Network News Heads for the Web

What’s in the future for network television news?

The Web.

That was the verdict of Tom Rosenstiel, Director, Project for Excellence in Journalism, and media analyst Andrew Tyndall, founder of ADT Research; and publisher of The Tyndall Report.

The dynamic duo gabbed about the state of network television news Wednesday on WAMU-FM’s noontime talk show, The Kojo Nnamdi Show.

Here’s just two points they made while looking into their crystal balls….

1)Death of the News Anchor: Online users are “really the central figure” in deciding what to watch. The anchor “is no longer the connective tissue,” if the user is picking and choosing the story, Rosenstiel said. That means the star of a video report will be the reporter, not the one introducing it — one big incentive for anchors to get into the field more often so viewers remember their mug.

2)CBS March Madness: Was a seminal event. Offering every college basketball playoff game online allowed users to pick and choose the events they wanted to see. That may have splintered the audience, but the Web audience was HUGE. “Instead of cannibalizing the audience, it created a bigger buzz around the event.” That lesson will be carried over to news, Tyndall predicted.

Audio available at the Kojo Nnamdi Show.

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