PoliticsAside
PoliticsAside
PoliticsAside: Tired of the Spin? Try Your Local Broadcasters
In this Election Day edition of PoliticsAside, Congressman Porter is joined by Wendy Paulson of the Minnesota Broadcasters Association, Mitch Fox of the Nevada Broadcasters Association, and Bob Singer of the Oregon Association of Broadcasters to discuss the importance of local broadcasters and how local media coverage differs from national coverage.
addition, on Politics Aside. For those that have joined us in the past, you know, politics Aside is an opportunity for us to have a conversation with experts in the field and many of them very personal friends that will be able to share their experience as well. What it has to do with politics or what it has to do with business, it really depends on the topic. But today I think it's a very germane time to talk about the importance of the media, the importance of information that's provided by the media and or the choice that you make in finding information. As many of you may know, I do spend a good part of my early mornings every day tracking the news, whether it's CNN, abc, cbs, fox, you name it. I try to look at all the different media sources LA Times, washington Post to kind of get an idea, as the day begins, on what's happening around the world, although I know it's going to change. I start this about 5.30 Eastern time. I know it's all going to be different at 9 am, but at least I have a clue as I'm entering the day to help give people a perspective of what's happening around the world. But the one thing I've learned through the years is my go-to source of information really is local media. Wherever you are in the country, if not in the world, but specifically in the US, my go-to is local media, has been for years and I've had 11 campaigns through the years and I understand the information flow, how important it is to public servants, how important that information is to the business community.
Speaker 1:But I wanted to share with you today, with a couple of my friends, an area of local media, local broadcasters, and why it matters. My perspective is not unlike local businesses or local elected officials. There is a certain amount of esprit de corps, there's a certain amount of trust given to those that are a member of a particular community and we turn to trusted sources of information to try to make decisions again, whether it's business or politics. So one of my go-to guys for almost 30 years is Mr Mitch Fox from the great state of Nevada. Mitch has been involved with, I think, most of the debates he moderated through my career, so he knows too much about me and today we're going to save that for some other time, right, mitch? But I want to introduce Mr Fox, who is the president and CEO of the Nevada Broadcasters. He will then introduce the rest of our special guests, but please join me in welcoming Mitch Fox. Thank you for joining us, mitch.
Speaker 2:Thank you, congressman. Thank you for the introduction and it's a pleasure to join you today and I'm particularly delighted to welcome two of my colleagues, respected colleagues in the broadcast community in this country. First off is Bob Singer. He's President and Executive Director of the Oregon Association of Broadcasters, and this guy's a veteran I don't even start on his resume because he's been GM and he's been head of so many broadcast companies, and Oregon is very blessed, the Oregon broadcast community is very blessed to have him, in charge of their particular association, also joining us today. I think we've got a real heavy hitter here and that is Wendy Paulson. Not only is she a president of the Minnesota Broadcasters Association, but she's president of the association that represents all of our state associations. It's called NASBA, it's the National Alliance of State Broadcast Associations, so she literally is the leader of all of us up to a little less than 50 state associations across the country, and I'm thrilled that both Wendy and Bob can join us today.
Speaker 3:Thanks, mitch, thanks for having me. Thank you, sam.
Speaker 1:Thank you for the introductions, Mitch. I guess I really want to start. As I mentioned, you're a trusted advisors, your organizations, your team and, I believe not unlike myself you have people around you that are better than all of us here on the call, but we put together a team of folks to provide the proper information. But what makes the local broadcasters unique and special and why should someone like myself or our viewers turn to local media first for a trusted source of information and this is not a commercial, by the way. I'm asking this very sincerely because people are struggling for information and how to get the right information at the right time. Why turn to local media?
Speaker 3:You know, there's something that you had said in some of our previous conversations and you brought it up again, and really that key word is trust, right? So when you start looking at your local radio, your local TV stations, those are trusted voices, trusted faces of people that are working and living in the communities that they serve. So they take that responsibility very seriously. When it comes to accuracy, making sure any misinformation is targeted with a reality check and making sure the information that they're giving and dispelling is accurate, they take that extremely seriously. So I think, first and foremost, I wanted to focus on the word trust and how incredibly important that is, not only in the time of an election, but just in day-to-day coverage.
