QUALITY SELLS

June 1, 1999
		KAKE-TV, an independently owned ABC affiliate in Wichita, Kansas, has come come up with a novel way to increase its ratings: good journalism. Media correspondent Terence Smith reports.

May 21, 1999: The former editor of the New York Times on journalism April 30, 1999: Cops and cameras. April 26, 1999: The Internet as a news source. March 3, 1999: The media "Get" Game Jan. 13, 1999: The growth of network news magazines. Nov. 13, 1998: New News Part 2: Cable and broadcast television. Nov. 6, 1998: New News Part 1: Changes in print and Internet journalism Browse the NewsHour's coverage of the media   Project for Excellence in Journalism -- Local TV project KAKE-TV -- Wichita, KS American Journalism Review Online Journalism Review Columbia Journalism Review Freedom Forum	CORRESPONDENT: A sexual predator is at large tonight, and we'll show you where. CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, new at 6:00, A bizarre shooting in one neighborhood sends two people to the hospital and lands a 20-year-old in court -- (Sirens wailing)
	"If it bleeds, it leads."
	TERENCE SMITH: If it bleeds, it leads. CORRESPONDENT: The latest murder happened in that apartment building. It's the second murder in McKeys Court this year -- TERENCE SMITH: For years, that's been the operating principal of many local television newscasts. CORRESPONDENT: The most recent sexual assault occurred right here on Crescent Place near Venice Boulevard. TERENCE SMITH: Murder and mayhem frequently get top billing on local news nationwide. (Local Coverage) TERENCE SMITH: Crime statistics are down nationwide, but you can't tell that from much local television. A recent survey of 102 local stations on a given night, found that more than half led their evening newscasts with crime-related pieces. TOM ROSENSTIEL, Project for Excellence in Journalism: The paradox of local TV news is that it is the most watched and used source of information in the United States. It is also the most trusted, and yet, most critics and even many people in local television itself feel that it may be the worst form of journalism in America. TERENCE SMITH: Tom Rosenstiel heads the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which is funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The Project compiled another study earlier this year that rated 61 local news stations nationwide on the quality of their newscasts. The survey produced a surprising result. TOM ROSENSTIEL: Quality sells. The stations that earned the very best grades in the study - more than 60 percent of them - were rising in ratings. TERENCE SMITH: Rosenstiel conceded that local stations still can make money by emphasizing the seamy side of life, but that is not the only way news departments can be successful. TOM ROSENSTIEL: Trash does sell and so does quality. But what it suggests is that if somebody wants to invest in quality, they can do so. And if you invest in more quality, that will help you even more down that road.
	Setting a high standard for local news.
	TERENCE SMITH: KAKE, an independently-owned ABC affiliate in Wichita, Kansas, was cited in Rosensteil's study as one example of a local station that is doing well by doing good journalism. Long mired in third place in its competitive, statewide market, KAKE has moved up to second in the ratings by downplaying crime coverage in favor of more substantive fare. Jim Turpin, the station's news director, says that's what his audience wants. JIM TURPIN, News Director, KAKE-TV: They don't want to be beaten over the head with crime every day. They know it's out there. They just don't want to know about every little crime that goes on. TERENCE SMITH: Turpin applies an exacting standard when deciding what makes the evening news. JIM TURPIN: We don't want to do a story unless we can show a person how something's going to improve their lives or give them information that they need to be better informed about issues. CORRESPONDENT: The most popular stolen car for thieves -- TERENCE SMITH: KAKE was singled out in the Project for Excellence study as a prime example of a station that has improved its ratings by improving its product. The study graded all the stations and KAKE got an A+. We decided to visit to see what they were doing.
	Connecting with the viewers.
	JIM TURPIN: What's in it for me? "Me" is the viewer. TERENCE SMITH: In the early morning meeting at KAKE, they talk about the "WIIFM" factor, or "What's in it for me." This morning, the staff weighed in on what stories they thought were important. KEN PETERSON, Reporter, KAKE-TV: Also up in Topeka where we were supposed to go, we've got the transportation bill. TERENCE SMITH: A transportation bill is slated for the top of the 6 o'clock show. A local hospital that had a new medical procedure was the 5 o'clock lead, and a candidate running for both city council and mayor was in the news. JIM TURPIN: The point is, is he running for both of these offices just because he's a weirdo or is he running because he really thinks he can make a community difference? KAKE-TV REPORTER: I think he thinks he can make a community difference, but he doesn't realize that he can't. TERENCE SMITH: KAKE reporter Ken Peterson is covering the transportation bill that's expected to be voted on in the state legislature. KEN PETERSON: Today, we took a look back at an older plan so that people could kind of relate, "Oh, okay, that's what the old transportation plan did." So a new transportation plan might have the same effect, and then they can make a decision for themselves whether they think the money should be spent because we're talking about billions of dollars. TERENCE SMITH: Peterson's story was the second story in the 5 o'clock newscast that night. KEN PETERSON: Well, the 1989 transportation plan had a major impact on the state of Kansas. I'm standing on the old K-96 Highway. It's a two-lane road that used to have bumper-to-bumper traffic on it, but today, as you can see, it is an absolute breeze to cross.
