The News Directors Respond

We sent a pre-posting synopsis of the results of our analysis to all of the news organizations we graded. Two news directors sent formal responses. We are grateful for their thoughtful responses and reprint them below.

From Jim Sanders at NBC 11:

The well-intentioned efforts of Grade the News are admirable.
Academic observation of real-world journalism should be reviewed in earnest.
That review leads us to significant concern.

It appears the study fails in measuring in any way that which
television news does so well. Where else do viewers get live, breaking and
immediate coverage of significant events affecting their lives?

The study's methodology of reviewing only 30 minutes of news a day
means that over a week it would look at less than 4 hours of the more than
32 hours of news NBC11 provides its viewers during that same time.

Bay Area journalists are fortunate. We serve viewers who are among
the nation's most intelligent, sophisticated and demanding. They hold us to
a very high standard. They grade us each day as they use their remote
controls to make viewing choices.

NBC11 has been fortunate in making the grade with those discerning
Bay Area viewers. NBC11's 11pm newscast has been the top rated newscast in
the Bay Area in multiple Nielsen sweeps periods. That is a strong indicator
that the viewers - those who give the grades that really matter - appreciate
the many improvements our staff has made since NBC11 become the Bay Area's
NBC affiliate last year.

NBC11 also has made the grade with another important group of
reviewers, industry peers. We are proud that so many journalism
professionals, such as the Radio and Television News Directors Association,
have acknowledged the increasing quality of our journalism by awarding NBC11
the regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence.

A journalist has a charge to look far and wide for reaction to his
or her work, accepting any criticism. We are proud of the people who are
NBC11 News. We stand by them and the work they do.

Jim Sanders
VP News, Operations and Production
NBC 11/KNTV
408-808-3516
408-968-8113 (cell)
jim.sanders@nbc.com

From Ed Chapuis at KTVU Channel 2:

KTVU Channel 2 News is very proud of the complete Bay Area news coverage we provide our viewers. Our 10 o'clock news is noted in the industry for its depth, detail, insight, and analysis. KTVU News viewers grade the news for us every night and our track record supports the fact that KTVU, year-after-year, produces the highest rated and most respected newscasts in the market. Viewers vote with their loyalty and that's the grade that matters most to us.

Given the fact that all TV stations scored poorly and all newspapers were graded exceptionally well in the study, I would suggest you might have some testing bias in your methodology. Specifically, your testing didn't even look at our whole 10pm News. It seems odd to compare half of a newscast to the front page of a newspaper. Many of KTVU's best enterprise reports are specifically run in the back half of our newscast. By comparison, newspapers will almost always run their locally produced enterprise reports on the front page. Look deeper than page 1 and many of the newspapers are filled with wire stories or reports taken from syndication services. By eliminating the 1030p-11p half of KTVU's 10 o'clock newscast, you are excluding our award winning "Segment 2" reports which are designed to provide depth and context on serious subjects.

Fairness, localism, civic contributions, enterprise; these are all values that KTVU holds in high regard. It is a shame that your study overlooks KTVU's efforts in these areas. We would be glad to accept your offer to look over your data for a deeper analysis of KTVU's news efforts .

Ed Chapuis
News Director
KTVU - Channel 2 News - Oakland, CA
(510-874-0395 - office phone)
ed.chapuis@ktvu.com