ABC World News Tonight anchor Diane Sawyer an estimated $12 to $15 million per year while laying off the little people in order to make ends meet. And she doesn’t seem to have a problem cashing those juicy paychecks.
Now, ABC News is a private entity. It’s actually none of our business how much they pay anyone, let alone glamour puss Diane Sawyer. But it sure is funny to hear her shocked tone when talking about executive bonuses and “gigantic salaries” for “failed companies,” considering her “gigantic salary” working for what may very well become a “failed company.”
Not long ago, we heard that Katie Couric over at the CBS Evening News was going to have to take a “dramatic pay cut” in the wake of layoffs at CBS News – a rumor which was denied Sean McManus, president of CBS News & Sports. Yet considering that CBS Evening News continues to lag in last place, such a move, if true, would not be unprecedented. After all, don’t ratings correlate to advertising rates?
Speaking of CBS and Couric’s contract, rumor also has it that CNN’s Anderson Cooper has been approached about the anchor chair. Seriously? Anderson Cooper, who made vulgar jokes about Tea Partiers by saying “it’s hard to talk when you’re tea bagging” and whose own ratings aren’t exactly anything to brag about? If this is true, good luck to CBS; they’re going to need it.
Yes, broadcast news continues to dominate the ratings, but cable news is catching up – and online news sources are nipping at television’s heels, which includes just over one quarter of Americans getting their news on their cell phones.
Last year, a bill was introduced in the Senate that would allow newspapers, which have also taken a beating in the last decade, to reorganize as non profit organizations. If television news bureaus continue to sink, will such a bill in favor of television news surface?
Since one hand washes the other, it wouldn’t be terribly surprising.
On Monday, Rush Limbaugh wondered, in light of ABC’s woes, if the drivebys (as he refers to the legacy media) will report on how Obama’s ideas have failed the economy.
I don’t know. I wonder what Diane Sawyer thinks?