Speaker 4:Yes, I agree with Wendy. I think the key is that you know that your local news organization is completely objective. There is no agenda, there is no bias and if there's ever a hint of that, it's the responsibility of the broadcasters to make sure that they have both sides of an issue, both sides of concerns. Whether it's a company that's going to be building something that somebody is against, they'll find the opposing opinion and the station does not support one or the other. It's fair and it's balanced and objective. And that goes back from the inception of broadcasting and nothing has really changed.
Speaker 4:You know, it's unfortunate that sometimes we get put under the same label as some of our friends on the cable industry and, as my English wife says, the two are as different as chalk and cheese and we need to remember that we can be trusted because we are objective and strive to do that every day. And in addition, on the television side you have many, many hours of expanded news. I mean we have, I know, in Las Vegas and in major markets in my state, news starts at four o'clock and ends at seven. You've got three hours of news and of course some of it is repeated, but it gives the stations ample opportunity to be able to provide all that trusted information. And to be able to provide all that trusted information and you know, there's nothing that equals local broadcast for news and information.
Speaker 2:One thing that I'd add and these are perfect examples. You know, the trust doesn't start on election day. It actually doesn't even start in an election year. For here in Nevada, you probably everyone on this call probably remembers the horrific 1 October shooting, the largest mass murder in American history, and the local stations here decided that they were going to put out accurate information when conspiracies about who fired the shots and who was responsible for it and how many people died were, it was all over Facebook and all over Google. Well, guess what? Facebook and Google? They do not have boots on the ground, they do not have reporters in our communities.
Speaker 2:But these folks, the reporters here, spent hours and all and my colleagues on this call can tell you about emergencies that they've covered, that the reporters there. They care because they're probably living next door to you. So we got the word out. We let people know where they can donate blood. It was the same thing during COVID and all of us can relate to this. It seems like a millennium ago where we were trying to find out where you can find a mask. We didn't even know you're supposed to wear a mask at the time, but then we found out that the guard was having a distribution center at the convention center, so the local stations would put that information out. So that's how trust is built. It's built over time. It's built because these stations have an investment in their community, because they're local.
Speaker 1:Well if I can add then, from elected position, certainly didn't always agree with the news.
Speaker 1:That would cover things that I was doing and or I was involved with, and certainly there are times when the media local media specifically would cover it the way I thought it ought to be covered.
Speaker 1:Of course that's two different issues, but here's my perspective as well.
Speaker 1:To the trust factor, I know that as an elected official, whether I'm at the grocery store or I'm at a religious event or I'm at a ball game, as an elected official I would run into my constituents all the time.
Speaker 1:The same with local broadcasters they too are a part of the community. Not only the celebrity or the stars of the show I'm not sure your titles today but the reporters are also a part of the community. And I think that also adds that part of that trust because we have a chance to meet those celebrities, the folks that are reporting the news most every day around the community. And I suspect that's the same. But that's part of my trust that I know that if I agreed or disagreed, I could reach out to the media, to the station, to the station managers, and find or at least give an opinion if it was something other, but also to say thank you if it was something other, but also to say thank you so, today, tomorrow, the next day, if you're a business leader or a local elected official or mom or dad, what advice would you give your viewer in watching and trying to combine and create and collect the proper information? Is there any words of wisdom you could provide?
Speaker 2:Well, I'll probably. I think, like you, I think you're probably. You epitomize the viewer, the listener. That's the responsible person. You want a wide swath of information, but people, you know, they've got soccer tournaments and they're working overtime and they've, you know, sometimes we have one parent households and you know, sometimes we tend to kind of maybe look down our nose on people that aren't political junkies like we are or as informed, but they've got busy lives and are working paycheck to paycheck. So my heart goes out to them. But I would say, if you look at and again I'm biased, again, as we, all of us on this If you look at it as a newscast and let's not forget the radio stations, I pulled the radio and TV stations in Nevada just when I found out we were going to do this poll, the radio and TV stations in Nevada just when I found out we were going to do this.
