If you were appointed head of a major news network:

[brentspeak]

For me, these are some of the policies I would implement:

1) NO stories about Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, Brittany Spears, etc.

2) NO interviews with or any mention of Ann Coulter, or anybody even resembling Ann Coulter.

3) NO D.C. political pundits of any kind.

4) NO think tank "experts" (i.e. political/industry whores) of any kind.

5) NO phony, forced "balanced" coverage of any kind. Just the facts, no agenda, thank you very much.

6) NO interference from high-on-up in the network. If an arrogant Jack Welch-type rings up the news room and demands that such-and-such story be torpedoed, because it might affect his stock portfolio or something, I would just hang up on him.

[rzemanfl]

1. I'd hire Keith Olbermann- then get a big screen TV, put my

feet up on my desk and enjoy.

[Selatius]

2. I'd quit the very next day. I'll tell you why.

Because if I stayed on and did everything you just said, I'd be replaced by the end of the year anyway. It's an exercise in futility. Do you realize that they keep reporting on sensationalistic news stories to try to boost the ratings which translates into revenue? That they have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize shareholder wealth?

If you want to correct the imbalances in the corporate news media, I recommend you consult the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and I also recommend you pass new anti-trust laws that make it even stronger.

[givemebackmycountry]

3. That's a whole lot of "No" right there

I got one more for you.

No Ratings.

Unfortunately, we are one extra STUPID country, and we don't care to know what's true or what's important.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Good ones!

Mine would be

1)Stories from around the globe, not just the US--showing how what the US does impacts the rest of the world.

2)Interviews with real scholars and experts in fields connected with a story-and from all the differing viewpoints BUT more of those who represent a majority viewpoint-for example, a story on the age of the earth with 5 scientist and 1 creationist. Proportional representation.

3) Stories that go on for more than 1 or 2 minutes

4) Stories that present information with, as much as possible, no interpretation of the story. If possible, just pictures, no words.

5) "The best of the world's news" would be a feature, with excerpts from newscasts from around the world.

[NYCGirl]

5. There was a channel just like that, NWI (News World International). It went broke.

[flyarm]

6. i would fire everyone but KO and start all over!! eom

[Balbus]

7. And you'd be bankrupt by the end of the month.

[brentspeak]

8. Ok. Explain why.

[Balbus]

13. Because you'd not have any sponsors.

Who'd sponsor a news program nobody is watching? And if you think even a tenth of a percent of tv owners are going to watch a news program with no dynamics, no personalities, no "expert" opinions or political opinions, not to mention the owner ignoring input from stockholders, then you're living in a different world.

Kinda new to this whole business thing, aren't you...

[brentspeak]

16. So, tell us, what exactly are news "dynamics"?

What are news "personalities"? And on precisely what grounds could you make the claim that not even a 10th of the viewing audience would watch a news program that makes itself known as an honest, trustworthy source among a cesspool of commercialized TV news dreck?

[Balbus]

17. Actually, that was a tenth of one percent - not a tenth of the viewing audience.

but to sum up all your questions in one answer: if honest, trustworthy, bland, non-stylized, non-sensationalized news programs were profitable, someone would already be doing it.

[cynatnite]

9. My reporters would be doing REAL investigative journalism...

they'd sniff out the stories and not give those in power a break. They'd make them answerable to the American people. Don't give a shit whether it's dem or repuke.

I would end the coverage of the L.A. car chases. I would have the commentary type shows, but with an equal balance of them and no idiots like Tucker. Only smart guys like KO no matter what side their on. I'd come down on them like a hammer if they lied or twisted the truth, too.

[MonkeyFunk]

10. and you'd be fired in a month

because your ratings were in the toilet.

[leveymg]

11. Phone's been ringing off the hook, hasn't it?

If we had just one 24 hour news cycle, these stories might finally make the lineup:

[Balbus]

12. self-delete - wrong place.

[mcscajun]

14. Implement just one critical policy, the one abandoned some time ago and that, IMO

is where all the trouble started with all networks:

The News Division Is a Loss Leader; It Does NOT Exist to Make a Profit!

End of story. When news divisions became part of the profit center is when the "fluff" content and immaculately coiffed and styled pretty faces took over.

Murrow, Cronkite, Robert Trout, Eric Severeid, Douglas Edwards, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Roger Mudd, Nancy Dickerson et al were true news-people; they were journalists, real reporters, not mannequins reading copy. "Eyewitness News" was the beginning of the end to real news programming.

All the rest of the necessary changes would fall into place behind that one major change.

From "Network"
Diana Christensen: I watched your 6 o'clock news today; it's straight tabloid. You had a minute and a half of that lady riding a bike naked in Central Park; on the other hand, you had less than a minute of hard national and international news. It was all sex, scandal, brutal crime, sports, children with incurable diseases, and lost puppies. So, I don't think I'll listen to any protestations of high standards of journalism when you're right down on the streets soliciting audiences like the rest of us. Look, all I'm saying is if you're going to hustle, at least do it right.

That was from 1976, And it's still sex, scandal and lost puppies today. Pathetic.

[Johnny Noshoes]

15. Mr Beale said it best...

"We deal in illusions, man. None of it is true. But you people sit there day after day, night after night, all ages, colors, creeds. We're all you know. You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here. You're beginning to think that the tube is reality and that your own lives are unreal. You do whatever the tube tells you. You dress like the tube. You eat like the tube. You even think like the tube. In God's name, you people are the real thing, WE are the illusion." Howard Beale