More on "LNS"

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: Breaking news : WMAQ-WFLD agreement to share resources seems ill-conceived : : Coming soon to NBC-owned WMAQ-TV-Channel 5 and Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32: Local newscasts that share a common newsgathering service. : What looks to be a disturbing new concept in local TV news was jointly announced Thursday by Fox Television Stations and NBC Local Media, composed of the 10 local stations NBC operates. Dubbed "LNS," this joint local news service is expected to roll out in Chicago at WMAQ and WFLD sometime in 2009, probably sooner rather than later. : The Fox and NBC stations in Philadelphia have been testing this cozy newsgathering arrangement since last May, and top news brass at both networks say they are pleased with the results. : As explained to us by WMAQ Station Manager Frank Whittaker, LNS involves a group of camera crews pulled from news departments at both WMAQ and WFLD that will be assigned to shoot footage of various news events each day in and around Chicago. An LNS managing editor -- not the news directors at each station -- will decide which news events the pool crews cover. That pool footage will then be sent to both WMAQ and WFLD, where news executives will determine how the material should be used in their respective "competing" newscasts that day. : If both WMAQ and WFLD happen to send reporters to an event being covered by a pool camera crew, Whittaker said it's possible the crew would work with one reporter, then turn its attention to the needs of the other. The new arrangement also is expected to include shared use of a single news helicopter. : Whittaker took pains to suggest that by eliminating redundancies in both stations' coverage of certain local news events, news staff and resources will be freed up at both WMAQ and WFLD to pursue their own enterprise news reporting and unique investigative pieces. It's also obvious this is another way to trim costs at both local stations at a time when ad sales revenue is sharply declining. : But at least two major concerns loom here, even as Whittaker admitted he and his counterpart at WFLD, News Director Andrew Finlayson, really haven't begun to sort out the precise details of how LNS will work in Chicago. First, how much newsgathering staff will be left at each station after LNS pulls out what it needs every day. And more important, by the time all the pool footage is disseminated to each station, will WMAQ and WFLD wind up with newscasts that mirror each other? : Whatever proves to be the case, Emily Barr, president and general manager at local newscast leader ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7, found her competitors' concept hard to fathom and decidedly not to her liking. : "Whatever it is they are doing, we are steadfast in our determination to remain an independent news operation at WLS," said Barr. : : (Lewis Lazare, Chicago Sun-Times)

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