12-03-2009 BOTTOM LINE EXCLUSIVE KCTV5 WILL DROP ITS INVESTIGATIVE TEAM; MOVE TO BACKPACK JOURNALISM KCTV5, known for its �Live, Late-Breaking, Investigative� slogan and some of the area�s finest news investigations over the years (LINK), will be dropping its Investigative Team in the future and moving toward "backpack" journalism, sources have told Bottom Line. Officials at KCTV5 would not comment on these moves. An exact timetable for the change has not been established. Sources report that 25-30 employees at the Meredith-owned station have been let go in the past year in administration and production, and the latest news follows that cost-cutting trend since investigative journalism generally is more expensive to produce than daily stories. KCTV�s investigative team made a name for itself several years ago when it set up a sting at a home where area men visited believing they were going to have sex with underage girls.The award-winning piece later morphed into Dateline NBC�s �To Catch a Predator� series hosted by Chris Hansen. The Investigative Team stories at the CBS affiliate managed to push the station into the ratings lead at one point in Kansas City, unseeding long-time leader KMBC-TV9. However, in the recently completed November sweeps period KCTV5 finished second to KMBC in nearly all news segments. Ironically, the reporter who made a name for himself in KC doing many prominent investigations, Steve Chamraz, went to KMOV in St. Louis where the Investigation Team was later disbanded (he is now freelancing for FOX in Chicago).Robert Totsch, who was director of sales at KMOV at the time the investigative group was eliminated, was named General Manager at KCTV in October of this year. As part of the cost-cutting measures, reporter Surae Chinn�s position has not been filled since her departure in January at KCTV, and there is no word if departing Shaun Broyle�s post will be filled. In another major change, many news reporters at KCTV will now be asked to follow trends throughout the TV industry and be expected to do �backpack journalism.� A backpack journalist has been referred to as character-driven television or Internet production using hand-held digital cameras by a single reporter. The tools are relatively inexpensive and can fit in a backpack and include a video camera, portable editing software, a laptop, and an Internet connection. Backpack journalism requires reporters to have considerable technical expertise in several fields and is one way TV stations are using technology to reduce expenses.
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