Speaker 2:And I found out KXNT in Las Vegas. We got the Cumulus stations in Reno. They're all over the place covering this election today. So it's just not radio and television stations, but they do what they need to do. To what? To cover headlines, yes, but to go in-depth, to do investigative stories. To respond to a complaint by Congressman Porter that maybe they're unbalanced and they try to get the other side but also local sports and they'll let you know if there's a school closure and you know I don't have kids in grade school anymore, but that's really important information for people. If the bus route isn't taking my kid to the junior high today, for whatever reason, that local station will provide that information. So I know my colleagues would say the same thing. That's the reason that I think over-the-air, free over-the-air radio and television is succeeding. I completely agree. Oh, I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:Please go ahead I completely agree with you, mitch. I think one of the other interesting aspects of it when you're talking about free and over there and. I'm so glad you said that is also how broadcasters have had to reinvent themselves and make sure they're also OTT, whatever it might be. They're still providing that information because they want to make sure, and the community wants to make sure that they're informed. And so the broadcasters local radio, local TV they take that very seriously and are very proudly putting that information out there.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean let's you know, remember that, that it is free. It is free over the air. We are licensed by the FCC. The broadcast industry is, as you know, congressman, is one of the most highly regulated industries in the country and we take that responsibility very, very seriously, you know, and we localize everything you know. We're talking about, you know, the election today, but the we have tiny little races um in our, in our little communities that need to be covered. Where else can they find that information other than on the radio or on television? And, as we know, the newspaper industry has been decimated. We used to all get that newspaper at the end of the day or early in the morning and read the news. It just no longer exists. So that pipeline of information and vital information that we all need to make informed decisions can only be found on a local broadcast station.
Speaker 2:Congressman, if I can add one thing really quickly, and that is we are required by the FCC to conduct emergency alerts. We have to make sure that our stations are ready in case of a national emergency and even state emergency, to go ahead and alert folks that there's a fire in northern Nevada or floods. And I'm looking at this hurricane forming in the Caribbean I'm thinking of our colleague Polly in Louisiana. It's looking like it's headed right for New Orleans now. Hopefully let's pray that it doesn't. But then the state associations across the country, in concert with the radio and telephone stations, have to make sure that the word gets out of where people should go, where they should evacuate from, where they can get food, where they can get help from the Red Cross if their house burns down. So we provide such a vital service, and it's more necessary now than ever before.
Speaker 1:Well, I marvel at how resilient the broadcasting community has been based upon all the changes and where people seek their information, and we talked a little bit about the broadcasting services are free, but what I marvel at is how well the broadcasting industry local, national have found ways for individuals that don't have access, because some people don't have access to cable or even basic channels via the airwaves. But it appears that you're doing a lot of partnering with access through streaming input as well, right and information. How does that work?
Speaker 4:Well, we want to be where the viewers are, and we all know that the day of having a television in every room and having it on morning, noon and night have kind of bypassed us, certainly with the younger generation. Where are they getting their information from? They're getting it from their cell phones. They're getting their sports scores, they're getting their weather. It's not just social media. This is essentially all your broadcast and newspapers all rolled up into one phone.
Speaker 4:So we want to be where the listeners and the viewers are. So we've had to kind of play defense a little bit, but we probably won't find many TV stations that these days that are not streaming their newscasts and we promote it on air. If you can't be home to watch us at five, watch us online. We also most stations archive those newscasts. So if you missed it at five or six o'clock and you don't get home till nine o'clock, you can still watch your local news. We want to be where the listeners and the viewers are and I think the broadcast industry, at great expense, has done a tremendous job of that.
