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How the Kennedy assassination helped enrich network television news

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In journalism, bad news sells. “If it bleeds, it leads” is a famous industry slogan that explains why violent crime, war and terrorismAND natural disasters are ubiquitous on TV news.

Researchers rarely examine the incontrovertible fact that journalists and their employers benefit from disturbing events. But even when it seems distasteful, it is vital to grasp the connection between negative news and profit. How media historianI believe I’m studying this subject can shed light strength This shape contemporary journalism.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy 60 years ago is a case study. After a gunman killed the president, television news provided uninterrupted wall-to-wall coverage at significant cost to the stations. This gave television news a fame as a public service entity that lasted for many years.

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This fame – which could appear surprising now but was widely accepted at the time – overshadowed the incontrovertible fact that television news would soon turn into hugely profitable. These profits are due partly to the incontrovertible fact that terrible news attracts a big audience – and still does today.

The assassination of JFK prompted Americans to turn into concerned with television news

Shortly after Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963, television stations demonstrated their sensitivity to the tragedy by canceling commercials and devoting all their airtime to this story for several days. CBS president Frank Stanton later called it “the longest continuous story in television history.” At one point, 93% of all American televisions were tuned to broadcast.

As television news reports the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a lady cries in a Sears department store in Levittown, Pennsylvania.
Jacek Rosen/Getty Images

Estimates vary, but the networks have decided to stop promoting it could have cost them as much as $19 million – or $191 million in 2023.

For many years, networks have presented their coverage of the killings as the epitome of public service. Network executives and journalists have repeatedly argued that television news is uniquely shielded from the economic pressures present in other broadcast sectors.

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Television news in the early Sixties was “the loss leader that allowed NBC, CBS and ABC to justify the enormous profits their entertainment divisions were making” – ABC News Ted Koppel remembers in The Washington Post in 2010. He added: “It never occurred to network executives that news programming could be profitable.”

The public service narrative that took root in November 1963 ignored the incontrovertible fact that the vast audiences turning to television news for information and convenience would soon turn into highly profitable.

How TV news became a money-making machine

Just two months before Kennedy’s assassination, in September 1963, television stations expanded their evening newscasts to half-hour. Previously, they lasted quarter-hour and offered little greater than headlines. Extended news they sold out all promoting opportunities immediately when television news attracted the predictable, mass audiences that sponsors desired.

Coverage of the Kennedy assassination, combined with expanded news coverage, greatly increased the business value of television news. In the Sixties, broadcast journalism began to turn into the most profitable genre of programming on American television.

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In the 1965-1966 television season, NBC’s “The Huntley-Brinkley Report.” generated $27 million in promoting annually, making it the network’s highest-grossing show – outgrossing even “Bonanza,” its hottest variety show. “CBS Evening” was grossed $25.5 million in promoting, making it the second highest-grossing program on American television.

Around this time, networks told regulators they’d committed thousands and thousands of dollars to public service through journalism. For example, in the 1965 testimony before the Federal Communications Commission, executives at ABC, CBS and NBC declared that their news divisions had loftier motives than simply being profitable.

But they made money, quite a lot of it. In 1969 it was “Huntley-Brinkley”. it earned $34 million in endorsements with a production budget of $7.2 million, making the show, in line with Fortune magazine, “NBC’s largest income – larger than ‘Laugh-In’ or ‘The Dean Martin Show.’ Ten years earlier, Huntley-Brinkley had earned just $8 million in endorsements and sponsorships.

In a black-and-white photo, two news anchors, one smoking a pipe, sit in a broadcast studio at the Miami Beach Convention Center.  Convention participants mill around in the background and a board reads
Chet Huntley and David Brinkley broadcast the 1968 Republican National Convention.
Ben Martin/Getty Images

However, the networks didn’t boast about their profits. Instead they they continuously promoted their efforts covering the Vietnam War, civil unrest and public interest killings of the Sixties. They also claimed that the news cost them thousands and thousands to provide, and it did hid promoting revenues collected as part of data programs contained in other budgets of their corporations. This gave them a bonus by way of regulatory privileges equivalent to station license renewals.

The birth of contemporary TV news

Ultimately, the chaotic, cacophonous and confusing decade of the Sixties ushered in the hyper-commercial media world we live in today. The pursuit of sensational investigative reports equivalent to Watergate and the Iran-Contra arms-to-hostage scandal generate higher rankings AND higher promoting revenuesand switch TV journalists into national stars.

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The original values ​​that guided network journalism from its beginnings have given method to more profitable formats. “60 Minutes” – a CBS News production – ultimately became the network’s most precious programming property in the history of American televisionand by the Eighties almost every local news station had them launched its own “I-Team” investigative group.

Ultimately, the professionalism that drew viewers to television news after the Kennedy assassination in 1963 was replaced by ratings-boosting strategies sold by television news consultants. Audience analytics, minute-by-minute engagement metrics, and Q-scores that calibrate the “like” anchor could help standardize formats and unify the way news is collected in pursuit of profit maximization.

