Cheatwood Media Group

06/21/2023

Attention Producers! Help Wanted: Inquire Within

In the process of staffing a national show based in Dallas, Texas and am looking for a few fantastic producers familiar with long-form, in-depth, data based, storytelling. Current issues and events - with maximum context - will be the focus. If you can handle producing shows from concept to ex*****on, have a passion for storytelling, and are willing to relocate, shoot me an inbox or email.

04/18/2023

TEGNA Twisting In The Wind...

So what's really going on with Standard General's proposed acquisition of TEGNA? The FCC's actions (or lack thereof) and motivations in effectively killing the deal have been mysteriously murky and incredibly ill-timed. They've seemingly ignored Standard General's attempts to address the vague concerns about the deal - potential staffing cuts and consolidation of some news gathering resources - that have been cited as reasons to deny approval.

Yesterday, in a desperate move to resuscitate a deal already pronounced dead by most, Standard General agreed to no layoffs at the stations for at least three years, up from their previous commitment of two years, and no headcount reductions in newsrooms. In addition, they pledged to boost news budgets and hours of news programming by 20% within three years of closing. So, what's the problem?

Having said that, I'm not ruling out that there may be other things giving the FCC pause when it comes to Standard General, but if that's the case, it's time for full transparency. For over a year, a quality broadcast company - TEGNA - has been allowed to twist in the wind and incur untold damage as a result, all at a time when it, and the industry, can least afford it.

Pledge no newsroom job cuts for three years, even more investment in news

03/27/2023

A need for artificial objectivity

03/19/2023

with eyes peeled to the heavens

03/12/2023

Look at that face.

03/05/2023

or just plain stupid?

02/26/2023

America's Contextual Revolution

02/19/2023

It's time to let go

02/12/2023

...the cubbification of the world

02/05/2023

Inflection points that leave a mark

01/29/2023

Mars, Journalism, and Teddy Roosevelt

01/22/2023

A Rapture of the mind

01/15/2023

21st century style

01/10/2023

Is Axios The Answer?

Axios put out a press release yesterday that produced nary a ripple in the industry but may very well provide a glimpse into the very future of the news business. The Arlington, Virginia based company announced the creation of a “Centralized News Hub” to bridge the newsroom’s national and local coverage. By way of background, Axios has a website and a very wide variety of daily newsletters that focus on national and international news. They also have local newsletters reporting on the goings on in about two dozen cities around the country. If things go according to plan, that number will expand to 100 cities in the not too distant future.

According to the Axios release:

“the centralized news hub will feature a new team of reporters and editors will synthesize reporting from Axios’ national news team and Axios Local cities to identify key stories and trends emerging across the country. Hub reporters will also produce data-driven coverage, special weekend reports, and city guides for Axios Local newsletters, breaking down how national trends impact readers’ communities, and the latest updates in key areas like entertainment, real estate and sports.”

And, just like that, a hub & spoke system featuring a single national/international and local news brand is born. Local news teams feed a national hub which aggregates the best of those stories while adding its own national and international news content. The Axios aspirational strategy has been apparent since launch in 2016, but becomes a reality at a time when local media, newspaper and television, are experiencing a tsunami-type upheaval with legacy brands losing relevance by the day or just disappearing altogether. On the TV side, the network/affiliate relationship has never been weaker and the idea of having to watch multiple newscast to get a full 360 view of the day’s events is well past obsolete. In fact, unless you’re 65+ it’s really a laughable notion. The newspapers that remain are a shell of their former selves and most haven’t been able to crack the code of a profitable digital transition.

One simple brand for everything I need, news-wise, is an attractive proposition from a consumer perspective. It’s also pretty cost efficient and expands the ad revenue potential of the company through expanded reach of both national and local content that moves from hub to spokes and spokes to hub. Of course, Axios isn’t the only media company moving in this direction. Scripps, Nexstar, and Sinclair, for example, have all made similar strategic moves, pursuing a TV based hub and spoke-type system with internal national news networks and a whole bunch of local TV stations. It’s clear they’re preparing for a singularity in brand as well, albeit a much more traditional and expensive version.

