Jessica Lynch
PEJ examines how the Lynch saga grew and changed in the media over time.
Snob Journalism
Thank you. It is an honor, and pleasure, to be here for the Ruhl Symposium. It was also, I have to add, moving to be here for the Payne Awards. Hearing the stories of the winners, of the hardships these journalists had to overcome, including death threats, legal pressure and government coercion, …
Local vs. Non-Local Ownership and Quality Grade
Locally owned TV stations were not more likely to produce higher quality newscasts than non-local owners in a PEJ five year examination of local news.
Size of Corporate Owner and Enterprise
Stations owned by different sized ownership groups tended to have similar levels of enterprise in the stories on their newscasts in PEJ’s five year study of local TV news.
Size of Corporate Owner and Localism
Local TV news stations owned by ownership groups of different sizes had similar levels of localism in their newscasts in PEJ’s five year study of local TV news.
Network Affiliation and Quality Grade, All Stations
Fewer network owned and operated local TV stations earned “A” and “B” grades than other stations in PEJ’s five year study of local TV news. But none of the network owned stations earned the lowest “F” grades.
Network Affiliation and Presentation of Controversial Viewpoints
A five year study of local TV newscasts found no difference in the likelihood of network owned and operated stations versus others in airing controversial topics.
Cross-Ownership and Ratings Performance
Local TV stations that were owned by the same company as a newspaper or radio station in town were more likely than other stations to have declining ratings trends of TV stations studied between 1998 and 2002.
Local Ownership and Local Coverage
The study found no pattern correlating the level of local topics in local TV news stories and local ownership.
Public vs. Private Ownership by Quality Grade
Local TV stations owned by publicly traded companies were somewhat less likely than privately owned stations to earn “A” and “B” grades in PEJ’s five year study of local TV news.
