'I'm glad I'm not younger'

[Pulitzer Wannabe]

That's what NPR's 91-year-old Daniel Schorr says. He's got a point when he laments the absolute glut of information out there now. To me, there is little more depressing than waiting for the "transcript" so you can write the same story as the 20 other people on the beat (and, yes, Mizzou and accguy, I know that's not where all the reporting gets done. But you still have to get the nuts and bolts into your publication, and often these "availability" sessions are the only time you're going to get guys).

Anyway:

http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/634053.html

The money quote:

"I've found that people are now deluged with information. In my day, as a newspaper man, radio man and television man, I had the feeling I was telling people something they wouldn't otherwise know. That's no longer true."

 

[toomanycookies]

For someone on a national radio program, that's probably true. But for local news or sports, there is a lot that people really don't know. Even nationally, people know the general outline of the story, but there are specifics that can be revealed to an audience for the first time.

 

[Damaramu]

Yeah, and when you're covering preps(and you're the only paper covering those preps) then you really are telling most people something they don't know.

As for covering a national beat....I can see the problem.

 

[deskslave]

We can all only hope that one day the term "big-name nonagenarian newsman" will be used to describe us.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Hallalulah.

Never was too fond of the idea of taking everything Chet Huntley said as gospel.

 

[Lollygaggers]

Another reason to produce more enterprise and character stories that go beyond what happens in the game. People don't need gamers from us anymore, they need stories.

 

[heyabbott]

For someone on a national radio program, that's probably true. But for local news or sports, there is a lot that people really don't know. Even nationally, people know the general outline of the story, but there are specifics that can be revealed to an audience for the first time.

IMO and to a large extent the breadth of news coverage is enormous. For example, the whole country has heard about the tiger that mauled the 3 guys in San Fransisco/ A seemingly local news story told all over the country.
However, TV news coverage is mostly breadth and little depth.
Take health care as a presidential issue. Between CNN, Fox, MSNBC, CNBC, Bloomberg & ABC News Now they have 144 hours of news a day. Has anyone of them spent 30 consecutive minutes in a day detailing a single candidate's plan, and providing perspective, context and expert opinion? But they will spend 45 seconds regurgitating the campaign talking points and spend 5 minutes discussing how the message plays to targeted demographics.