NBC, a division of General Electric (NYSE: GE), is under fire from John Hockenberry, a former correspondent for the news magazine Dateline NBC. In his lengthy rant in MIT's Technology Review, Hockenberry talks about how the network declined to do some heavy-duty reporting on al Qaeda, and instead sent him off to do feel-good stories about firefighters, a pattern of ignoring real news that he claims was routine at NBC.Hockenberry tells the story of a video montage from Baghdad, showing pictures of real people who had been affected by bombs and war. The story never made it to the air, and he wonders if it was because the footage may have promoted an idea (war is bad) that conflicted with the message NBC was sending at the time.
He details several disappointments with NBC. Hockenberry says he and others worked on finding ways to enhance journalism with the help of the internet. NBC did not really act on any of the ideas, instead focusing on programming that got high ratings, such as the To Catch a Predator shows in which pedophiles are caught trolling the internet for new victims and meeting up with them in secret.
Other disappointments during his tenure with NBC included a story on a mentally ill inmate who died of asphyxiation, a story that was made insignificant by the way it was presented, in Hockenberry's mind. NBC passed up a story about how technology is intertwined with war, evident in the blogging of front-line soldiers. He claims he wanted to pursue a story on Osama Bin Laden's family, but that GE had strong business ties with the family and the story idea was squashed.
Hockenberry's message is clear: Real news and real reporting are out. Audience appeal and ratings are in. Is that really surprising, however? Even news organizations are still businesses, after all. While striving to report news objectively and fairly is a noble goal, the business of news is still a business. And ratings and advertising revenue are probably the single largest factor driving television networks. Is it surprising that the producers of the news shows are looking for the stories that are emotional and that draw in viewers?
NBC thoroughly slams Hockenberry for his piece. An NBC spokesperson is quoted as saying, "It's unfortunate that John Hockenberry seems to be so far out of touch with reality. The comments are so utterly absurd, we will have no further comment."
Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-03-2008 @ 2:20PM
Mike Rath said...
Can't comment on something you can't defend---
NBC has fallen to the level of FOX....
1-03-2008 @ 4:15PM
Dr. B. Prince said...
Another whining, self-entitled liberal elitist journalist. He has never been well-regarded in any position he has ever held. His handicapped status has apparently led to self-righteous victimhood and free-floating anger. Maybe he should have reported on why unnecessarily biased commentary, thinly disguised as 'the news', has led to the huge losses in TV news viewership and newspaper circulation.
1-03-2008 @ 4:20PM
Tye said...
Excellent points!
1-03-2008 @ 4:15PM
Gary Mahoney said...
That "predator" show is too much (pornographic) information or me. An Asimov robot has more personality than Chris Hanson. I too prefer more real time world news coverage...like BBC.
John Hockenberry sounds like more of a man than that "NBC spokesman".
Great article, Tracy!
1-03-2008 @ 5:27PM
JO said...
JEFF GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE AND LET THE NEWS MEDIA BRING THE TRUTH TO TELEVISION
GE SHAME ON YOU WHAT KIND OF TIES DO U HAVE WITH OSAMA.....
YOU HAVE SO MANY DIVISIONS AND YOUR STOCK IS DOWN TOO MUCH. NO RAISES FOR EXECUTIVES. NBC SUCKS LATLEY AND THE COMPANIES ADVERTISING ARE NOT GETTING THEIR MONEY WORTH.
WHAT'S WITH THE NEWS I'M HEARING THAT THE NEW LIGHTS ARE HARMFUL?