News Media
Not Married, Just Friends
October 31, 2006 
We have noticed a recent trend in the Boise media market toward alliances between print and broadcast journalism.
The political pundits have always been unpaid guests on television and radio shows. That is great for the ego and gets the name of the print publication before the listening and viewing public. The print people lend an air of “authority” to the broadcast medium…you never see a radio news guy quoted in the Daily Paper or a TV kid used as a source in print.
Things have changed. Celebrity, meet Gravitas.
The Idaho Statesman runs the KIVI Channel 6 color logo on page one and the TV people show copies of the paper when they share the results of their “exclusive polls.”
The Idaho Business Review–the Big Little Paper–has come out with the KTVB Channel 7 logo on the front page and conspired with the big 7 to do a story about the Hollywood housing development in the desert east of Boise.
Insiders tell us that deal was orchestrated by The Chamber of Commerce, KTVB and the developer, but once it leaked out everyone scrambled to get something on the air, in print, or posted to a web site. (Scroll down to the GUARDIAN story “I WANNA PUT YOU IN THE MOVIES” for our take)
All this comes at a time when newspapers are struggling for readers and TV for viewers. The Channel 7 cable 28 show called “24/7” which reruns the latest newscast until the next one is aired is brilliant. They also do BSU football over and over and over as well as the political debates. It has to be a huge money maker for the station in terms of advertising revenue vs production expense.
The poor folks at Channel 2 get their identity changed to cable 8 and they have no re-run channel. No wonder there aren’t any viewers.
Meanwhile the Daily Paper and the Big Little Paper are in court over the quarter million dollar a year public notice advertising business. The Statesman has sued to stop the Idaho Business review from publishing certain legal ads required by law.
There is a complex definition of “newspaper of record” which goes back to the days of Ben Franklin and post office subsidies, but the Statesman cites an Idaho law requiring publication in the “largest circulation” paper.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Oct 31, 2006, 1:24 pm
I see these alliances lasting a short period of time. There are too many big egos involved along with the big bucks. Follow the big egos and the money.
Oct 31, 2006, 6:20 pm
Who really wants to watch the outrageous stupidity on our TV’s ( especially Boise local TV) or read the mental garbage American news papers expect you to believe? The Statesman takes the cake for most dumed-downed , Govt. controlled publication.
Now the local media is searching for ways to make money-catering to the local ” financial elite” such as our ” would-be cowboy” business, political, and bureaucratic neo-cons which might pay off temporarily but here’s what you always wind up getting- a TV show designed to entertain perverse morons or a newspaper 2/3 of which is advertsing with 1/3 of govt. controlled ” news?.”
My conclusion? Newspapers and TV ( just like Hollywood) is losing more money every year to those of us who would rather entertain ourselves with DVD’s and tapes while we get our information from the internet.Say goodbye to the idiotic talking-heads and no-news paper kiss-ups and hello to ” A brave new world!”
Oct 31, 2006, 8:28 pm
Yesterday’s Channel 6 has had some trouble.
They identified Statesman columnist Dan Popkey as “Dan Pokey” on Sunday. Doh!
On Monday, reporter Jacqueline Bennet called the paper… wait for it… wait for it… “The Idaho Statement.” And this wasn’t a live flub up kids… it was in the pre-recorded “track.”
I love the promos for the anchor team – touting “experience.” Experience, like when anchoress Michelle Edmumds called the well-known streets of Owyhee and Malad – O-WA-hee and Ma-LAUD. Experience.
EDITOR NOTE–We too saw it and agree the presentation was pretty rough around the edges.
Oct 31, 2006, 10:36 pm
Who cares what the media does – – only the media. They spend too much time pandering to the Chamber of Commerce and do not have the guts to dig into any real issues.
You can get more news from the web in 10 minutes than you can from 30 minutes of tv or 60 minutes with the local rag.
Nov 1, 2006, 11:21 am
While on the topic of local media… does anybody else miss Jon Duane and Chris Kelly (KIDO) as much as I do? Criminy – it’s like I lost 2 dear friends!
Jon was always an opinionated curmudgeon. But BOTH of ’em had their finger on the pulse-beat of Boise, and their banter was entertaining and informative.
Obviously they made it seem easier than it is… the new guy – Norton? – is clueless about pretty much everything.* He should just keep his mouth shut… but I guess you can’t do that if you’re a radio personality. Dave Burnett is an old-timer, and holds his own. Gemma might help; the jury is still out.
Also, KIDO seems to have developed a Statesman/KIVI alliance – they read stories right outta the Statesman, I swear… and the KIVI weather people do weather duties at KIDO, too.
Speaking of weather… who are you voting for on 11/7, for “Idaho’s Chief Meterologist,” Guardian? I’m feeling strongly anti-incumbent; Rick Lantz has held the title for years, and the weather is no better now than it was 8 years ago!
* Just one example of Norton’s cluelessness… a couple weeks back, he was bemoaning the fact that Notre Dame football airs so frequently in Boise. He said, “Notre Dame sucks!” evidently not aware that they are 7-1 this year, and ranked #11. (I’m no big Notre Dame fan, but that really got my attention. Norton has a couple such gaffes pretty much every morning. He was unaware of Ontario, Oregon. He tells jokes that nobody but himself thinks is funny… candidate for the John Kerry Comedy Award, perhaps?)
Nov 1, 2006, 6:29 pm
I love the suggestion that the guy on KIDO Radio should keep his mouth shut! So should Rush the big fat idiot Limbaugh, Bill O’Liely, Sean Hamity and many others who constitute a much larger threat to our society that any foreign government.
