August 24th, 2009 
joel P&T readers think social media is “tweet.”
Over half of our poll respondents said that they use social media such as Facebook and Twitter several times each day. In the binary opposite, just under a quarter voted that they never or rarely use it.
This week’s poll is inspired by a comment about how “one-man-bands” are very prevalent in many television news markets, even bigger ones, yet not in Erie. This relatively new approach, where the reporter takes his/her own camera, shoots, reports, then edits each story by themselves, could mean that more people would cover more stories. Or it could mean more layoffs and the same or less news.
Could the "one-man-band" approach to TV news mean more coverage on Erie stations?
- No - management will just cut more jobs and reporters would have to work harder for each story (72%, 21 Votes)
- Yes - more reporters at more places means more news (17%, 5 Votes)
- I don't know/I'm ambivalent (11%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 29
Loading ...
Posted in 
Tags: 
Yes it is true that one man bands have been around for years. It is also true that larger markets are going the “OMB” or “VJ” route. Unfortunately, in the current economic climate I fear that “One Man Banding” will only be used as a way to cut expenses.
It would be nice if OMB’s would allow for more content. I just don’t see it happening. It seems like every technological advance since 1996 (ParkerVision, Ignite, etc.) has been designed to “do more with less” – yet everytime new technology is introduced management always seems to use the “more content/more news coverage” reasoning…then never delivers.
Curious
Just look at the track record over the last 15 – 20 years and you’ll find the answer.
Tim,
You hit it right on the head. These changes are made to cut staff. That’s it. The spin the salespeople and management use is that it cuts down on errors because there are less operators in the mix. From first-hand experience with Ignite – that is NOT true.
Interesting isn’t that while technicians, producers, directors,editors, photographers and everyone who actually makes the product sees their jobs and salaries cut, station managers and “senior leadership teams” never seem to suffer the same fates. I look forward to seeing if the general manager with the six figure salary can run a television station all by himself.
And when all of the Erie stations are simply pass throughs, these managers will blame “industry changes” and “market shifts”, then take their “leadership skills” and move on.
I would say there is much more news available now than 20 years ago. BUT it’s not on broadcast TV. People who aren’t traditional reporters are reporting the news as they see it. The tweets out of Iran during the protests are a great example.
But most of these people aren’t usually paid for their reporting. I am guessing locally that most stations would cut staff (and expenses) if they could provide the same amount of news.