The Axios offering is relatively small, manageable, cheap, and more in line with the way news is being consumed these days, unlike the others that are really more akin to Hail Mary attempts in an effort to find a metric for relevance and continued existence. To date, the Axios product, like most newsletters, is text based. However, when they decide to efficiently add video to the equation - and I believe they should for all kinds of reasons - that could be game, set, match for our clunky, legacy media friends. Stay tuned…

01/07/2023

and the beauty of Wide Angles...

01/02/2023

Santos: Epic System Failure

Tomorrow the 118th Congress will be sworn in, and by all indications, newly elected representative from Long Island, New York, George Santos, will be among them. By now, we all know the fantastical - beyond belief - story that is Mr. Santos.

This morning CNN, in discussing how such a thing could happen, characterized the story as a frightening indication of the on-going decline of local news - an example of the bad things that slip through the cracks when no one's watching.

I don't disagree but would offer one additional point of causation - a lack of updated priority in our newsrooms. Like it or not, we're living in a time when the politicians chosen to lead matters greatly - perhaps more than ever - and yet, I would suggest our coverage isn't always representative of that reality.

While we don't yet know what prompted Mr. Santos top to bottom fabricated remake of his life experience, it would seem he was pretty confident no one would pay any attention or catch on. He was right. So, while we absolutely must rebuild and bolster the disappearing local news infrastructure, we also have to re-examine (immediately) the priorities that direct the limited resources we DO have. Time to wipe the slate clean and reassess.

BTW, kudos to the North Shore Leader, a small, weekly paper on Long Island, for raising issues with Mr. Santos some four months ago. Unfortunately, no one was paying attention to them either.

The North Shore Leader was onto his lies months before he was elected in New York.

12/31/2022

Remember what's important!

12/25/2022

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hope Springs Eternal… The year was 1914 and the World was at war, or at least it was working its way towards it. Europe had been a bundle of fraying nerves for quite a while and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June of that year proved to be the catalyst for an eruption.

12/20/2022

Bridgegate and the plot to overthrow America

12/19/2022

So very sad. The consummate professional and all around good human being.

Drew Griffin, CNN's award-winning Senior Investigative Correspondent, known for getting even the cagiest of interview subjects to engage in a story, died Saturday after a long battle with cancer, his family said. He was 60.

12/11/2022

...and Journalism for America!

12/06/2022

Consummate professional and a true talent. What a run!!

12/04/2022

From Boom to Bust...Ho Ho Ho

11/27/2022

Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It’s actually my favorite holiday. It just kind of sneaks up on you without pretense or hype, and asks only for reflection, a little contemplation perhaps, and a quiet, personal offering of appreciation. To sweeten the deal, it provides permissi...

11/24/2022

Happy Thanksgiving...

To all of our friends, clients, readers of the newsletter...oh what the heck, and everyone else as well.

We are thankful. Hope you all have a great day.

Joel & Neva Cheatwood

11/21/2022

Three Headlines Coming Soon - Final Chapter But first… I have a Cold, I’m miserable, and nothing else matters. Country on the brink? World War III just around the corner? My LA Rams suck? WHO CARES! MY DAMN NOSE WON’T STOP RUNNING AND I’M ACHY!! It’s all consuming and I’m convinced it’...

11/14/2022

Not a Total Surprise, but...

According to Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 44% of all college graduates now looking for a job regret their field of study. Topping the 10 most regretted majors...journalism by a wide margin, and communications comes in fourth. Most site poor salary prospects and a lack of job security as the primary reasons. At a time when the World needs journalist more than ever...

How do we fix?

Graduates entering the workforce with good career prospects and high starting salaries are the most satisfied with their major, according to ZipRecruiter.

11/13/2022

Unsustainable...

"TEGNA says cable, satellite fees topped ad revenue again"

To rely on retransmission fees today is akin to building a house on a sandy beach without a foundation. You know, at some point in the near future, the house will be washed away. It's not if...it's when.

And, in case you missed it, NBC's (Comcast) decision to bring all 210 affiliates to Peacock+ has sped up the doomsday clock. Stations will soon have to figure out how to do business with a whole lot less.

Carriage fee revenue outpaced traditional advertisement revenue for at least the second straight quarter at TEGNA.

11/13/2022

The new world order is here!

11/07/2022

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