	News you can use.
	TERENCE SMITH: Another new addition at KAKE is consumer reporter Deb Farris. Consumer news is popular with Wichita audiences and its local relevance is a major reason the station fared so well in the study. The consumer segments are labeled "KAKE on Your Side". DEB FARRIS, Consumer Reporter, KAKE: Usually in a market this size you don't have an investigative reporter that gets a lot more time to work on the story. TERENCE SMITH: Farris was featured on the 10 o'clock news that night with a special investigative series on companies in Wichita that she reported were polluting the environment. DEB FARRIS: Of the families who sued, 12 of them reached an undisclosed settlement with the companies named. Part of the settlement was to agree never to talk to the media about the lawsuit. TERENCE SMITH: KAKE's most formidable competitor, CBS station KWCH, has been number one for several years now. On the day we visited, it lead its 5 o'clock show with a story on the police department's drunk driving force. KWCH-TV CORRESPONDENT: There's a buzz in the air tonight that big changes are on the way for Wichita's drunk driving enforcement unit. TERENCE SMITH: It started its 10 o'clock broadcast with a lighthearted story about a celestial happening. KWCH-TV CORRESPONDENT: For the first time in 25 years the two brightest planets - unusually close together. TERENCE SMITH: Bob Curtright is the TV critic for the Wichita Eagle. BOB CURTRIGHT, TV Critic, Wichita Eagle: KAKE has really gone back to its community involvement and consumerism. They put the effort into consumer reports and people having complaints and trying to help them through their complaints. The other stations still have not picked up on that to the same degree that KAKE is doing now.
	The pressures of profitability.
	TERENCE SMITH: Anchorwoman Susan Peters has been in local news for over 26 years. She has worked in a variety of different markets. Before joining KAKE, she was in San Diego. Peters says she's watched a sea change occur in local news over the past 15 years. SUSAN PETERS, Anchorwoman, KAKE-TV: When I got into this business, most television stations, and radio stations for that matter, were owned by broadcasters, people who grew up either in the news department or even engineering or sales department. They were broadcasters at heart. In the 80's, all of a sudden, these business people started looking at television stations saying, "Wow, these things make a lot of money." For business people who owned television stations, the bottom line is simply the bottom line, making money, and they don't care as much about the product. TERENCE SMITH: And at most local stations the news department is responsible for the lion's share of that bottom line. JIM TURPIN: We make a lot of money, as local news departments do all over the country, for their owners. We bring in about half the revenue for the station - but I think it's about 40 percent of the net profit - something like that -- which is pretty good considering we don't do 40 percent of the programming in the day. TERENCE SMITH: In a business where the trend has been to move to shorter and flashier stories, Turpin is instead giving his reporters more time for their pieces. Susan Peters just aired a series on "The Power of Prayer" where each of her stories was three and a half minutes long, something she considers a luxury. SUSAN PETERS: A lot of people would think it was a death wish to put on longer stories, but slow, but sure, our ratings are going up. Now, if we would have done that exact opposite, here is this crash and here is this and here is this, and given you your news like that, our ratings probably would have gone up faster, I think, but this way they're going up and they're going up with quality.
	An independent way of thinking?
	TERENCE SMITH: Unlike many other local stations, KAKE is not owned by a larger conglomerate. It's one of two stations owned by the Chronicle Publishing Company, which also runs KRON-TV in San Francisco, another station that has won praise from critics. Despite its enormous profitability, local news like the national broadcast networks has seen audiences begin to decline in the past few years. Competition for ratings is intense, and not even KAKE is above resorting to gimmicks. KAKE-TV CORRESPONDENT: Well, it looks great. Let's take a look at the before and after right now. There you have the before; there you have the big smile afterwards. TERENCE SMITH: On Mondays, you can tune in and see a regular feature, "The Monday Makeover." Anchorwoman Susan Peters: SUSAN PETERS: This market is not immune, and KAKE TV is not immune to that at all because the makeover, we do because people like seeing people made over. It has no news value whatsoever, but we do it because people like seeing it. TERENCE SMITH: But most of the time, KAKE's newscasts deal with actual news, straight, practical news of interest to its audience. It's a revolutionary concept for many local markets, but - here - it works.

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