What Women Want –
By Rebecca Coates Nee
October 22, 2001

Now Ahhh the good old days … when November meant in-depth reports on cellulite creams, wrinkle treatments and the latest herb to rev up your sex drive. Many of us despised doing those stories — some even left TV because of the trend toward choosing sweeps pieces solely for the pride of the promotions department.

Before Sept. 11th, TV news consultants had decided that women in the coveted demographic (under age 54, preferably moms) were most concerned about their lined and dimpled skin. But now, even consultants can see that we have more on our minds.

Who cares about cellulite when there’s a shortage of Cipro and gas masks? And anthrax doesn’t happen to other people anymore — it’s in our newsrooms. So what sweeps topics will November bring in this new era where reality TV is all we need to scare us into viewing?

It’s a shame it took a crisis to make us realize that the real "threat lurking in your home" isn’t Mad Cow Disease but a world gone mad. What do women really want to see on the news in November?

I sampled the "target market" — women, mostly moms, from California to Florida. Here are some answers that are sure to make consultants cringe: "Give us hope. I know we have to see the bad news – but I’d like to see it balanced with some positive stories about people and kids doing good things for each other."
"More education stories … What are we going to do about school funding?"
"If I’m gonna watch local news, I want to see what’s going on in my community. I don’t care about that health ****.
"I can watch the Discovery Channel if I want to see that. I don’t care if it has meeting video in it — I just want to know what’s going on."
"I’d like to see some comparison shopping, what are the best buys at the grocery store? How can I save money?"
"More information on the mind/body connection, dealing with stress, taking care of yourself."
Pretty boring stuff, huh? Maybe what women really want from TV news is to help us learn how to survive the basics of living.