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| WDAZ-TV, Grand Forks |
Smaller communities value their news, whether it's source is the local newspaper or a small TV station. People in Grand Forks, North Dakota are not happy with a choice made by Forum Communications, owner of WDAZ-TV. Forum also owns sister station WDAY-TV, in larger Fargo, and has decided to cut WDAZ's 5pm localized newscast and its anchor, Terry Dullum. WDAZ is a satellite of the Fargo ABC affiliate and the weekday 5pm newscast is the sole newscast produced in Grand Forks; the other Grand Forks-specific newscasts are produced in Fargo. It's very like this is a monetary decision.
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| Terry Dullum |
There has been quite a bit of outcry over this, to the point that competitors KXJB and KVLY are covering
A change.org petition has been started with a goal of 1000 signatures. While WDAZ is essentially a satellite of WDAY, thousands in the smaller city of Grand Forks became accustomed to having their own localized newscast with their own anchor. At the time of writing this, the petition is less than 100 signers shy of 1000.
it. Dullum is a fixture in the community and many unhappy viewers have used social media to vent frustrations over his dismissal.
This should send a loud message to TV news operations: viewers want to see news that's relevant to them and their community. That's how loyalty is built with viewers. The more local a newscast is, the more it's valued and the more it's watched.
Cheers, all.
