The Paper Of Records

Now that Derek Jeter has passed Lou Gehrig to become the Yankees all-time hits leader, the only question is: How will the New York Times profit from Jeter's feat? Perhaps they will issue a special commemorative reprint of that day's sports section for only $14.95. Or maybe they'll produce a special commemorative Jeter/Gehrig medallion for only $39.95. Of course, they could go all out and sell autographed "Derek Jeter 2722" baseballs for only $995. Or, they could be really ambitious and sell vials of Jeter's sweat or strands of his hair or maybe his toenail clippings (PSA/DNA authenticated, of course) for some astronomical to-be-determined amount. The Times should change their motto from "All the News That's Fit to Print" to "All the News That's Fit to Profit From".

Bing, Bang, Boom

It's despicable, but hardly surprising, that Nightly News offers glowingly positive "news stories" about products that are regularly advertised on NBC. In fact, these great big "thank yous" to advertisers occur fairly frequently. Recently, viewers have seen stories on Chrysler, United Airlines, Cheerios, Starbucks, McDonald's and many other products that regularly advertise on NBC. Other stories praise entire industries (automotive, airline, pharmaceutical) that are heavy advertisers. But last Sunday may have been the most egregious example yet of NBC's ethical shortcomings. That day, we were treated to a "news report" about a product made by one of NBC's partners. At first, the report seemed like an innocuous story about on-line search engines. Correspondent Contessa Brewer told us that there are some niche search engines (like ChaCha) trying to chip away at Google, the industry leader with around $20 billion in annual revenue. But halfway through the story, Brewer announces, "Now bring on Bing!" We then see part of a Bing commercial--full screen--as Brewer tells us that, "Bing has already grabbed 8% of all searches and it's growing." This is followed by an interview with Bing's general manager who enthusiastically says that everyone at Bing is focused on creating a great experience and differentiating themselves from Google. Brewer then tells us exactly why Bing is better than Google. "Side by side there's a marked difference," she says. "Type 'New York to Paris' and Bing morphs into an airline booking website. Lists of prices and flights you can buy with a click. Google just displays a list of websites." Brewer ends her report with, "Will there be a clear winner? Probably not in the foreseeable future. That's a good thing because the epic fight between the giants promises to speed up innovation by the little guys." As she says this, the Bing and Google logos appear on screen, as if Bing is Google's main competition. Wow. Brewer sure seems sold on Bing. I wonder why. Actually, the answer is obvious. In her report, Brewer tells us that Bing is a Microsoft product. And Microsoft is NBC's partner in MSNBC and the MSNBC.com website (and perhaps in other ventures as well). So Brewer is blatantly promoting a product in which NBC has a financial interest. After all, the more profit Microsoft earns from Bing, the more money they can invest in MSNBC. This is not only shameless, it is unethical. And even worse--neither Brewer nor Lester Holt bothered to offer the viewers a disclosure about the relationship between Microsoft and NBC.

This type of self-motivated product promotion occurs frequently on Nightly News, but in truth there is no way for viewers to know just how frequently. It's relatively easy to spot a "news story" promoting a product that is regularly advertised on NBC. But how are viewers supposed to know when Nightly News promotes products that are not readily identifiable as belonging to NBC's advertisers or partners? Robert Bazell often reports on medical innovations, such as new drugs or medical equipment. How are we supposed to know if General Electric (NBC's parent company) has a financial or ownership stake in any of these products? We don't, and Bazell or Brian Williams are certainly not about to inform us. The Nightly News producers and reporters (and especially Brian Williams) are acting unethically. It is their responsibility to avoid fawning reports about the products of NBC's advertisers and partners. But if they do present such a report, they should be required to make a forthright disclosure to the viewers about NBC's relationship to the story's subject. Their failure to do so indicates a clear intent to deceive the Nightly News audience. And for that, they owe us an apology.

The Minority Rules

Anne Thompson began Thursday's Nightly News story about women in the workforce by saying that, "Today, women make up just under 50% of the workforce...." She ended the story by saying, "If manufacturing and construction come back, women may not stay in the majority." But she just said they're not in the majority. Under 50% is not a majority. Is Thompson paying any attention to what she's saying?

Brianocchio

From Brian Williams' Sept. 4 Daily Nightly blog:

"I just talked to a friend at the Jersey Shore (is it okay to admit I wish I was there, right now?) who asked, 'Is there any news today at all?' I assured him there was--and that we would cover it tonight."

