Why a local TV station has more of non-local news
July 9, 2023 6:42 PM   Subscribe

I cycle between KOIN, KGW, KPTV and KATU in Portland for TV news. I notice the first three focus almost exclusively on local news, that being west of the Cascades and mostly Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties.

KATU, by contrast, seems to highlight a lot more news from Washington state, and borrows a lot of stories from its sister station, KOMO in Seattle. Both are part of the Sinclair Group. If KATU is based in Portland, considered local and has the same capabilities as its competitors, why is it not focusing their news on Portland as well?
posted by CollectiveMind to Media & Arts (5 answers total)
 


We have a Sinclair station in Providence, RI, and it feels like a newspaper that was bought by a national company: lots of wire stories, minimal local news, and perspectives that don't line up with local culture.

Often there's no clue that the segment isn't a local one, so am I cautious viewer might believe it was all stories from their town's crew (albeit a little clumsily phrased).
posted by wenestvedt at 6:52 PM on July 9, 2023 [1 favorite]


It’s both a propaganda tactic and a money-saving measure.
posted by lunasol at 8:10 PM on July 9, 2023 [7 favorites]


And local news requires local reporters, and why should we pay for that, when we can just grab news from the internet...

It's capitalism all the way down.
posted by Windopaene at 7:54 AM on July 10, 2023 [1 favorite]


Nthing what people say here about Sinclair. I'd guess they made a business decision about where to spend money on staff and KOMO got the go-ahead to keep more reporters and camera crews in the field at the expense of local news in Portland. KOMO was our go-to local station when we watched TV news until Kath Goertzen died, Dan Lewis left and Sinclair bought the station. Sinclair is horrible.
posted by lhauser at 6:15 PM on July 10, 2023 [1 favorite]


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