RTNDA is (asleep) inside the box.
I remember my first RTNDA convention. It was in Los Angeles in the early 80s. I remember the excitement and the intimidation that came with the exhibit floor and the general sessions. I’m sure those feelings will be realized by thousands when the RTNDA gathers again next week in Las Vegas.

My feelings about the organization and the convention have changed radically over the last few years, because of my involvement with New Media and a growing understanding of the real challenges facing broadcasting today, none of which are being addressed at next week’s convention. That’s a shame. If the organization representing radio and television news directors won’t look at reality, how on earth can news people expect their corporate owners to do so? By ignoring the truths of a worrisome future, audience fragmentation, disruptive innovations, shrinking or closing newsrooms, newspapers providing video, clear warnings from business analysts, citizen journalism, viewer distrust, and other issues directly impacting the industry, the RTNDA is guilty of, to be kind, public masturbation, and in so doing, it does a disservice to its members that borders on malfeasance.

Like the media as a whole, the RTNDA is stuck in an institutional box of its own making. It has no choice but to promote and perpetuate that which other box dwellers consider important, which produces a list of concurrent sessions that are helpful only to that end. Don’t get me wrong. These are all important, on-going matters for the industry, but they are a mile wide and an inch deep compared to those mentioned above. Here’s the program:

Time Management for News Leaders
Live Shots
Fresh for the Third Time
Online Boot Camp: How to Find Stories and Information in a Hurry
How NOT to Get a Job
From Conflict to Collaboration
One-on-One with Ted Koppel
Creating Powerful Radio News: “Facing the Blank Page”
Covering Campaigns Correctly
Crime Can Pay: Best Practices in Covering the Crime Beat
Queer Eye for the Straight Reporter
From Kobe to Laci: Covering Trials in Real Time
The Talent Coach Was Here Last Week - Now What?
Bridging the Gap: Educators and News Directors Talk to Each
The Ed Bliss Writing Seminar
Fostering Strong Relationship Between News Directors and General Managers
Beyond ‘Go to Our Website’: Effective Online News Promotion
How People REALLY Use the Media (Middletown)
Sounding Conversational in the Read
Broadcast News and Paying Your Dues
This Just In: Shorter is Better (News Music Opens)
Run Your Middle East News Bureau for Free!
Boost W25-54 News Demos RIGHT NOW!
International Viewpoint: One-on-One with the Head of BBC Newsgathering
Sounds Like Better Radio
Winning your 2nd Quarter Hour. Techniques That Hold Viewers Longer
Fostering Photojournalism
Covering Campaign 2004 On Air and Online
Homeland Security: Is Your Newsroom Ready?
Building Effective Feedback Systems
Success Stories from the Hub & Spoke
Working with Newspapers and Other Cultural Wars
People Meters: Newsrooms Regroup
Good Writing at the Speed of Spot News
Good Leaders Conduct Effective Meetings
Crisis Makes History. Or Does History Make a Crisis?
Solving the Diversity Puzzle: Tips and Tools
“Doctor, I Have This Awful Pain in My HIPAA!”
Encore Anxiety: Been There, Done That. Now What?
Indecency–Sex, Violence and the News–The Challenges Facing Today’s Journalists

Most of my contemporaries go to RTNDA to do business on the side, often not even walking the exhibit floor, much less attending the sessions. It that sense, the real value of the convention is simply that it exists as a place where people can get together. That’s pretty sad.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 16th, 2004 at 10:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.