Steve Schwaid, a former local TV news director, told Media Post local stations should stop putting broadcast first and concentrate on the web.
“More people may see your digital content than your newscasts. (If you doubt that, contact me and I’ll show you some missed opportunities.)” said Schwaid. “Many stations could shift three to six people to their digital side from the ‘broadcast’ staff and it would have no impact on your broadcast ratings.”
Schwaid last worked in local TV as news director of WTXF in Philadelphia. He’s also lead newsrooms at WGCL in Atlanta, WCAU in Philadelphia, WTOG in Tampa, WVIT in Hartford and WGME in Portland, Maine.
He’s now vp of digital strategies of Crawford, Johnson and Northcott and pointed to local stations’ coverage of the Paris terror attacks to show where local stations could do better.
Schwaid says that during the recent Paris attacks there were few news stories on many local TV stations’ sites, apart from a generic AP or CNN story. Additionally, there was even less locally skewed news about the attack — as in what families/friends were affected in the area, or what local U.S. citizens felt about the attacks.