The great shutdown of 2020: How newsrooms and media companies are adapting
September 11. Hurricane Katrina. The great recession. Superstorm Sandy. And now, the great shutdown.
Each of the past events were different. But each one has similarities to the coronavirus emergency. Each one overwhelmed the news nervous system. There was so much happening, in so many places, all at once, that it was almost impossible to keep up or convey the scope.
After Sandy, I remember NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan saying that the superstorm contained so many stories — floods, blackouts, fires, closures — that each one would have been its own top story for a week. That’s what Thursday was like. The Dow is down 2,000 points? Normally that would be a wall-to-wall story. Governors are declaring states of emergencies every hour? Normally that would be wall-to-wall too. A travel ban to parts of Europe? Wall-to-wall. But under these circumstances, each story gets a few minutes of each hour and a few paragraphs of each printed page. Journalists have to keep up and keep the public informed and keep calm, all at the same time.
Cancelled
The gathering storm
Inside newsrooms…
Here’s what’s going on: Every newsroom leader I know is instituting changes, but different changes make sense for different news outlets. Work from home measures are widespread. Newspapers of all sizes, from national brands to college papers, are worrying about how to print the dead-tree edition and how to prioritize digital subscriptions. Television networks are coming up with contingency plans, figuring out how to broadcast with fewer staffers and far fewer in-person guests. Local stations are producing special reports and experimenting with new virus-focused formats. Book publishers are weighing whether to delay new books. There’s a LOT happening. Viewers and readers need reassurance… answers… and relief when warranted.
Nightly news intros
Norah O’Donnell: “As we come on the air tonight, life here in America is changing…”
Lester Holt: “We’re moving into uncharted territory, practically by the hour…”
Judy Woodruff: “It has been a day like few others in modern American life…”
David Muir: “Another day of fast-moving developments in this coronavirus emergency…”
Why no W.H. briefing?!
Erin Burnett brought this up at the beginning of “OutFront” Thursday evening: “Americans want answers now more than ever — which makes the White House’s decision NOT to hold what has been a daily briefing with the nation’s top health experts that much more disappointing and confounding…”
Oliver’s insight
Oliver Darcy and I talked about this in the largely-empty CNN NYC office on Thursday. “This seems like the first major news cycle that you CAN’T tune out of,” he wrote. “You could have chosen to tune out of Mueller/Russia cycle. You could have chosen to tune out of Ukraine/impeachment cycle. But you cannot choose to tune out of the coronavirus cycle. There is no escaping it.”
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
pical primary has ended. “Something extraordinary has begun: a real-time, life-or-death test of competency and leadership for those seeking the White House this November…” (NYT)
— Univision anchor Ilia Calderón will take his place alongside CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper…
Zucker: “Our obligation and responsibility have never been greater”
Quoting from WarnerMedia News and Sports chairman Jeff Zucker’s Thursday memo to staffers: “News of the global spread of the coronavirus has overtaken the world. The consequences reach far beyond the news of the day. As we know, lives are, quite literally, at stake. It is clear that none of us has ever experienced something like this. And none of us knows what the next few months will be like. Our everyday lives have been impacted in every possible way. Our two divisions — news and sports — are at a unique inflection point of two aspects of a hugely important story.”
For CNN, Zucker said, “our obligation and responsibility have never been greater. For all of you who are spread across the country and around the world covering this story, your work is always meaningful — yet now it is even more essential. The world has turned to CNN…”
CNN’s town hall
At 10pm ET, CNN held another global town hall about the virus, hosted by Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, this time in partnership with Facebook and Instagram. Last week’s town hall had a live audience at CNN’s Hudson Yards studio. This time, Cooper and Gupta showed the empty seats to underscore how life is changing…
Updates from CBS News
Zirinsky said this weekend’s “Evening News” broadcasts will originate from L.A., produced by KCBS along with the network’s L.A. bureau.
Locations and personnel assignments for future broadcasts are still being determined. “We all take our responsibility to serve the public trust very seriously at times like this — no matter where we are broadcasting from,” Z wrote. “Thanks for keeping your eye on the ball.”
Podcast: My Q&A with NYMag editor David Haskell
NYC’s late-night shows are suspending production
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” planned to move to a no-audience format on Monday, but with Broadway going dark at 5pm ET on Thursday, “Late Show” put the plan into effect early:
→ “The Wendy Williams Show” is also putting production of its show “on hold, indefinitely,” per Chloe Melas…