Local Television Stations Research Articles

DOW Radar Observations of Wind Farms

The growth of the wind industry in recent years has motivated investigation into wind farm interference with the operation of the nationwide Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) network. Observations of a wind farm were taken with a Doppler on Wheels (DOW) during the DOW Radar Observations at Purdue Study (DROPS), a largely studentled field program that took place in the fall of 2009. The DOW sampled clear-air weather and precipitation at locations within 5 km of the Benton County, Indiana, wind farm to determine the wind turbines' effect on Doppler velocity and ref lectivity data. These data were analyzed and compared with data from the Indianapolis WSR-88D (KIND) and a local television station (WLFI) radar. In precipitation, the DOW data show velocity couplets that have the appearance of isolated tornadic vortices. Under clear-air sampling, significant multipath scattering is evident, but no velocity couplets would meet the DOW-equivalent tornado detection algorithm criteria. Broader impacts of these findings are discussed, and suggestions are made for additional studies that would explore how to mitigate these impacts.

An Increase in the Number of Tornado Reports in Brazil

AbstractThis paper presents the development of tornado reports in Brazil since the middle of the twentieth century, both for the country as a whole and for the five regions of Brazil: the south, southeast, central-west, northeast, and north. No official tornado registry exists in Brazil so the reports come from various sources. Most of the tornadoes reported are from the south and southeast regions. The low number of reports for the central-west regions suggests, in view of the literature on intense storms and mesoscale convective complexes, that most tornadoes cases go unreported. The increase in tornado reports is compared to the evolution of population density and communications, with the latter represented by the evolution of local television stations and the popularization of the Internet. One particular event is a new Web site for volunteer tornado reports, which has completely changed the trends of tornado reports. Another possible cause for an increase in the number of tornado reports in the south and southern regions could be a shift in climate variability in this region in the 1970s, which has been reported by several authors. However, the increase in rainfall and extreme events reported by these studies point to an increase of as much as 40%, which is not compatible with the observed tenfold increase in tornado reports.

Using Twitter for Promotion and Branding: A Content Analysis of Local Television Twitter Sites

A content analysis examined the Twitter sites of 488 local television stations in the United States, based on a strategic and tactical model of media promotion. One finding of the study was that news stories were the most frequently occurring items on the sites. However, stations that offered news items also seldom promoted their regular newscasts. Overall, stations did not appear to use Twitter to direct viewers to the station's on-air programming.

Gatekeeping at the Portal

A content analysis of 353 local television station websites found 49.6% of stations are including user-generated content (UGC), mostly designed to capture eyeballs, rather than to engage citizens in the journalistic process. The user-generated material included video (50.9%), audio (14.3%), still photos (82.3%), and other content (13.7%) including blogs, event announcements, news tips, and viewer comments. The overwhelming majority (76%) of UGC focused on weather-related events with only 17.7% classified as breaking news. Editorial guidelines focused on legalities such as terms of use and privacy policies related to accepting content, not editorial standards. Gatekeeping theory was applied to find that the local press largely retains its traditional editorial function.

Making Media Public: From Discussion to Action?

By the summer of 2008, it had become clear that a crisis in media was under way in Canada. The media giant Canwest was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, local television stations were being closed, thousands of media workers had been laid off, and community radio and television were barely supported. At the same time, publics linked through social networks were producing and distributing a growing range of their own content through new media. Old media had collided with new technologies, national policies were facing global political and economic challenges, and the need to develop new approaches to media models had become urgent. Although these questions were being debated in some communities—among academics, labour unions, media producers and policy activists, for example—in various media, and at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), we felt there was a pressing need to increase dialogue between and beyond these groups. For all of these reasons, we organized the Making Media Public conference. Our aim was to bring people together to critically assess the current media situation, to envision ways of building sustainable media models that address the experiences of diverse Canadians, and to increase public contributions to and dialogue about policymaking. The conference, held at York University from May 6 to 8, 2010, was designed to enable sustained analysis of the current media crisis and to gain insight into the challenges and opportunities for transforming media in Canada. We were able to bring together a range of publics that does not usually have opportunities to gather for discussion: academic researchers, media workers, policymakers, union members, community members, alternative media producers, students, and media educators. As academics and graduate students who have actively participated in the production of alternative media and policy engagement, our aim was to dissolve the boundaries between academic researchers and those involved in media production and policy development, both large-scale and community-based. We hoped the conference would

