CBS Said to Consider Use of CNN in Reporting

The New York Times

CBS Said to Consider Use of CNN in Reporting (Published 2008)

Tim Arango •

The network has been in discussions about a deal to outsource some of its news-gathering operations.

heads up: this is a pretty old post, it may be outdated.

In its recently released annual report titled “The State of the News Media,” the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which is led by Tom Rosenstiel, stated that broadcast news outlets needed to diversify more quickly across platforms if they were to survive.

—CBS Said to Consider Use of CNN in Reporting - New York Times

…which doesn't mean that we need to loose diversity in our news media – yet again.

The idea of CBS cutting most of it's reporting capabilities in favor of relying on CNN is not just bad, but horrible. The last thing we need is a bigger conglomeration of media outlets relying on each other.

CBS may be that solid third place finisher, but it doesn't matter. They keep the two top dogs (FOX and CNN) in line. Its important to have as many media outlets as possible so that:

  • Other media outlets will get their 'facts' checked. When a news company reports something wrong, its frequently another media outlet that corrects them.
  • It would be easy enough to fool one watch dog, it's harder to fool two, it's harder still to fool three. You get the point… The more news organizations we have out there, the less likely it is that the public will get fooled
  • The basic principal of a free market should prevail.

Please CBS, say it ain't so!