The Local News

As someone who doesn't watch the local news, it was interesting to view the program with a critical eye. There are several things I noticed about the program, including the audience of the television news and the formatting of the news.

I was really interested in the way they structured the stories. The top story was about a fatal car accident in Minneapolis. It was followed by a few brief pieces about local violence. The stories were very short, about one minute, and did not offer any explanation or editorializing of the incidents. The topics that got the most time were weather, closely followed by sports.

There was also a clear audience for the newscast. They are families and parents, or older people. Many topics were geared towards families, including what to dress your children in to wait at the bus stop the next morning. However, most of the ads during the program were for prescription medication, something normally presented to older people.

During the broadcast, I found very little that was directed towards my demographic. This is probably because most young people are getting their news from alternate sources.