By Aaron Barnhart
TelevisionWeek
Published on 3/12/2004
Excerpt:
Actually, there’s no dearth of big stories getting on-air. Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute sees a lot of investigations as a contest judge. He can rattle off a half-dozen instant classics off the top of his head: A massive expose of workers-compensation problems by WFAA-TV in Dallas; a horrific account, told by Charlotte’s WCNC-TV, of crooked dentists who cap thousands of healthy teeth just to collect Medicaid payments; Indianapolis’ WTHR-TV finding the state foster care system failing to protect children; the dogged reporting of Denver’s KMGH-TV that uncovered an epidemic of rape at the U.S. Air Force Academy (and last week won Best in Show in the National Headliner Awards).
These are stories that make headlines and spur reforms, said Mr. Tompkins. But there’s a catch.
“All of these stations have made a continuing investment in investigative work,” he said. “The best ones are doing some of the best work I’ve seen in years.” Now we’re talking about a very different kind of I-team, the kind that doesn’t get a story in four days on a laptop. The kind of team that turns out solid stories in June as well as in May. The kind that’s expensive to maintain but in return delivers value to viewers and shareholders alike.
Mr. Tompkins doesn’t think the bean counters at most stations will ever go for that. (“There are cheaper ways to get ratings,” is how he put it.) But that doesn’t stop others from dreaming.
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