I also like the idea of voting for who should get tto proclaim him/herself “Idaho’s Chief Meteorologist.” First requirement should be that the candidate possess a degree in meteorology. That would eliminate many of our tv weather guessers, with the obvious exception of Penn Stater Scott Dorval.
Finally, its good to hear that people (viewers) are actually aware that the kids paid to play reporters on Boise tv can’t read or write above elementary school level. I’ve said it before – we deserve better. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a show on our little local TVTV channel that pointed out all the stupid things said that day on the alleged tv news programs, like that show “Talk Soup” on Comedy Central. It could be called – “They actually said that!”
EDITOR NOTE–GUARDIAN readers do quite well with their DOPE REPORTER AWARDS. Just search “dope” on the search engine at right for winners.
Nov 2, 2006, 12:06 am
Personally I think Boise television is just a training school for wannabe big town reporters. Except for Rick Lantz who has been doing weather at 7 for what, 25 years, or so? I expect he is not planning to move.
We jump back and forth during local news but usually watch 2 (or is that eight? No, only on cable.) All of the old faces are gone and the young ladies, like me, seem to be fighting an unsuccessful battle with the bulge. Or are they, unlike me, all pregnant?
I don’t expect people who just moved here to pronounce some of our odd place names correctly.
Most people mispronounce my name for the same reason – it’s odd.
It must be tough for the local stations to compete with all the cable/satellite news out there except for the tiny bit of local stuff they offer up.
The Statesman pretty much just prints whatever was on tv last night along with lifted stories from the news services. Its pathetic. However it really annoys me that they are going after the Business Review just because they are bigger. I would probably cancel the Statesman over this except I like to read Letters to the Editor and do the crossword. Guess I could do that online?
Nov 2, 2006, 8:15 am
The Idaho Statesman:
I just wish they would get some proof readers.
Now, I ain’t that smart and even I constantly see typos and wrong wording/words in their articles.
Gezz…
Nov 2, 2006, 8:20 am
The TV stations remind me of the realtors and a couple of other groups. They think pushing their pictures of themselves at us several times an hour in self promotion vanity advertisements promotes viewership or readership. I feel that all the realtors with their picture ads of themselves are caught up in their own vanity. If I am looking for real estate or wanting to sell something I am interested in their performance and abilities rather than an air brushed vanity photo of them taken ten years earlier. The same goes for new reporters and anchors. I believe we are interested in the meat of the subject not the fluff.
(CELEBRITY, meet GRAVITAS)
Nov 2, 2006, 12:29 pm
When the refigerator was invented, companies that delivered ice for ice boxes furisouly began to innovate new ways to cut, deliver, and store ice. However it was all in vain as the refrigerator was the future. Here we have newspapers with dwindling readership trying to innovate new ways to survive, when in reality paying a company to chop down trees to give you yesterday’s news is no longer a good business model and real-time, paperless is the future of information. Newspapers partnering with TV’s is just a feabile attempt to prolong the inevitable. I would also say it confuses the role of media to self-regulate…where partnerships and money flow so does influence.
Nov 2, 2006, 4:31 pm
JJ, TV has been in the Treasure Valley for over 50 years now. You’re saying that NOW the dudes that run the Statesman and some TV station are going “hey…..”.
Think either of them know about the WWW?
(wasn’t that one of Roosevelt’s programs…?)
Nov 3, 2006, 7:45 am
Kelly Fransen of Ch.2 is in the running to become the chief meteorologist. She is going to guarantee the temperature within 2 degrees. If she is wrong, Ch.2 gives 100 bucks to a local charity.
Maybe all local weatherpersons should do this, so the local charities could have a steady source of funding.
Nov 3, 2006, 11:18 am
Razzbar….yes… I am not suggesting that TV is a new concept or the major reason for newspaper declines, it is more the WWW. Yes TV has been here for over 50 years, but this is not the first year newspaper readership has declined, on average for the US readership has been declining significantly for the last three decades, starting in the mid-late 80’s.
The newspapers that have increased readership have been in the markets where population has exploded like the southwest, but these increases do not make up for the significant losses at the national level. The point that I make is that newspapers, like ice boxes for the home, is a dying business and whatever tricks newspapers may try to reinvent themselves, if their basic product is printed papers they will not survive.
In my opnion the newspapers that will survive are those that offer a new business model like electronic versions, and not just an electronic version of the printed paper..more like the Wall Street Journal On-line edition that charges a premium for their on-line version but offers additional content not available in print and an advance source on the news to be printed the next morning.
Nov 3, 2006, 3:17 pm
Clancv, Kelly ripped that idea off from Scott Dorval who has been doing it for at least a month longer than Kelly, AND, she is just doing it during the month of November(sweeps). I am just waiting for Lantz and Idaho’s Snooz Channel 7 to copy that one too.
Nov 7, 2006, 4:18 pm
Purreeen Bridge (one of the young chicks said on TV).
One gal that does the news alone always looks sick. Is it the lighting or makeup or what? People on the other channels look OK.
Thank goodness for speed reading, my radio tape recorder and my DVR (no commercials)!
More goodness to the Internet, a DVD player and books (hard copy and audio) and the LIBRARY that can get just about any book from just about anywhere!
Boo to the radio and TV stations/channels that start with something exciting that happened last week or last month!
Say Kootenai 300 times real fast.
Yep, I do miss Jon Duane and Chris Kelly (KIDO). Now it takes 3 to do the work of 2.
Gemma might help…don’t count on the elitist (her). She is so phoney Dirk had to leave town.
Is this Norton the kid or grandkid of Norton on the Jackie Gleason show? Whoops, showing my age.
Why would I as a radio station/network or TV station/network advertise my own advertising? Seems like a waste of air time. The different forms of media should agree to advertise for each other and everyone wins. Or they all lose.
Over and out!