By Al Tompkins

On Friday, September 11, 2009, RTNDF gathered a diverse collection of Kansas City area news consumers together to hear what they have to say about local news. More than 40 journalists listened as the viewers talked about everything from the decline of investigative reporting to how they believe advertisers control news content.

We posed this scenario to the group, "Let's suppose an advertiser, say a local auto dealership places a $200,000 ad buy with your station. Could that advertiser expect some positive news coverage? The answers shocked the 40 or so journalists in the room:

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The Kansas City area news viewers and radio listeners said they often turn to online news sources, but they are not particularly loyal to any one site. The members of the public said they constantly compare their sources of news against each other as a way of weighing news accuracy.

How can journalists earn the public's trust? Listen to these responses:

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The Kansas City area news consumers said they have noticed local stations are no longer investigating stories the way they once did. The focus group told us they wanted meaningful investigative stories and they said they would be willing to watch longer stories if the stories had substance:

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One of the many stories that we showed our focus group of Kansas City area news consumers is one from CBS Evening News in which correspondent Byron Pitts tells the story of a young boy whose family is homeless. The child and his mother live in a cheap motel. The child is failing school and is losing hope. He cries during an interview with the network and at one point, Pitts tells viewers the boy's mother gives the crew permission to continue the interview. The story includes a heart-stopping moment. The boy and a friend kicked a ball into a busy four-lane street. The boy chased the ball right into speeding traffic. The story moved the focus group's emotions but the journalists in the room were surprised by how critical the viewers were of the news story:

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After more than two hours of watching news stories together, the Kansas City focus group offered direct advice about how journalists can improve their newscasts:

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