Time For A Broadcast News Rating System?

Former NBC correspondent David Hazinski, now a professor at the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism, is calling for "a broadcast news rating system similar to what Hollywood uses to rate movies." (Hat tip: Newslab.) Here are a few of his proposed designations:

P-D-N ("Promotion Disguised as News"): This can range from a CNN anchor suggesting you can get a lot more information about a story on the network's paid Pipeline Web service to "Good Morning America" airing a three-minute excerpt from a Michael Jackson interview to try to persuade you to tune in to "20/20" that night.

S-D-N ("Scolding Disguised as News"): This could be applied to everything from Grace to O'Reilly —even to portions of "60 Minutes," where reporting is replaced with attacking people.

F-L ("Fake Live"): Or what some call "Live For The Sake of Live." This one would be used constantly by local news and occasionally by networks where some poor reporter is stuck "reporting from the scene" when the event either has been over for five hours or won't start until next week. And finally:

S-N ("Straight News"): This category would include new information important or interesting to viewers, with facts that have been verified and reporting devoid of promotion or opinion.

This is never going to happen, but it's interesting to think about how it would play out if it did. There are those who believe that an S-N designation should never be used, since there's no such thing as reporting devoid of opinion. But what about the rest of you? What percent of the news is S-N, and where do we find it? What about S-D-N, aka scolding designed as news? My pet peeve is the F-L (fake live) reportage. Wouldn't you rather see a new story than have a reporter continue to tell you that there are no new developments in the story he or she is being forced to keep covering?

[one_american]

Obviously, CBS is asleep on the job, along with the rest of the MSM. No mention yet of the revealing documents from Saddam's regime that were released to the public last week. Here is the link, if anyone of CBS's audience cares to know the facts: http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/products-docex.htm Perhaps the media is too busy celebrating anniversaries...

[flippper]

The government is finally getting around to unloading some of Saddam Hussein's secret documents. A look at just a few pages already leads to some blockbuster revelations. In the early stages of the war that began three years ago, the U.S. captured thousands of documents from Saddam and his spy agency, the Mukhabarat. It's been widely thought the documents could shed light on why Saddam behaved as he did and how much of a threat his evil regime represented. Yet, until this week, the documents lay molding in boxes in a government warehouse. Now the first batch is out, and though few in number, they're loaded with information. Among the enduring myths of those who oppose the war is that Saddam, though murderous when it came to his own people, had no weapons of mass destruction and no terrorist designs outside his own country. Both claims now lie in tatters. It's funny that these documents are getting so little attention from the press.

[one_american]

Dan Rather and CBS's story on the supposed "fake but accurate" memo... Rated: P-D-N (Promotion Disguised as News, for promoting John Kerry's campaign) I think a rating system would serve the public well. Just don't let the MSM take control of it, or Hollywood, for that matter. The best news broadcast, in my opinion is the Jim Lehrer News Hour on PBS. Although not entirely devoid of bias, it at least tries to give the depth of coverage and variety of perspectives on issues that they deserve. And no pharmaceutical commercials, either!

[geno8808]

All the buzz over the "chair" and Katie Couric is already getting tiresome and it hasn't even started. I have a much better idea. How about Vaughn Ververs for the job. Vaughn is an earnest young man that combines all the best qualities you could want from an on air talent. Make a low key announcement keep a lid on it for the first year until he settles in then get him out on the circuit. Book him everywhere! From Regis and Kelly all the way to Rush Limbaugh (Vaughn will win him over, I'm sure he'll agree to book him).