‘‘New Media’’ Skills Competency Expected of TV Reporters and Producers: A Survey

The authors conducted a nationwide Web-based survey of network affiliate television stations (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox) that present local news. This was an exploratory study to examine the current state of online news production at local television stations— what is being produced and who is producing it—and what emphasis news directors place on ‘‘new media’’ skills when making hiring decisions. The results indicate that virtually everyone in the newsroom is expected to generate web product, with reporters and newscast producers bearing the heaviest burden. The study also shows that news directors overwhelmingly prefer to hire people with existing web skills. Furthermore, this research makes it clear that the web has found its place as a primary news presentation tool in local television newsrooms. In some cases, maintaining the station’s website is a priority and staff resources are dedicated to that purpose. But many other local newsrooms find they must perform a balancing act. They have to constantly feed t...

New Media, Enduring Values

This case study uses theory about organizational culture and leadership and multiple sources of evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of an initiative by three news organizations to bring the core principles of journalism to life on the web. A newspaper, a local television station, a producer and distributor of public radio, and an academic institution participated in this effort. Drawing upon participant observation and in-depth interviews, this study examines the role this emphasis on core values, so important to the professional identity of journalists, played in securing buy-in for the project and overcoming resistance to change, as well as other internal factors that negatively affected implementation, such as lack of sustained commitment and poor communication.

Copyright and the Library Media Center

In 1978, the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, a consortium of public school districts in upstate New York, was sued by the Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation because the consortium taped educational programs broadcast on local public television stations and provided copies to local schools. This case, known as Encyclopedia Britannica v. Crooks, illustrated the struggle for a balance between the fair use of materials for educational purposes and the rights of copyright holders to protect the market for their product. In this particular case, the public school consortium lost when it was shown that it had set out to “systematically” record the educational programming and distribute copies to member schools, thus having a detrimental effect on the market for those programs. Today, penalties for copyright infringement vary greatly; but, can be as high as $250,000 for repeated offenses of software piracy (Simpson 28). Although most media specialists will not find themselves in a courtroo...

U.S. Broadcaster Plans for Provision of ATSC Mobile DTV

As the U.S. broadcast industry gears up to provide the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) Mobile DTV service to consumers throughout 2010, this paper describes the technical parameters of that service. It includes basic consumer use cases and system requirements necessary to implement Mobile DTV. Services envisioned range from basic linear simulcast to interactive and location-based services, with a variety of premium and advertising-supported subscription plans. The primary value proposition for Mobile DTV is live transmission of content identical to local television stations transmitted in full-motion digital format to a variety of consumer devices. This summarizes expected broadcaster launch plans, future use cases envisioned by broadcasters, and station requirements to realize those plans.

In Remembrance of: Anne Slack (1915–2010)