But over the many years, one constant has remained the same: bad news sells. This is a truism of the media industry, whether we would like to review it or not, and the news programs broadcast today, 60 years after the events of November 1963, are proof of this.

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This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Delaware State Hosts Pitch Contest for Agrictech throughout HBCUS

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Delaware State University and Capital One Financial organized a contest for HBCU entrepreneurs developing agricultural technological solutions.

“Venture Innovation Venture” took place on the Delaware State campus on April 14. He was hosting not only HBCU students from all around the country, but additionally successful of black entrepreneurs and agricultural experts who joined critical discussions in regards to the industry.

DSU partnership from Capital One for this national conference tries to encourage Next generation of agrobiznesa leaders.

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“Delaware State University proudly continues our cooperation with Capital One and provides the platform to raise the next generation of Agribusiness leaders,” said Tony Allen, president of Delaware State University, said in a press release. “Entrepreneurship is a key basis for building generational wealth. In addition to financing startup seeds, this partnership means that university students will receive mentoring and guidance from private sector leaders on business structures and intellectual properties, equipping them with knowledge and experience to effectively enter the labor market.”

HBCU students, in addition to participants from local high and high schools, learned more about agricultural activities and methods to further develop their products for greater use. Heman Bekele, a scientist and 2024 Kid of the Year, also joined as a speaker to encourage his generation to begin an entrepreneurship travel with tools learned from the speakers series.

Additional speakers were chosen officials, equivalent to the Governor Delaware Matt Meyer, US senator Lisa Blunt Rochester and entrepreneurs of pioneers, equivalent to Daysond John and James Lindsay, general director of rap.

“Agribusiness is the basis of how we develop and produce food, but innovations in the industry remain underfunded,” said Dr. Cherese Winstead, dean of College of Agriculture Science & Technology Delaware State University. “When Americans are confronted with rising food prices and challenges related to delivery, HBCU is incredibly capable of keep a fee for strengthening supply chains and increasing economic growth.

The revolutionary undertaking is the results of an extended -term partnership between Capital One and Delaware State. Because HBCU further determines its impact on the emerging agricultural technological solutions, the undertaking hopes to expand this range throughout HBC, with greater attention to young visionaries shaping these latest ideas.

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“Innovation venture means an exciting new chapter of our partnership with Delaware State University, introducing students’ ideas and providing them with the opportunity to solve problems with the real world in front of which the agricultural industry faces,” said Joe Westcott, president of the Delaware market at Capital One. “Capital One and Delaware State University divide a mission to enable this subsequent generation of leaders towards innovation thanks to technology.”

The partnership led to a broadly mentor program, connecting professionals with second yr students. Capital One also awarded over USD 250,000 for the Experimental University learning program, which offers larger profession paths for HBCU students to seek out opportunities within the developing business sector.

“Innovation is actually the cornerstone of agriculture in today’s world. Some innovations are quickly accepted. However, others take more time before they are widely received,” said the Secretary of Agriculture in Delaware Don Clifton. “People who accept the challenge and conduct these innovations are leaders of the upcoming generation in agriculture.”

Summary of the event is out there on YouTube DSU.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lokils33Cri

(Tagstranslate) Innovation Venture (T) Agritech (T) Capital One (T) HBCU (T) Delaware State University

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Brian Cornell meets Fr. Al Sharpton over Dei Rolbacks

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target, TikTok, DEI, comments, AL SHARPTON


CEO of Target Brian Cornell met with the activist, Fr. Al Sharpton in New York. The meeting from April 17 was convened when a well -known retailer still stands within the face of heavy slack and calls for boycotts after withdrawing the initiatives of diversity, equality and integration at first of this yr.

According to To CNBC Cornell, he initially asked for a gathering in response to groups of civil rights calling for big boycotts of the corporate. People call consumers to spend money elsewhere in response to cutting goal on Dei initiatives.

Sharpton repeated these feelings in an interview with CNBC before sitting with Cornell.

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Sharpton he said“You can’t come with elections and suddenly change your old positions. If the choices define your commitment to honesty, it’s good, you have the right to withdraw from us, but then we have the right to withdraw from you.”

The leader of civil rights stated in any uncertain conditions that he would also consider a call to a goal boycott if the meeting with Cornell doesn’t prove to be productive.

He asked the CEO to verify the corporate’s involvement within the black community and the duty to cooperate with black firms in the long run.
Sharpton continued: “I said:” If (Cornell) I need to have a sincere meeting, we are going to meet. I need to listen to what he has to say. “

After the initial meeting, Sharpton and Cornell Sharpton called it a “constructive and honest” conversation.

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“I will inform our allies, including Father Jamal Bryant about our discussion and what my feelings are, and we will go from there.”

Target is one in every of the various retail juggernaut, including Walmart, Amazon and Pepsico, who this yr eliminated their policy of diversity.

Cornell made this transformation within the goal after taking office this yr. One of his first activities because the president was the tip of programs of diversity, justice and integration (Dei) inside the Federal Government.

