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Join TSPR for a weekly conversation about media issues. News Director Rich Egger and expert panelists discuss what’s in the news about the news business.

Network Invests in Newsroom

The Associated Press reported that ABC News is moving aggressively to boost its streaming service with the belief that streaming services will change the news business over the next decade.

The network announced it will hire around 50 new journalists, assign a couple correspondents to online leadership roles, and increase the number of hours of live programming with the goal of becoming a round-the-clock service within a year.

ABC executives feel the cable news networks have turned to talk more than news coverage and they believe audiences want live news, not commentary.

The Shop Talk panelists applaud ABC for investing in its newsroom.  But they’re concerned that the cable channels put out so much commentary because that’s what audiences want.  They hope ABC finds an audience for factual news rather than opinion.

Shop Talk is a weekly panel discussion about journalism issues.  This week’s program featured Will Buss, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University and advises the student editors at the Western Courier, the students at student radio station The Dog, and the WIU chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists; Rajvee Subramanian, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University; and TSPR News Director Rich Egger.

Rich is TSPR's News Director.