Fox 9 News Analysis

I watched Fox 9 News at 5:30 on Tuesday evening for the first time ever. I'm not a big news watcher anymore, but I used to watch it all the time, the Today Show in the morning (to the extent you can call that a news show) and the 10:00 news most evenings. This was all before I started teaching on an asscrack-of-dawn schedule. Now I rarely watch the news on TV because I don't allow enough time in the morning and can't stay up until 10. Instead, I get my news from MPR and the internet, which I prefer anyway. I find those sources more reliable and in-depth and less annoying in terms of fake-news stories. Sometimes I do miss the ritual of watching the news on TV, but I stay well-informed through other means, as I check news websites like cnn.com at least once per day and listen to MPR at least once per day. I'm actually a lot more into news now that I don't just see it on TV; I feel I'm more engaged.

Here is my timeline of the 5:30 Fox 9 news:

FOX NEWS 5:30 on Tuesday 11/9
Anchors: Jeff Passolt, Marni Hughes, Jim Rich (sports), Ian Leonard (weather)

-Tire slashings near Lake of the Isles (lead-off story)
-Hit and run in Bloomington 5:32
-Charges against nurse for assisted suicide 5:34--short story, the nurse is from MN but the suicides took place in Canada and England
-House explosion in WI 5:34
-Fridley High School donkey basketball game/conflict with PETA 5:35 (more at 9)
-Weather report outdoors 5:36
-Stories up next before commercials: grandma tries to sell grandchild, flight prices going up, Joe Mauer winning Gold Glove
-Holiday travel, flights cost 17% more this year (with travel expert, extensive conversation and Q&A and graphics)--started at 5:40
-Increasing # of senior citizen drivers 5:45
-Woman in FL tried to sell baby 5:45 “What is wrong with that lady?”--Marni Hughes
-Minnesota Wild update 5:46
-Devoe Joseph (Gopher bball, wooooo!) did not play in last night’s exhibition 5:47
-Joe Mauer won 3rd Gold Glove 5:48
-Timberwolves lost 5 straight games 5:48
-Sunset pic sent in by a viewer 5:48
-Ian Leonard reporting on weather from a bar in St. Louis Park (mingles in crowd, sits down with a group of people, awkward conversation); 7-day forecast; ends at 5:51
-Stories up next before commercials: “Betty White’s new job”
-Mentioned after commercials: donkey basketball game AGAIN, story following a mom who’s a recovering alcoholic
-Betty White is a forest ranger 5:55--last story

Most of these stories were of local interest. The first few stories centered around crime; the leadoff story was about several cars in Minneapolis that had their tires slashed overnight. The longest story by far was about the increasing cost of holiday travel. They had on a travel expert who talked with the anchor for several minutes, giving advice on how to find good deals despite the higher prices. This consumer news/info piece lasted about 4-5 minutes.

Then there were several local sports stories, only about a minute apiece. They provided a quick update on how our local teams are doing and showed brief footage of each.

The weather took 3-4 minutes because Ian Leonard was reporting from a bar in St. Louis Park and was determined to mingle with the crowd and make new friends, despite the awkward reactions of the customers. He explained the week's forecast for about 20 seconds but spent the rest of the time chatting it up with people (and not even chatting about the weather).

A story that got 2 mentions, even though it wasn't going to be on the air, was the controversial donkey basketball game at Fridley High School. They did it as a fundraiser or school event of some kind, but PETA got up in arms about it, so the controversy was to be reported on the 9:00 news, yet the story was mentioned twice during the 5:30 broadcast.

Near the end of the broadcast, the top story became Betty White's new job--she is now a forest ranger. This was the last story , suggesting that apparently they try to end on a positive note.

Content-wise, it was about what I expected--mainly news and some ridiculous fluff thrown in. Betty White and the donkey basketball game definitely didn't need to be in there, but the rest of the stories contained at least somewhat legitimate news. All in all, I found this broadcast to be pretty lighthearted and informal compared to, say, NBC Nightly News. This broadcast had a community feel; it was laid-back and not very high-tech. It seemed like the anchors were trying to be "regular people"--they showed a bit of their reactions to the stories, like when Marni Hughes editorialized on the woman who tried to sell her grandchild, and they expressed sympathy for the people whose tires were slashed. Some might see those comments and the weatherman's schmoozing at the bar as unprofessional. I don't really have a strong feeling either way, but it's definitely a tactic that would appeal to viewers who want a more relaxed style.