Here’s hoping that the ratings of WMC-TV (Channel 5) have shown the same improvement that its web visits have in the past six months. It is encouraging to see that its marginal focus on being a more well-rounded news station has led it ahead of WREG-TV’s crime all the time clickbait that downplays events of the city in order to push more blood running in the streets coverage.
A poll in 2014 concluded that “TV news significantly influences negative perceptions of Greater Memphis.” That is highly likely to be the case today. People whose primary source of news is television, according to the poll, were much more critical about the state of the city, downplaying it as a great place to live and work, and that crime is steadily increasing. They are less likely to think their neighborhood is safe or are willing to recommend their neighborhoods as a good place to live.
Research for decades has shown that public perception of crime in particular is driven by media coverage. Even as crime rates declined, public perception was driven more by what television showed that the actual facts. As the crime rate declines in Memphis, it will be interesting to see if this is the case.
The following are the number of visits to local and selected media websites for September 2024 and the average time for each visit:
Commercial Appeal 899,103 (3:41)
Daily Memphian 316,790 (2:37)
WREG-TV 1,402,000 (1:11)
WMC-TV 2,273,000 (1:21)
Local 24 283,935 (3:25)
Fox News 13 689,894 (1:17)
Nashville Tennessean 4,826,000 (1:34)
Knoxville News-Sentinel 3,097,000 (1:53)
Chattanooga Times Free Press 688,938 (2:11)
Texas Tribune 2,359,000 (1:21)
Source: Similarweb