Anne Slack, past president of the AATF, passed away on 12 February at age 94, in Ithaca, New York. Now is the time to eulogize this dynamic and innovative French teacher who so well exemplified the mission of our association. Anne Slack was born in 1915 to French parents living in Oran, Algeria. Having earned her Licence-ès-lettres at the University of Algiers, she put her English skills to work during World War II as translator/interpreter for the Engineering Headquarters of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations of the US Army. For the excellent performance of her duties in Algeria and Morocco, she was awarded the Emblem for Meritorious Civilian Service. It was while on mission in Casablanca that she met her future husband Raymond who was serving in the US Navy. She and Ray were married in April 1947 in Niagara Falls, New York. In the early 1950s, the Slacks moved to Schenectady where Anne taught elementary school French, first at the Brown School and then as Coordinator of FLES for the entire city. It was during this time that she collaborated with the local television station WRGB to create the innovative Fun with French program which was featured in a photo spread in Life Magazine in May 1956. The program continued to grow in popularity and soon was being transmitted to 110 local FLES classes. One can say that Anne Slack pioneered distance learning before the term even existed. As she began exploring the potential of what was then new audio-visual media to introduce students to spoken French and the beauty of French culture, she quickly recognized the necessity for trained classroom teachers to reinforce the televised presentations and taped activities. In 1959, the Massachusetts Modern Language Project and WGBH enticed Anne Slack to move to the Boston area to join the newly created Parlons français team as TV teacher and associate director. In addition to her on-screen persona, Anne played an instrumental role in developing the lessons. These were supplemented with photographs and sequences filmed in France, as well as conversational scenes with puppet figures created by Bill and Cora Baird. Anne was also a contributing author on the tapes, the workbooks and teacher in-service materials. For Americans growing up in the 1960s, she was simply Madame Slack, the well-loved on-screen French teacher for the television program Parlons français which was viewed by over two million elementary school students as part of the “21-Inch Classroom” program. The Saturday Evening THE FRENCH REVIEW, Vol. 84, No. 1, October 2010 Printed in U.S.A. In Remembrance of: Anne Slack (1915–2010) 12 Post wrote, “Anne Slack is perhaps the best of TV teachers.” Parade Magazine publicized the program with an illustrated article on her and her family. McCall’s Magazine honored her in 1963 with their Golden Mike Award for her “Service to the American Future.” It was during this same period that Anne Slack became deeply committed to the AATF and its mission. For over fifteen years, beginning in 1968, she edited “Le Coin du pédagogue” for the French Review, addressing linguistic questions and responding to teachers’ queries. Locally, she served as president of the Eastern Massachusetts AATF chapter. In 1972, she was elected to a three-year term as AATF Vice President with the primary responsibility of administering the summer scholarship program in France, a task she performed with great enthusiasm. Anne Slack served as President of the association from 1977 to 1979. In her first year, she organized our annual Congrès in Paris. This was the first time that an AATF convention was held outside of the United States. She followed this with a memorable convention in Martinique in 1979, setting in motion a tradition whereby every few years French teachers would be able to attend meetings in Francophone settings and thus enhance their linguistic skills and cultural awareness. After the Parlons français project was completed, she accepted the position of Lecturer in French at Boston University in 1970. She also hosted weekly French radio broadcasts in Boston. In 1976, she was named Senior Lecturer of French at Harvard University, a position which...

Advocacy Defeats N.C. Medicaid Cuts

Advocacy Defeats N.C. Medicaid Cuts

Local Television and Newspaper Coverage of Political Advertising

How often do the news media cover the advertising of political candidates? And how do the characteristics of the news outlet, the media market, the race, and the advertisements themselves influence the extent to which this ad amplification takes place? Examining Senate and gubernatorial campaign coverage by several newspapers and local television stations in five midwestern states in 2006, we find that coverage of advertising is quite extensive, most of it is low quality, and its volume depends both on the size of the market and the tone of the spots aired. Surprisingly, however, television stations were not more likely than newspapers to cover advertising, though television does appear to be more sensitive to negative advertising, consistent with our theory.

U.S. press: bright new dawn

The outgoing executive editor of the Washington Post predicts a bright future for United States newspapers, writing: "The future of newspaper newsrooms is especially important to the future of accountability journalism in the United States because they still produce the most original reporting, compared to stand-alone websites, local television stations or even the big broadcast and cable networks. But they also must cope with high fixed costs of production and distribution of printed newspapers. How they restructure their economic models, take better advantage of the internet and define their public service missions in a time of enormous stress will determine the future of the accountability journalism that is so important in a representative democracy."

Left Behind: Local Television and the Community of Sport

Changes in technology are causing significant shifts in the community of sport related to the mass media. This project uses both quantitative and qualitative data to reveal that local television stations are not engaged in sports blogging and see little value in it. This article discusses the theoretical and industry rationales regarding this finding, and details various implications for local sports media, sports communication consumers, and the community of sport in general. It may be that the traditional position of local sports television within that community is endangered, as technology makes sports more interactive, accessible, and global.

The FCC and Indecency: Local Television General Managers' Perceptions

Since the 2004 Super Bowl, the Federal Communications Commission has issued a record number of fines for televised indecency. Local television stations perceive themselves as having little control over network programming, which is usually the source of controversial material. A mail survey of 453 local network affiliate general managers (GMs) was conducted to identify opinions about this situation. Most of the respondents felt it unfair local stations were held accountable for the programming of national networks, but did not want more government regulations to control network programming. GMs felt their hands were tied because of network affiliation agreements that limit the number of allowable preemptions at the local level. A significant number of respondents were not able to describe their own personal criteria of broadcast indecency.

