We must admit that even though we covered every single departure(and arrival) at News 8 in 2015 we hadn’t thought of it in these terms until this weekend.
The website TV Spy pointed out last week’s departure of Noah Finz from News 8 is the fifth loss of a major anchor this year for the station. At the same time, News 8 has two of the longest serving anchors in the market in Ann Nyberg and Keith Kountz.
So we’re not so sure we should read much into the “five anchor” headline.
What we do find interesting though is Finz’s observation that the “sports model” for local news is changing. This is a point worth watching for its wider implications. Legacy media outlets, including those responsible for producing what has traditionally been known as “local news” are trying to remain relevant. The search for relevancy has meant an increasing investment in weather and traffic and live reporter stand ups from the “corner of walk and don’t walk,”(as one Connecticut journalism professor describes it). The changing sports model may be a precursor to a changing local news model that may leave a void for those who rely on TV for actual news.