Brian can't be serious. If there was actual news on Friday, why did he waste more than half his broadcast on irrelevant material? Ann Curry's story on childbirth in Pakistan wasn't news. In fact, it seemed more like a "Dateline" story. Oh wait a second--that's exactly what it was. And gee, what a surprise--Curry's piece was immediately followed by a promo for Sunday's "Dateline", where a longer version of her story will air. As usual, Nightly News is promoting other NBC shows instead of reporting the news.

And then there was the "Making A Difference" story about golf tournaments that raise scholarship money for people who lost a family member in the military. This wasn't news. It was just another red-white-and-blue tinged story meant to shamelessly pander to the viewers' sense of patriotism. I'm surprised that Roger O'Neil wasn't waving a flag and singing "God Bless America" during his report (close enough--American flags were shown in eight different shots). Give me a break. A responsible newscast doesn't refer to military casualties as "fallen heroes". But then again, any relationship between Nightly News and a responsible newscast is strictly coincidental.

And of course there was the "news story" about planes that carry advertising banners at the Jersey Shore. This is news? This story was a joke. But at least NBC managed to pay some bills by clearly showing a banner ad for State Farm Insurance. How much did State Farm pay for the exposure?

These three "news stories" took up more than half of Friday's broadcast. Brian and his producers should be ashamed of themselves. There was not a single story from Europe, Africa, South America or Eastern Asia. But at least now I know all about banner ads at the Jersey Shore. Great job, guys. Meanwhile, Brian should be careful. If he told his friend that NBC would be covering news on Friday, his nose might grow like Pinocchio. And then he'd have to get another nose job.

Fireman Brian

How ridiculous it was to see Brian Williams anchoring Tuesday's Nightly News from outside Los Angeles. As if there's anything he could tell us from the site that he couldn't tell us from the New York studio. But the reason is obvious. Brian is a firefighter groupie. When it comes to firefighters, Brian's like a 12-year-old girl at a Jonas Brothers concert. If there are lots of firefighters assembled in one place, that's where Brian wants to be. Dressed in his yellow shirt and using nifty firefighter lingo, I expected to see Brian wearing one of those little red firefighter's hats that are sold in toy stores. Maybe next month, Brian will want to be a cowboy or an astronaut.

Brian's Choice

From Brian Williams' Aug. 31 Daily Nightly blog: "In one of those confluences of work and personal life, I am just back from a trip to drop our son off at college, officially making us 'empty nesters' in our house. While I was able to make it to Hyannis Port last Wednesday to cover the death of Senator Kennedy, it meant being away from work Thursday and Friday. I was able to fly to Washington Saturday morning to anchor our coverage of the funeral, before flying back to my son's school to complete the handover and say final goodbyes. My theory is this: I highly doubt that I will have deathbed regrets over not having worked a given Thursday and Friday, a major news story notwithstanding. However, I do think I would regret living with the knowledge that I hadn't been there when we took our youngest off to college...to get the college degree his father never got. This episode, while painful and confusing at times, is also evidence that I work for good people who have families of their own. My bosses understood the tug of circumstances and the demands on my time and attention, and they were beyond great about it.We're in the period now where its back to work, back to school, issues start taking on a new weight and importance -- and so we begin a new week in a new month. We hope you can join us tonight."

My goodness, Brian--"painful and confusing"? A little too much drama here. This isn't exactly "Sophie's Choice". Fine, great--take your kid to college--do what you need to do. But why do you feel like you have to involve us in the minute details of your decision-making process? TMI (Too Much Information). Obviously you are feeling guilty for missing work. It happens to everyone. Deal with it--on your own, please. And here's a news flash: It doesn't matter one bit who is anchoring. If it's not you, it's Lester Holt or David Gregory or Carl Quintanilla or someone else. So if you miss work, there's always a warm body to read the news off the teleprompter. You're not irreplaceable. Get over yourself.

The Stepfather and the Gov

On Thursday's Nightly News story about Jaycee Dugard, her stepfather Carl Probyn was described in an on-screen graphic as "Stepfather of Jaycee Dugard". On the following night's broadcast, he was described as "Jaycee's Step-Father". Why did the Nightly News producers suddenly change their description of Probyn? Is Friday's description measurably better than Thursday's? Pick one description and go with it. And is he Jaycee's Stepfather or Step-Father? I guess it depends what day of the week it is. Maybe next week he'll be her Step Father. Do the Nightly News producers actually pay any attention to what they put up on the screen?

Also on Thursday's broadcast we saw a 10-second clip of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick stating that he should have the authority to pick Ted Kennedy's successor. But Gov. Patrick was never identified, either by Kelly O'Donnell or by an on-screen graphic. Do the producers just assume that every viewer can recognize Gov. Patrick? Do they assume we can recognize the governor of every state? So the stepfather gets two different descriptions and the governor gets none? I'd like to hear the logic behind that decision.