Dave Taylor: Paying for news

The Federal Communications Commission is going to investigate at least two television stations that are charging individuals to be on news-type programs. At venerable WFLA-TV in Tampa, individuals or companies can pay $2,500 to appear on the "Daytime" program to tout themselves or products. Executives at the Tampa station say the show is not news but instead entertainment. However, reports from the news department and the use of other personalities on the program give it a "news" feel.

At the end of the show, the station used to put up a disclaimer that said there are paid segments. In light of the FCC rules that require a station to announce any paid sponsorship, WFLA-TV now makes sure viewers know which segments are bought by making an announcement before the interview is conducted. However, they are still charging.

A station in Jackson, Miss., is reported also charging for "news" segments and some organizations are being charged up to $5,900 for interviews that are heard on several airlines.

The problem with this practice is that is deceives viewers into thinking the paid segments are legitimate news. It brings to mind the "payola" scandal with radio stations, where some DJ's were paid to air certain songs. This idea of selling the news comes from sales people who are looking for additional forms of revenue. One of the problems at local television stations is that people with sales backgrounds fill most upper management positions. Very rarely does someone with news credentials ascend to the decision-making upper echelon of station management.

That's one reason more and more news segments are sponsored. Granted, running a television station is a business, but there is a trend to maximize revenue by having sponsored elements inside a news or sports program. Just running advertising spots is not enough for many stations.

There has always be an adversarial relationship between the sales department and news. Sales people don't want one of their clients to be part of an unflattering news story. There are numerous cases were station management has killed stories that could possibly jeopardize an advertising contract. That's one reason you never see negative stories about car dealers, who spend millions of dollars on local television stations.

AM news shows: I've noticed that the morning network "news" shows are slowly eliminating their hard news interviews. Instead, they are turning to gimmicks and clone programming that are reality based. One of the worst offenders is the "Today" show on NBC. The program used to be filled with interviews but now there are entire segments with celebrities and star-search type competitions called "Today's Superstar." Recently, newsreader Ann Curry apologized to Katie and Matt because there was nothing but bad news in her update. She acted like the news brought down the upbeat and silly tenor of the show. "Good Morning America" seems to have more actual news content, which could be why the show is closing the ratings gap on "Today."

Dave Taylor's column on media appears each Friday. E-mail him at dtaylor@naplesnews.net.