News Lessons: Yes, Sometimes "They" Change the Packaging

CBS News launched a new morning program yesterday. It's aptly called CBS This Morning and the new format came with veteran Erica Hill, longtime PBS anchor Charlie Rose, and Oprah's best friend Gayle King.

[Observation: It's interesting they sit around a round table instead of an anchor desk. I keep expecting David Brooks to make an appearance.]

I bring this up because many businesses make changes to their "public" product in order to attract new customers (with the hopes of keeping the regulars, too). You'll notice it on the packaging of Coca-Cola over the years and other daily products people consume. However, with television, the changes are almost always aesthetic. Sometimes, they are deeper than that.

In television news, these changes are often driven by two things: ratings and consultants.

The people who end up being impacted by the necessary changes sometimes, at least under their breath, call these consultants "insultants." Then, the adage of "don't fix it if it ain't broke" is muttered.

Point is, CBS made these changes to their morning show and it has yet to be seen if the viewership will improve. That is, will people buy the product even though the packaging is different? Might you be surprised and find that the formula is slightly different too?

So far, I like this CBS This Morning.  Then again, I'll watch Erica Hill on anything because I think she's decent awesome at what she does. She has that Anderson Cooper 360 experience that helps. Like Gayle King, people know that Hill has personality. We all know, if you watched 360, that she's a person first. I think that's important if you're inviting someone into your living room.

Seriously, though, there seems to be working people in the studio, and second, they're talking about news! They're talking about things that are intellectually important. In my opinion, that's the right move.

Breaking News: Life Just Happens

And sometimes it happens to you.

If anyone would know that sometimes life just happens, it would be someone who works in the news business.

So much of what we do everyday is centered around life happening, as it is happening, and certainly as it's happening to someone else. Very rarely are we directly impacted by something devastating, heartbreaking, and disappointing. Although, sometimes it happens. Lately, it seems, in Las Vegas it happens more often than not.

When I started this blog it was part of an assignment for my graduate program at Boston University. I tried to stick with it as a living memoir to the news of the day and the process that unfolds to bring that information to the audience.

Since my most recent post, my relationship ended, I finished my Master's degree, and I started two other blogs to have a creative outlet. Nothing extraordinarly bad happened to me, but bad things do happen. The older I get and the more exposed I am to the crises of life, the more I see it.

My point is: Sure, we (journalists) can be objective. We can report the facts and leave it up to all of you to decide, but more often than not, when life happens there is a life lesson. Part of me believes it is our job to encourage common sense, common courtesy, and a sense of grace.

Life Lesson #1
Violence of any kind is just not cool. Stop it.

New in Las Vegas

Hi Everyone.

It's been a while since I blogged. In fact, it's been so long, that I moved from California to Las Vegas and no longer produce a 5:00 pm newscast.

I took a producer position at KLAS-TV in February 2010 and followed my boyfriend, Nathan Baca, to Las Vegas. He is a reporter here.

The year has been quite successful for him. He appeared on "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC for chasing Sharron Angle multiple times. Angle, a Senate candidate, refused to answer a lot of questions.

I'm still pursuing my Master's degree.

I'm also thinking of a new project.

I'll get back to you on that.