Sunday Newscape Magazine

"More changes are coming to broadcast news” Janet Peckinpaugh

Veteran of 30 years in Broadcast Journalism, Businesswoman, Consultant

Janet Peckinpaugh broke many glass ceilings before the term became a talking point in today’s society. This well known broadcast journalist has seen it all and covered it all. Whether traveling with a President, working in Congress, or anchoring the news for three major networks, this feisty, witty, and personable professional should not be taken lightly.

This past election showed a dark side to broadcast reporting that proved to be the tipping point for even more change to the industry. Networks picked sides, degraded each other, and eventually hurt themselves beyond repair in the process. But Janet is right down the middle. She did not drink the kool-aid on the left or follow any right wing agenda, but remembered she was a journalist. It was a joy to speak with a professional in this business that opened her heart and mind and now teaches her wisdom to others on a mass scale.

Her belief in the business is simple, yet powerful. Most important, this is a good lesson for anyone in the business and the would-be journalists who follow the herd. Just report the facts and leave your personal beliefs at home.

One important fact she divulged was the broadcast pie is getting smaller. Long gone is the dominance of the so-called big three ABC, NBC, and CBS and they know it. News directors from these and many other networks are banging their heads against the wall trying to figure out how to keep their viewers.

Everyday you watch the news and it is enough to make your head spin. Janet’s term for this wave of information is “Hyper News.” In other words, networks are trying to cram in as much news as possible into a short period of time. This is a challenge for news directors and gives them a bigger hill to climb in a market filled with networks all competing for a bigger audience.

In my opinion, this just gives me a headache trying to watch several different stories all at once so I turn to the next best thing, the internet. There I can choose what I want to read and the networks feel this trend with ratings slipping. Janet realized this was coming and after three decades in television news it was time for a change. She took the high road, left all the craziness of the newsroom behind, and started her own company.

All Janet needs to do is just keep fighting the good fight and sooner or later the networks will listen. If everyone in this business followed Janet’s lead the news would be just that, news, not everyone’s opinion. This diamond in the ruff is a model of true journalism and the networks should be calling her for advice.

www.janetpeckinpaugh.com Peckinpaugh Media Group

© 2009 Jerry Maldonado all rights reserved