by Scott Ott
(2004-12-01) -- CBS News executives, facing the prospect of a Rather-less evening news program for the first time in two decades, may experiment with a so-called "reality TV" newscast format, according to one unnamed network insider.
"Anchors and personalities cost big bucks," said the source. "Instead of trying to find the next Dan Rather or Ted Baxter, we're thinking of getting back to basics. You know...just the facts. We're dead last now, so how bad could it get?"
Indeed a notesheet obtained from a top-level CBS programming meeting seems to confirm that the network may be ready to shake things up. Here's a partial excerpt of the brainstorming session notes:
-- "What if the news itself were the star of the show, rather than the newscasters?
-- What if reporters and anchors were chosen for their ability to accurately recount the day's events?
-- What if we skipped the flashy graphics and fancy sets, and used the extra cash to hire more reporters?
-- What if the length of the newscast were determined daily by the volume and significance of the news?
-- What if we reported on the important stuff even if we didn't have any b-roll video to illustrate it?
-- What if reporters spent the first 20 seconds of every story admitting their preconceived ideas, biases and opinions on the subject?
-- What if we superimposed an elephant or donkey graphic next to a reporter's name to indicate his political affiliation?
-- What if we didn't care about who wins the ratings war, but only about the accuracy, fairness and relevance of our reporting?
-- What if we ran a separate audio track allowing viewers to hear our news sources commenting about the accuracy of the stories we do about them?
-- What if viewers could download all of the raw videotape and transcripts from our interviews immediately after the show?
-- What if viewers could talk back to producers during the show on our blog?
-- What if we had a real blog?
-- What if we weren't too smart to try some of these ideas?"
CBS has launched an internal investigation to assess the authenticity of the notesheet and to determine who leaked it to the so-called "mainstream media."
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