Speaker 1:So you know, beyond today which, for those that are tuning in, whether it be tomorrow or next year, for that matter today is Election Day in the US, next year for that matter Today is election day in the US and everyone I know is tuned to some station streaming cable, free AM FM for information. What is happening within your stations now, in this moment in time? This historic whatever happens will be tomorrow reported and we probably won't know who's going to win tomorrow. But having said that, what are you doing? And, mitch, you touched on a little bit Nevada broadcasters, whether it be radio or TV. But what's happening now within your stations, or the stations you represent today, with this very special day?
Speaker 2:Well, I could probably continue that thread, congressman, and that is I found out, for example, and we should really address what's super important in Nevada are the Hispanic stations. I mean Telemundo, for example, has been on the air live since 726 am today. And so, because we have that's a large constituency here in the state of Nevada and actually growing, one thing that we're able to do, and perhaps the same as my colleagues, we have affiliates that join forces in Reno and Las Vegas. So, for example, ktvn in Reno and KLAS in Las Vegas will be joining forces. So literally it's almost like a statewide broadcast. You can find out what's going on in Reno and in Las Vegas, the joining forces. So literally it's almost like a statewide broadcast. You can find out what's going on in Reno and in Las Vegas. The same thing with NBC affiliates Reno, krnv and KSNV in Las Vegas.
Speaker 2:So I don't want to leave out the Fox stations as well, owned by Gray Fox 5, and KOLO in Reno. So enough of the plugs. The point being is these stations collaborate, they partner. I've seen English and non-English stations getting together. Congressman, you remember the debates that we used to do. We used to provide Spanish language translation for debates. Many stations continue to do that. So, to get back to Bob's point, we'll go wherever the listeners and the viewers are. We just want to make sure that we are comprehensive as much as our resources will allow us and balanced and fair, and we think we're doing a pretty darn good job.
Speaker 1:Wait a minute. Your name is Fox. Are you connected with the Fox network?
Speaker 2:I wish I had ownership, yeah, but I don't.
Speaker 1:Just checking because Fox is right through this wall. Our studio, of course, is a little different than yours there on the line, but Fox is right next door. I just thought I'd stop by and say hi to your family. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:And seriously.
Speaker 3:So, wendy, what do you see happening today? I see that the kind of the vibe in the newsrooms in radio and television stations is this is our Super Bowl, guys. So let's get out there, let's show them what we can do. Because, like everyone was saying, my colleagues Bob and Mitch were saying, yes, there's national news, of course that's going on, but there's the smaller races that are going on in our states.
Speaker 3:We in Minnesota, of course, have Governor Walz who is a vice presidential candidate. So we of course are covering that in a Super Bowl-like atmosphere, knowing that there's a lot of focus nationally on Minnesota and how our media covers politics and policy and what has Governor Walz done as governor of Minnesota and how might that, should he be vice president, how might that translate to his potential new role, depending, of course, on what happens with the election? So with that new I'll call it a new news tab. I'll call it a new news tab made it even more exciting, I think, for our media in Minnesota to be able to find just another unique angle to cover this. So that's what I mean when I say this is really our Super Bowl when it comes to covering the elections. They're showing our audiences everything that they can do, and I think that not only the listeners and viewers in Oregon, but also in Nevada, excuse me will be very proud of the product that these organizations are delivering to their communities.
Speaker 1:So, anna, if I may follow up, we talked about the emergency requirements that you have, but it isn't just a requirement, it's what you do in the nature of a local, trusted media outlet. You mentioned what's happening now in Michigan for emergencies in Nevada and, of course, with the race for VP. How does it work, then, with the national stations? Do they reach out and use some of your work, or how do you?
Speaker 4:how does that work when your spots show up on national yeah, yeah, yeah, correct the congressman if there is a story that that our network. Now I ran a group of stations pick up on our stories and they would ask for either to have that package sent to them or an expanded interview with the reporter that covered it. So yeah, our content can be used by others as well if it's of national importance. Of course, mitch is in a swing state, so I'm sure that the cable networks and the major networks are all over the stations. They're trying to get it.
