WASHINGTON, 29 November — Sept. 11 marks the day for US airwaves that ‘soft’ news — both on radio and television — took a nosedive.
Since the terrorist attacks, news and talk stations’ ratings have escalated, while listeners have abandoned many music stations.
In Washington and other metropolitan cities, unassuming newsreaders talking about the attacks and attackers, the war in Afghanistan and anthrax, has replaced caffeine-riddled disc jockeys as the kings of the airwaves.
On television, as well, network morning shows have buried regular news stories on cooking and stars pushing their latest movie/book/song for harder news. Up until Sept. 11, “Today,” “Good Morning America” and the “Early Show” gave only seven percent of their time to stories about government, national, and international affairs.
By October, “hard news” had jumped to 58 percent, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism. While “soft news” — those compelling stories on what rock stars eat for breakfast, for example — and which took up 72 percent of show time, plunged.
The proof is easy to discern: In June the morning shows promoted such books as “Diana: Story of a Princess” and “Behind the Smile,” singer Marie Osmond’s story of postpartum depression. In October, the books picked included “Black Hawk Down,” “The Anti-Terror Checklist,” and “Jihad.”
In the radio industry, not only have the terrorist attacks made people hungry for news, it also reinvigorated the talk show — which was drifting without an anchor since the end of President Clinton’s scandal-ridden administration.
The news-and-talk radio explosion has also created a new trend — radio stars. ABC Radio rushed a new talk show hosted by TV newsman Sam Donaldson onto the airwaves less than two weeks after 9/11, and others are set to follow.
Music stations, many of which eliminated their news departments during the budget-conscious early 1990s, were caught red-faced on Sept. 11, as they had no news sources to use and were forced to simulcast TV news reports following the attacks. Since Sept. 11, many stations have signed up for syndicated news services. The AP broadcast division says at least 45 music stations have signed up for its service.
