Z on TV: Newspapers - Sun critic David Zurawik writes about the business, culture and craziness of television

The Baltimore Sun > Entertainment > TV > Z on TV

May 9, 2009

Study finds newspapers trounce TV in self-reporting

As a TV critic writing for a newspaper, I have long argued this case. But I never had evidence like the data gathered by group of University of Pennsylvania scholars who compared the ways in which newspapers covered their declining readership versus how TV news reported (or didn't report) on declining viewership.

Newspapers are far more conscientious in reporting their own bad news than TV is in telling viewers about its loss of audience. Across a nine year span, the Penn researchers found 900 instances of newspapers reporting the story of declining readership. On TV news, meanwhile, only 22 stories appeared.

You do the math, and form your own conclusions about which medium has been more trustworthy in handling a hard story.

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Posted by David Zurawik at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Cable and Network News, Network TV, Newspapers

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About David Zurawik

I've been The Baltimore Sun's TV critic since 1989. My writings on TV and media have appeared in such publications as TV Guide, Esquire magazine and American Journalism Review. I have a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park, and an M.A. in specialized reporting (on popular culture) from the University of Wisconsin. I'm the author of The Jews of Prime Time (Brandeis University Press), a look at 50 years of Jewish characters and identity on network TV. I have also been with WYPR-FM (88.1) radio since 1994 and can be heard Thursday mornings at 7:30 doing a weekly "Take on Television" report.

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