Speaker 4:You know, in Oregon we're a very blue state, have been for a long time, although we do have one Republican congressman but we also have a number of hotly contested state races attorney general, secretary of state, we've got a major tax measure that's in front of the voters right now, and those are the things that are important to Oregonians. And our stations have a tendency to provide even more information on that because we all know on the presidential side they can get that information from many sources, but as far as the local races, they can only get those from the local stations. So we have an emphasis on that.
Speaker 1:So how do you market that into the communities? Again, I'm an avid follower. But how do you cut through the competition and the noise to make sure people tune into the local media outlets?
Speaker 4:Well, I can tell you the number one advertiser of a TV station is itself. We devote more of our open advertising inventory to promote our own selves. Generally, 75% of that will go towards our news content and the rest to other programming. So we have to keep telling our viewers and our listeners to keep tuning in. Come to us on election day. Here's what we're going to be covering. Here's who's going to be covering it. We sell our product just the same way Crest sells their toothpaste. To be honest with you.
Speaker 2:And one thing I might add is the importance of community involvement. You know you, congressman, heard of the Surprise Squad, for example. Every station has something like that, that's the Fox 5, where they go out and surprise someone with a gift or something like that and really their heart and soul is in it. To Bob's point, obviously it's a promotional tool. You know there's a feel-good element to it. They play it up on their newscast. But both radio and television stations radio it's much easier actually for them to go out and do a live broadcast wherever they want to, and they'll do it with nonprofits or they'll do it with a grand opening of this new business or whatever. So that's really important for them. If these stations aren't in the community, they're really losing, I think, the promotional edge that stations that do serve their community and report on it and promote it, they have a leg up.
Speaker 1:So I'm also a believer.
Speaker 1:As I look at the food chain in the world of media and politics, I used to smile and still do that with probably a billion dollars now being spent.
Speaker 1:I know this, as you mentioned, is your holiday seasons for lots of reasons, but I do think that the public servants that are running for reelection do still invest heavily in trying to make sure they get the message out, and I know that you work within all the rules and realize the importance to a public servant of the services you provide, at least being able to purchase that message. I know there's a lot going on today and not a whole lot of time left, but just a couple of follow-ups here. What do you see as the challenges and I say this from a Washington perspective we're here every day and as the sun is setting here in Washington, hopefully you can see that we're right across the street from the Capitol complex and I'm there every day. What do you see happening here in DC in just a moment or two? Can you share some of the challenges that you see happening going into this lame duck session or into next year from a policy perspective?
Speaker 3:I would like to touch on the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. That, specifically, is extremely important to our broadcasters send out. But there are times, I think, where people don't understand necessarily the relevance and the importance of live and local broadcasting and what it actually does do. So I think that's one of the hyper focuses that my colleagues and I are really looking at for this lame duck session and trying to make sure that that AM radio for every vehicle act, which has immense bipartisan support you know, gets a good showing by the end of the year this year. So we know that we need to protect AM radio. It helps protect our communities, our listeners, not only statewide but also regionally and nationally. So that, to us, is really a hyper-focus.
Speaker 2:Will said too, go ahead, if I might add. There's this sense that the tech titans I like to call them continue to use our content without compensating us for it, and so that sort of sticks in our craw, be it YouTube, tv or whatever it is. We're trying to get the attention of the FCC, which hasn't always been friendly to local broadcasters, and let them know they need to revisit that issue. We need to be compensated, and so we're hoping that we're going to be able to break through that. But, wendy said, there's so many issues that we need to stay on top of, and fortunately we do have you and your team, congressman Porter, looking out for us and for other folks in Washington DC. But it's something that you constantly have to be aware of, because someone will attach some bill to some other unrelated bill and all of a sudden you're caught by surprise and you have to jump on it and make sure your team, at least your own congressional delegation, is lining up that.
