News Media: Young, Old, Hip, Square, Whatever

I hadn’t heard that Channel 10 let Julie Tremmel go, but on GoLocalProv, Dean Starkman casts the dispute (now entailing a union-backed grievance against the station) in terms of the tension between the old-line news machine and the Internet generation.  I don’t know if that accurately captures what’s going on in this case or in media generally.

A week ago, or so, I had a Twitter debate about Tremmel’s handstand video in which I came to her defense.  It wasn’t that I was impressed with her performance so much as that I have a soft spot for people taking risks and trying different things.

(Soft spot aside, and in the spirit of critique, if you’re going to take those sorts of risks, the production values have to be beyond reproach.  Being a clown is nothing new, and both the handstand video and Tremmel’s bear-attack skit had the feel of low-grade improv.)

What makes the Twitter discussion relevant, though, is that the people taking the old-line side against Tremmel were Ted Nesi, blogger-journalist for WPRI, and Matt Allen, the next-generation voice on talk-radio WPRO.  Given those lines, it would be difficult to argue that Tremmel is representative of an up-and-coming ethos.

Starkman does catch a critical point about the speed at which news consumers want their information, but that only indicates a need for differentiation between breaking news and more-in-depth, informative stories.  The real challenge lies in conflict.

The Internet has left the old-media oligopoly with less room to do what it used to do — namely, align with a political party and worldview and cast all opposition as villains.  Over the long-term, in the narrative that builds day after day, news consumers need to feel that there’s a chance the winner might lose and the loser might win.

Whether any given reader/viewer sees the situation as the enlightened establishment fighting back the barbaric upstarts or as the righteous rebels laying siege to the walls of an oppressive stronghold is immaterial.  For people to care what’s happened on a given day, there has to be some chance that things might have changed.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in The Ocean State Current, including text, graphics, images, and information are solely those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the views and opinions of The Current, the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, or its members or staff. The Current cannot be held responsible for information posted or provided by third-party sources. Readers are encouraged to fact check any information on this web site with other sources.

YOUR CART
  • No products in the cart.
0