This caused a wave effect within the retail world, during which the goal and others implemented politics to strengthen the range of their employees and reduce inequalities towards members of minority groups, withdrawing these initiatives.

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Target officially accomplished three -year -old Dei goals in January. Cornell will now not send company reports and data to external groups focused on diversity, resembling the company index of the human rights campaign.

Since the announcement, Cornell stores have recorded a decrease in traffic and sales in goal locations throughout the country.

(Tagstranslate) Reverend Al Sharpton (T) Target Boycott (T) Brian Cornell (T) Donald Trump (T) Diversity

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What do bumpers stickers say about our values ​​and identity

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Perhaps you saw them in town or in news. Bumper stickers He gave Teslas to anyone who looks: “I bought it before we learned that Elon was crazy.”

It may be assumed that it’s there to forestall someone from taking a automotive or an try and relieve potential hostility in a hyper-political landscape. But although this will signal disapproval for similar considering passers -by, the sticker is unlikely to discourage someone who’s already going to commit against the law (which is the important thing).

What he offers is a type of symbolic insurance. You can call it a approach to explain identity in a hostile political environment.

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An equal apology, protest and cultural time marker, the message can say more in nine words than a full -fledged. But it isn’t just about the automotive. It can be about values, identity management and evolving consumption policy.

Signal for others

In their core, automotive bumpers stickers act as a vehicle (literally and metaphorically) when it comes to identity projection. They are symbols of what psychologists call “Cheap identity displays”, used to display who we’re, or perhaps more precisely how we wish to be seen.

Buying Tesla could once signal innovations, environmental awareness or social progressivism. But the increasingly polarizing public behavior of Muska and political commentary They modified the cultural importance of the brand.

It creates a sense cognitive dissonance For those consumers whose values ​​are not any longer consistent with what the brand owner now represents. Enter the bumper sticker.

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Tesla sales dropped rapidly this 12 months because Elon Musk became more political.
Shutterstock

In an increasingly fragmented society, through which individuals are completely happy to face out, even a sticker is usually a subtle form of ethical positioning. But above all, it’s a approach to signal groups that a very powerful for us “please like me”.

The theory of social identity suggests that folks derive a part of their concept of themselves from the perceived membership in social groups. Bumper stickers make these group connections visible, protruding values, ideologies, belonging and even contradictory attitudes towards the skin world.

My tiny, disappearing Richmond Tigers sticker on my automotive will not be performative in the identical way as a daring political slogan may be. But it still signals the shape of identity and belonging.

Back of vans covered with bumba stickers
Bumper stickers can include social groups.
Shutterstock

North Face Jacket

Bumper stickers act as a “peacock” form. It is analogous to wearing branded clothes, equivalent to the North Face jacket during Covid, which made it look more accessible than in a proper suit. Or even like a biography curator at LinkedIn. It is a behavioral strategy through which people convey their qualities to others no words.

In marketing, it’s closely related to theory visible consumptionwhich can include symbolic consumption through which we buy and display products not just for utility, but additionally for what they Tell us about us.

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Bumper stickers are a literal version of this. They are symbolic, declarative and public. These are the low, high credibility of the communicators of the belonging of a bunch, virtue, humor, riot or indignation.

It is about informing or convincing, but their actual impact is more complicated.

Marketing class 101

In preliminary marketing classes, taught at almost every university, consciousness is usually presented as the primary stage Effect hierarchy model. The model suggests that customers’ operation goes from consciousness to knowledge, preferences, preferences, beliefs and eventually purchase.

Cars in road traffic
Stickers are unlikely to affect behavior.
Shutterstock

But in practice this progress is way more complicated. Bumper stickers can generate consciousness, but little evidence affects behavior – especially in insulation.

This is especially essential in such areas because the promotion of tourism. For example, unofficial, but still a provocative tourist slogan Advertising campaign “Cu in NT” It may cause conversation and recognition, but recognition doesn’t mean conversion.

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Despite the hope of hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on slogans and slogaty, consciousness is necessary, but insufficient for behavioral change.

Most marketing efforts should not said because people should not aware of the brand, but because they don’t have any reason, possibilities or tendency to act – that’s, buying a product or change.

The culture has shredded

Contemporary consumer culture is increasingly tribal and crushed. Social media algorithms strengthen the Echo chambers, while physical signals equivalent to automotive stickers and even political signs of Korflute signal belonging and limits within the group and group.

As a result, bumper stickers probably strengthen the identity of already converted, but it surely is unlikely to persuade people from outside the tribe.

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Visible preferences can, nonetheless, function a type of abbreviations for identity, especially after they are consistent with the symbols and language of the group. Although their direct impact on behavior is restricted, these signals, repeated and reinforced within the premature community, can shape and move social norms over time.

Ultimately, bumper stickers rarely change behavior. But they do something more subtle. They allow people to precise, perform and ensure identity. They act as signals for other, tribe markers, values, humor or riot. They help us tell who I’m, or perhaps I’m not like that.

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This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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