RTNDA offers guidelines for ethical coverage
Search for nontraditional revenue corners journos
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TV news execs from around the country are in Las Vegas for RTNDA's annual show, being held this year in conjunction with the National Assn. of Broadcasters' confab. Both shows run through Thursday.
RTNDA prexy Barbara Cochran and ethics task force chair Brian Trauring, news director at WTVG-TV in Toledo, said TV station sales execs and program managers are seeking nontraditional revenue sources, often putting reporters and news directors in tough spots ethically.
Examples include giving unwarranted coverage to an event sponsored by a corporate advertiser and the recent increase in tie-ins, wherein a news show does a story on subject matter raised in an entertainment program on the same net.
On Monday night, NBC managing editor and anchor Tom Brokaw received RTNDA's Paul White Award, which honors an individual for his lifetime contribution to electronic journalism.
Brokaw said there has always been a "fine line between commerce and news," recalling how he was ordered to tout life insurance when he was a teenage news radio announcer. When there were fires, for instance, Brokaw would cover the story, then intone, "Do you have insurance?"
The new RTNDA guidelines include not favoring advertisers and ensuring that in instances when ratings and demographics drive coverage, news coverage remains journalistically sound and serves the public's interest.