The North Carolina Lottery Coincidence

The sets of five numbers picked in the North Carolina Cash-5 Lottery game were identical on July 9th and 11th, 2007. This coincidence was the topic of a local television station news story on July 12 in which I played a minor role. This article documents the coincidence, my interactions with the television reporter seeking to understand how likely, or unlikely, the coincidence was, and some afterthoughts, including an analysis of the likelihood of matching sets of numbers.

Injury Reporting on Local TV News: A Prime-Time Opportunity for Prevention

Local television news is America's primary source of information and may be an opportunity to shape public opinion surrounding issues such as injury prevention. This study sought to systematically evaluate unintentional-injury coverage on local television news and to identify frequently interviewed public-service professionals and factors associated with discussion of risk factors and prevention. Late news broadcasts from 122 local television stations within the U.S. during October 2002 were analyzed. The main outcomes variables were counts of case-injury stories: motor-vehicle crashes, fires, falls, drowning, poisonings, and sports-recreational injuries; identification of interviewed public service professionals; and discussion of risk factors and prevention. Bivariate and mulitvariate analysis was performed to identify predictors of discussion of prevention measures, risk factors, or both. Data were analyzed in Fall 2006. From 2795 broadcasts, 1748 case-injury stories were identified. Fires and motor-vehicle crashes constituted 84% of the case-injury stories. There were 245 case-injury stories containing an interview with a public service professional. Police officers and firefighters accounted for 82% of these interviews. Interviews with police officers and firefighters were independently associated with discussion of risk factors and prevention measures for motor-vehicle crashes (OR=2.49, CI=1.7-3.6) and fires (OR=2.77, CI=1.2-5.9), respectively. Motor-vehicle crashes and fires were the most commonly reported injury topics. Police officers and firefighters were most commonly interviewed and, if interviewed, increased the likelihood that risk factors, prevention measures, or both were discussed. Optimizing the messages delivered by public service professionals through public service professional-level and media-level interventions may be an opportunity for disseminating injury-prevention information to the public and to policymakers, and methods to increase the likelihood of media interviews with public service professionals should be explored.

Reading Difficulty Level of Medical Resources on Television Web Sites

ABSTRACT Mass media plays a critical role in communicating health messages to the public. Local television stations are posting more health content on the Web; however, the difficulty level of this information has not been evaluated. Study objectives were to assess the content of health stories on local television Web sites, and to evaluate the reading level of these health messages. The top three health articles from 79 local television news Web pages were selected for analysis. Readability was assessed using SMOG, Flesch-Kincaid (FK), and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE). A total of 278 articles were located over a two-day search. The majority of stories were national (47.0%) and educational (48.0%) pieces. Fewer articles were breaking news (19.8%). More articles focused on both prevention and treatment (30.6%) rather than on prevention (21.6%) or treatment (21.2%) alone. Mean readability was at a senior high school level according to SMOG (Grade 11.9) and FK (Grade 10.3). Overall FRE was 51.6, implying a “fairly difficult” reading style. As broadcast news media mobilizes viewers toward online health content, they must consider the difficulty of the information and literacy abilities of their audience.

Communicating Health Information: The Community Engagement Model for Video Production

The Community Engagement Model was developed as a tool for the production of health communication videos for broadcast on local television stations. The model, a hybrid of participatory video design and social marketing techniques, uses iterative design principles for both production and evaluation. This article reports on the use of this model for the design and production of a series of videos aimed at promoting awareness of the BC NurseLine (a 24-hour telephone health service) among Farsi speakers in the Greater Vancouver area. Statistical analysis of project-related data suggests that the use of an extensive, culturally engaged process to produce and evaluate the videos was integral to its success. The steps taken in this campaign are described to show how the Community Engagement Model can be used to produce effective, culturally sensitive, participatory media targeted at specific communities.

Personal Accounts: The System Stole My Identity

Personal Accounts: The System Stole My Identity