By John Altenbern, CJ&N President This time of year the Midwest presents special challenges. Saturday morning, as a steady trickle of water came down my garage wall from melting ice dams on the roof, I resigned myself to watching a slow-motion domestic disaster unfold. Water always finds a way in. Just 24 hours before, I [...]
By John Altenbern, President – CJ&N, Inc. It’s a debate with renewed life in every market: What’s the point of traditional “sweeps months” four times a year when electronic ratings measurement is constant? With the advent of electronic ratings every 30 days throughout the year in every market, the obvious answer would seem to be [...]
Sitting high and dry a thousand miles from the Harvey disaster unfolding in Texas gives you a different perspective on the story. As local stations in Texas and the networks do yeoman’s duty showing rescues and passing on information, our CJ&N colleagues are noting something else: The most useful sources of information and help for [...]
In a focus group I sat in on last week, one local news viewer said, “There are plenty of places I can turn to for opinion, no matter if it is left, right or something else. I watch the local news because it isn’t like that.” According to our research, his viewpoint is shared by [...]
Disgust. Uneasiness. Anger. As voters put an end to election season tomorrow (hopefully), these aren’t the feelings generally associated with declaring winners. Those words also apply to how many people view the news media. So for news organizations, striking the right tone on election night is important. Here are some big picture thoughts before you [...]
A good friend of mine struggles to figure out her computer and phone. In her world, files disappear and mysteriously move never to be seen again. When she explains her latest frustration, people are curious: Why does she have these problems when some of us facing the same thing bungle along and figure out a [...]
I hadn’t even planned to attend my caucus here in Iowa this year. But when a sudden change in my travel schedule put me at home Monday night it seemed like a good way to spend the evening. Driving to a local elementary school I was stuck in a stream of cars coming out of my [...]
