News Platforms & Sources

by Andrew Kohut for Columbia Journalism Review

Introduction and Summary The public’s news habits have been largely unaffected by the Sept. 11 attacks and subsequent war on terrorism. Reported levels of reading, watching and listening to the news are not markedly different than in the spring of 2000. At best, a slightly larger percentage of the public is expressing general interest in […]

The news Americans see on network television has softened considerably since 2001l, to the point that it looks more like it did before the terrorist attacks than immediately after.

For the sake of argument, put the public interest aside. Forget that broadcast airwaves are public property. Strictly in economic terms, the Walt Disney Co. got lucky when it failed to woo David Letterman to join ABC. The public nature of the Letterman embarrassment has granted Disney something rare ...

What's left of broadcast television journalism is at stake now, many in the business believe, in the war within the Disney Co. over whether to replace "Nightline" with the late-night comedy of David Letterman. The people who run Disney seem intent on displacing "Nightline" ...

Four months into the war, a review of news coverage reveals that over time Americans are getting fewer facts and more opinion -- a narrow range of opinion, at that -- from newspapers, magazines and television. At the same time, polls show the press losing a measure of the respect it had gained in ...

Over time the press is inching back toward pre-September 11th norms of behavior.

The war on terrorism has caused a colossal shift in the news people see on network television.

Local newsrooms beset by sponsor interference, budget cuts, layoffs, and added programming.

The most significant development online after the attack has been the outpouring of grief, prayerful communication, information dissemination through email, and political commentary.