I attended a press conference on Sunday and I may have taken away more important insights watching the media at the back of the room than I learned about the subject of the government announcement on stage.
Keep in mind that for the past two weeks, I had been eavesdropping on the CRTC’s hearings on conventional broadcast licensing, and one of the key issues was the level of investment in local programming, including local news gathering. As a result, I have an excuse for spending time thinking about how news is gathered.
The CITY-TV representative at the press conference read his material off his Blackberry. His producer, who wasn’t there, was sending questions in real-time while the cameraman was reading them aloud verbatim, recording the Ministers’ announcements and responses.
It was as though the cameraman was being operated by remote control, which actually struck me as a very efficient way to gather news. Why send two people into the field, when all you really need on-site is a camera and someone – anyone – able to ask questions on your behalf?
Why even send your own staff?
Why not equip network of freelance photographers armed with a cell phone link and an ability to receive the questions over a smart phone. The reporter – hopefully an expert interviewer – can be sitting in a central studio in network headquarters, or at home where we belonged on Mother’s Day, simultaneously dealing with a handful of local stories located all across the country.
It is local news programming, without the overhead expense of local news staff.
Add radio stations to the mix of media properties and you can see how economies can be wrought from broadcast news. Not necessarily bad; but an important change enabled by embracing technology.
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broadcasting, Canadian Telecom Summit