I recently turned on the early morning news on our local channel 3 station, and found them broadcasting “Live from Wal-Mart” for holiday gift-giving ideas. This happened in the first five minutes of the broadcast. There was no reporter on the scene, only the Ammon Wal-Mart store manager showcasing some of their sales. This is how pitiful our local news media has become.
This was not news, this was advertising camouflaged as news. Channel 3 had no news to report, so they gave us an advertisement and dressed it up as newsworthy.
I wonder if Wal-Mart paid for this spot to air? If so, the station aired this without the required disclaimer, ‘Paid Advertisement’, and is in violation of FCC rules. If not, Channel 3 is in violation of journalism ethics and ought to be ashamed of themselves. They could not even get a reporter to ‘interview’ the manager; it was just the store manager going over their current sales specials.
If Channel 3 finds a dearth of holiday news to report, why not go out to a local shelter and report on people who are struggling this season? Why not visit some local businesses who have mobilized their employees to buy and distribute tens of thousands of dollars in gifts to the less fortunate at the local shelters? Why not report on holiday activities at local schools or in the community? Why not report on unique holiday traditions that different families celebrate this season?
If Channel 3 wants to do a story on local shopping opportunities, why not at least try to spotlight some locally-based retailers instead of the biggest corporate name? I think common sense would tell us most residents visit a local Wal-Mart at least weekly, and we are well aware of the specials available there without needing to watch our local news television.
We barely get any real televised news in Idaho Falls as it is, since the three mainstream broadcasters all share their news reports. If you have not noticed this phenomenon, try flipping back and forth among the three Idaho Falls-based news broadcasts during the same time frame. You will notice all three networks report the exact same stories, show the exact same videos, and even speak the exact same words in their reports. Obviously, they have entered a consortium to share their stories. I don’t see this as an evil thing, but it homogenizes our news and makes it much less diverse.
I have not seen anything so bad from channel 3 since the New Year’s Eve disaster a few years ago. They had four reporters out at the greenbelt celebration, constantly asking people if they were having a good time and if they were coming again next year. This seemed to be the only thing they kept asking the revelers, over and over. The disaster came as midnight approached, and and on-screen clock appeared in the corner.
First, the clock was too fast, and displayed 12:00 a few minutes too soon. Second, nobody seemed to clue in the four reporters that midnight was even approaching. When the on-screen clock showed 12:02, the revelers suddenly erupted in cheers and calls of “Happy New Year!” The reporters were obviously stunned speechless that they had missed the big event, the main reason for even being there that night. All four stood together with scared an shocked looks on their faces for about ten seconds. Finally one reporter jumped in to the middle of them to whoop and holler in celebration, and the other three reporters jumped back frightened.
It was hilarious to watch then, but this “Live from Wal-Mart” broadcast was just sad now. I hope to see much improvement in our local journalism efforts. We deserve better than this episode.
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Gato got runned over by Marcus many moons ago. Be ye daft, 2486? 
Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I think I also noticed the local news used to share their stories, but I don’t think they do it anymore.
I actually asked about that a few weeks ago for the online news article, and Jim Nagy told me the local outlets have to share court tapes and of course repeated AP stories will appear the same.
I wouldn’t mind so much if they were “reporting live” from a locally-owned and operated business, but Wal-Mart? As if they need any help advertising during the holiday season!
I do agree that our local news is in dire disrepair. I cannot even watch any local broadcast anymore without rolling my eyes or shouting at the screen. Our local news is terribly slanted, poorly researched, and ridiculous in its pettiness.
Not that it means anything, but just a piece of the puzzle… local Wal-Mart stores are not allowed to pay for local advertising. All of the advertising has to come out of their home office in Bentonville AR. and as a rule, they do not spend money on any means of advertising other than TV, with the exception of the holidays when they might have a few fliers in news papers around the country, but that is rare. My bet is that there was no payment made to Ch. 3. That really doesn’t change anything — I agree with everything Joe had to say about the general quality of the news and the lack of imagination for a good story.
Actually local stores do have a small budget. See the Chukars program. They can also submit for grants to help local charitable organizations that can include tv, radio and print. Most stores choose not to use that budget because it decreases the yearly employee bonus.
The news program was not paid for because as many have pointed out, there was no need to spend money on something like that. I agree with Joe.