In the latest sign that network news is in a fight for its very survival, ABC News is slashing a quarter of its staff and closing many of its far-flung bureaus. CBS shed 6 percent of its staff a few weeks ago, and NBC cut back three years ago. The economic problems facing broadcast TV outlets are similar to those dragging down newspapers -- online competition is stealing viewers, and shrinking advertising revenue is breaking budgets. Will sweeping scaling down save network news, or only slow its demise? (Watch a recent clip of Diane Sawyer on "ABC World News")
The big-three news broadcasts are history: Network news made sense back in the days of Walter Cronkite, says James Joyner in Outside the Beltway, but it's obsolete in a world where viewers have hundreds of channels and websites to choose from. Trimming the fat won't help -- the smart move is to "cancel the shows" and move on.
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