Speaker 2:Am radio actually, the performance tax, that's been almost a difficult one. That's another radio issue. We don't want to get too weedy on this podcast, but to make sure that AM radio is in every dash, but also to make sure that our television broadcasters are adequately compensated and not over-regulated. We're the only industry regulated like this. Google and Facebook, all the online folks, the streamers they don't have these regulations and we recognize that these are public airwaves and we were honored to have access to those and get our content out to our viewers and to our listeners. But at the same time we're looking for a different. I want to put this delicately to Wendy and Bob so they don't proverbially kick me under the table when I see them next, to make sure that they recognize meaning the FCC commission as a whole to recognize the value of local broadcasters and to cut us some slack, quite frankly, and you know, mitch, we of course work with you most every day and the Nevada broadcasters and appreciate your leadership here.
Speaker 1:I guess, plug Mitch a little bit involvement with a Nevada delegation and I'm a believer that you can't just show up for the Super Bowl, and Mitch certainly follows that where he's there. You know, draft pick, preseason, regular season playoff and then the Super Bowl, and I suspect as well Wendy, you and Bob in your organizations. It's not unlike advertising. Public service policy passage and support is not unlike a McDonald's commercial. There's a reason they're on TV every five minutes. That's to remind people, remind people, remind people. And I think that the national broadcasters and the state broadcasters have been very effective in reminding everyone on the Hill, elected and staff, how important it is. But a part of that is, you know, repeat, repeat, repeat. And as Mitch knows, mitch knows, facts don't always matter first. The relationships matter first. And then there are the policymakers, are open for an opinion to make a decision, and I think that's true. As I turn to local media, I don't always know what the facts are, but I trust that your teams are going to give me the facts, and that's the same I see here on Capitol Hill. So I want to applaud you for your involvement.
Speaker 1:Two more things really quickly. As you know, a passion for us at the Porter Group and the Porter family is helping individuals with disabilities, and we represent cities, counties, defense contractors some of the largest in the world but a passion for us is working with individuals with disabilities and we probably represent more individuals in the country in the employment space for individuals. I would just ask that, as you look at your priorities into next year and the following years, whatever you're doing, I applaud you, but if you could do even more to help with interpreters and different means of technology to help those folks among us that really need help the most and I know that's happening at home. But encourage the whole association nationally to do more if you can in helping individuals with disabilities. Do more if you can in helping individuals with disabilities. And that's my ask of the day is we're looking at a lot of decisions that are being made today across the country, if not across the world.
Speaker 2:Congressman if I could just interject real quickly, and that is please foster dialogue between the organizations that you represent and our state associations and perhaps even NAB. If there's something that broadcasters aren't doing, I think we are doing. Obviously we're adhering to the law with closed captioning and also description for the visually impaired. But if there's other things that you could recommend, because a lot of us did this voluntarily even before we had to do it as an FCC requirement so open up that dialogue. And I don't know why I want to overstep Wendy's role, but you know, maybe we can take some suggestions about how we can improve reaching the disability world.
Speaker 1:Which is why I sought this moment to bring it up. So thank you.
Speaker 3:You're a smart man, congressman. Absolutely, absolutely. We would love to have more dialogue.
Speaker 1:Thank you. And then, really, in conclusion, I really appreciate your time. Thank you, wendy, bob and Mitch and Mitch, for getting everyone together here on a very important day again for the nation, if not the world. I just want to really leave with a quick thought, as we're looking at the US Capitol behind me and many of you on the call today, and certainly that we're fortunate to have to be able to interview.
Speaker 1:As Mitch knows, I walk through the Capitol almost every day and stop and appreciate who we are as a nation, in spite of all of our challenges and we certainly have a lot of challenges, but with the help of the local broadcasters, the National Broadcasters Association, all of you, I think that the challenge before us is to continue doing what you're doing. The challenge for us is for you to continue providing the proper information, trusted information, so our nation will remain strong as it is and I do believe it's the best in the world and will continue to be with your help. So, thank you all very much. Proud of you, thanks for all that you're doing and wish the best to you, your staff and your families. Thank you very much.
Speaker 3:Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you very much.
Speaker 4:Appreciate it.
