The reporter knew she did not have a story five minutes into her research. However, even though it was a slow news day, her producers and assignment editor knew that they had to put out a story no matter how irrelevant and insignificant this story was. This insignificant news reporting is a direct result of large corporate executives demand for a profit and then increasing that profit margin, while at the same time decreasing the staff in the newsrooms. In J363 we studied how advertising and the business side of a media stations would never even see or meet with each other except at the annual Christmas party. Now the people from advertising and promotions are meeting in the newsrooms with producers, reporters, and assignment editors.
Advertising now has a major influence and puts pressure when deemed necessary on the news media.
The majority of respondents also reported that advertisers had attempted to kill stories. Moreover, the responses show that advertisers tried to use monetary leverage as part of their pressure. More than two-thirds reported that advertisers threatened to withdraw their advertising because of the content of news stories. Comments made on the questionnaires suggest that automobile dealers are a major source of censorial pressure. These accounts do not seem shocking, in my opinion from interning in a television station in a mid-sized market for a little less than a year, automobile advertising makes up around 25 percent of the commercials aired.