{"id":1184,"date":"2013-11-13T19:30:45","date_gmt":"2013-11-14T01:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=1184"},"modified":"2013-11-13T19:32:37","modified_gmt":"2013-11-14T01:32:37","slug":"its-out-of-the-pool-for-nbc-5-wgn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2013\/11\/13\/its-out-of-the-pool-for-nbc-5-wgn\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s out of the pool for NBC 5, WGN"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/a>So much for Chicago\u2019s grand experiment with socialized newsgathering.<\/p>\n Since May 2009, four local stations \u2014 CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2, NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5, Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 and Tribune Broadcasting WGN-Channel 9 \u2014 have been pooling camera crews, assignment editors and other resources in order to share run-of-the-mill news content on the cheap.<\/p>\n Anyone with half a brain could tell it was a bad idea from the start, and now two of the four stations are calling it quits.<\/p>\n Local News Services were first tested in Philadelphia in 2008, when Fox Television Stations and NBC Local Media teamed up to cut costs on news coverage. The idea quickly spread.<\/p>\n In Chicago, the concept was sold as way to cover news conferences and other non-exclusive events, while freeing individual stations to focus on more important stories.\u00a0With straight faces, station executives claimed the arrangement would actually enhance their reporting. \"I think it'll create more differentiation in the market,\" then-CBS 2 boss Bruno Cohen said.<\/p>\n