Deborah Potter is executive director of NewsLab, which works with TV newsrooms to find better ways of telling complex stories. Behind the Curve Local TV stations aren't posting much real news on the Internet. The phrase doesn't just describe the split between the haves and have-nots when it comes to Internet access. It's just as fitting a description of Internet sites when it comes to news. Most newspapers, it seems, are haves.
Most TV stations are have-nots.
What most television Web sites don't have is current, locally produced news. According to a survey released last October of broadcast media in cyberspace, less than 15 percent of local TV stations with Web sites publish any real news. If you think this shortcoming is just a small-market phenomenon, think again. A few weeks ago, I checked the Web site of WWJ-TV, the CBS owned and operated station in Detroit. But too many haven't moved far enough.