Americans have the television news that they ... probably deserve.

Ouch! that sounds like an insult. =-}

I'm an older person, and I remember the 60's and 70's as a time when the media used to really tear into investigative news stories. They were like rabid wolves. They reported on things that shocked and altered the opinions of the country.

Now the three main news channels seem like fluffy bunnies (CBS, NBC, ABC). Did they give in to public, commercial, and government pressure to present a friendlier, more "G" rated and patriotic glossy format? They seem very eager to agree with each other and with everybody now.

They willfully submitted to censorship by agreeing to the system of "embedded reporters", and agreeing that certain types of photos should not be shown.

There is no more investigative reporting of corruption. Did the Mike Wallace lawsuit make them realize they were in it for the money, and not for the news?

How can you say we deserve this? Did we do something bad? =-}

What do you think was the impact of the American media's portrayal of the My Lai massacre for the outcome of the Vietnam War? In your section on the Vietnam war in your book, I don't believe you've addressed this, and I'm curious about your take on the subject. There seems to be somewhat of a erasure in the history books about television media's role in the reporting of this subject, as opposed to the print media. Thank you!

So I was watching BBC International the other day and I was wondering what the point of doing the weather is? I mean, why not relegate that to local news etc? Seems pointless to do a world weather reports briefly scanning over a few capitals per continent, let alone when I also saw they displayed the weather in Winnipeg, Canada - a city of 7 hundred thousand

Do you ever show or discuss the film Network in your classes? What are your opinions about the film and the advent of news as entertainment?

Last week, we saw the shooting deaths of two WDBJ7 journalists on camera in Virginia. Was this unprecedented in the United States? Have there been similar incidents on camera? What about off-camera but against TV journalists?

For a second question, I'd like to pull back to the bigger picture. How much did technology drive the way TV journalism developed? Remote cameras, videotape machines and satellite trucks allow a great deal more flexibility, but were new developments accepted quickly?

• How exactly did the Fairness Doctrine work? How did they decide whether a view was worth giving equal time to?

• What is the origin of educational programming?

Have you looked into the economics of television?

It's my belief that television was originally built on an economic model (born out of national radio networks) of selling products to the middle class, but in recent years as the middle class is undermined by loss of good jobs (because of mechanization and loss of jobs to other countries), the old 'model' does not work anymore. IMO the cost of running networks is probably a lot larger then the money coming in from advertising (which would be why broadcast networks programming seems to be becoming cheaper).

From what I see, media is no longer a capitalist 'business' based on making profits, but its value lies in an ability to 'control the message'.

But these things are based on my observations of the media itself, not actually sitting down and examining the financials.

I have two questions on this very interesting topic: Since when did commentary/opinion and actual news had the lines blurred? Was it always like this or just the last decade or so?

Why, do you think, news channels rarely report international news even though it impacts US relations.

Thanks.

I'm signing off. I'll check back and try to answer any questions that I missed over the course of the day. Really enjoyed this, and loved the interest and engagement that you all displayed.

Was the format, especially of local news shows, always so consistent from market to market? (In terms of segment length, type of things covered, having a sports desk/weather man/etc., even things like cadence and the types of shots used.) Or was there initially more experimentation and variation in how different markets presented the news?

Has the media always been so partisan? Obviously, you have the right-wing mouthpiece in Fox, and the left has MSNBC, while CNN leans left (when not talking about airplanes or Bieber) but I was wondering if certain stations were always more concerned with advancing their agenda as opposed to being impartial.

Follow up question: can you elaborate on your last sentence, what evidence is there that points to the fact that execs had/have no hand in the triviality of news?

Bit of a political question:

How significant would you say media coverage was in shaping public opinion against the Vietnam War? And in turn how significant was the war for the future of war reporting?

Hello. I'm from Brazil and we recently had a live transmission of a policeman killing a suspect during a pursuit. This was kind of big deal during the week because the news presenter was quite happy with what happened and he encouraged this attitude. So, how America deals with it? Thanks.

In a prior comment you mention that most Americans do not care about international news. Why is this that way?

How has "social responsibility" informed TV news, and how has that relationship shifted and changed over time? Were there particular people who viewed their jobs as newscasters with a kind of moral responsibility to inform the public? Were there conflicts about what sorts of things could be discussed on TV news?
To be more specific, I'm interested in the role of the media in the AIDS crisis, particularly the failure to report adequately or at all during the early years of the epidemic. Is this something you can expand upon?

Hi, some criticism against news broadcasting is that it produces an image percieved as more real than the issue itself, for example a war more real and "war-like" than war, a revolution more revolutionizing on screen, a relay of reality that is even more real than reality. Lab made meat that simply tastes more meaty than meat. What are your views on this and do you think the method of producing news to the consumers have changed or will change very much in this regard?

How do you feel about "The Newsroom" and Aaron Sorkin's messages in the show about how the news should be presented?

How did the introduction of public television affect newsgathering and reporting?

Edward R Murrow is presented as a principled journalist who stood up to The House Un-American Activities Committee. He is presented as someone as someone all journalists should emulated in many corners of the internet and even a major motion picture from 2005.

How was he viewed by his peers before after and during all this was going on. Is his current reputation the product of Romantisation or even revisionist history? Or was he really as awesome as he is currently regarded.

How did he and his generation of Radio reporters adapt to the new medium of television. What did they object to in this new medium? What did they enthusiastically welcome?

I'm looking forward to reading your book and have been interested in TV News since I was a kid in the 80's. So much so I regularly taped news coverage of major events and am now starting to put it online here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZCjCRwgHffcCCBLcy8sj8w

What are some sources in which folks can watch news broadcasts from the past?

"If it bleeds, it leads." This well-known phrase represents a usually critical view (justified, I feel) that a lot of modern newscasting puts sensationalism ahead of quality or relevance. Is there any record of where this phrase comes from? Is it something from the mouth of a producer somewhere, or the product of a comedian or unknown wit? Is there any record of an official policy at some network that could be summed up this way? Is it, in your opinion, an accurate description of what goes on?

Thanks for taking the time to join us!

One of the earliest televised satire shows was That Was The Week That Was. It had a two year run in the UK followed by a two year run in the US, both in the early 1960s.

Can you point to any other regularly scheduled televised satire that predates this show? Can you point to any other regularly broadcast radio satire that predates TW3 (that you may be aware of)?

I'd be very interested to know if you knew when and where satire began in broadcast television and would be very appreciative of any response you can give. Thank you.