What is also changing is that this is my last column, as this newspaper heads toward a new direction under editor Mark Kemp, and I'll concentrate on my real job, producing and writing television.
It's been an interesting seven years.
I've watched radio homogenize itself with shrinking playlists and robo-DJ's from other cities. Morning teams syndicated from other markets have come and gone, but local favorites like John Boy and Billy and Bob & Sheri thrive. The angry white men of conservative talk radio are here to stay, and satellite radio is still figuring out how to push itself into every car and home.
Local television has grown with the times, with fancier weather technology and more newscasts added during the day. But WSOC-TV's ratings dominance has been the constant despite criticism of its crime coverage persona, while three other stations chased them. I also saw the promise of cable's News 14 Carolina come and go, with management decisions that reduced a full operation and stripped it down to a lean remnant.
Thank you's to the readers who provided story ideas and critiques, sources who provided insight and info, and the staff of CL, some of the hardest-working people in show business. The print scene hasn't changed much, with one daily newspaper, which does good work with solid investigative reporting on the one hand, while still carrying the bad scent of hometown, backroom boosterism. We've seen The Rhinoceros Times voice join the mix, and Skirt adding its women's POV.
And of course, all those media outlets began to use the Internet, creating their own websites that made information available 24/7. I look for that to be even more of their focus in the future.
So here are some thank you's to the readers who provided story ideas, food for thought, and (sometimes) constructive criticism, my contacts and sources who provided insight and info, and the staff of CL, some of the hardest-working people in show business.
I'll continue to be interested in the evolution of local media, as I hope you'll be, because after all, you have the power by voting with your TV remotes, radio dials, and what you choose to read. Keep in mind what J.B. Priestley wrote about television in 1957, which lends itself well to all the options we have in that thing we call "media" today: "the more we elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate."
Take care, and stay tuned.
