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Just-retired KSL-Channel 5 anchorman Bruce Lindsay is clearly uncomfortable offering any judgments about the state of broadcast journalism. He makes it clear he's not complaining or — heaven forbid — pontificating.

"Don't make this story 'Lindsay decries the decline of journalism.' Don't have me leave on that note," he said. "That's not what I'm trying to say."

He did, however, point to a three "turning points" for local television news that he's witnessed since he broke in as a reporter in 1974.

• The advent of "easy live" news coverage with portable ENG (electronic news gathering) cameras.

"The immediacy was very impactful, particularly if there was something visual happening — a fire or a horrendous pileup on the freeway," he said. "That was a big leap forward."

But it was also a leap that turned out to be somewhat problematic.

"Sometimes the live reporter's victory is — 'I'm here.' And the notion of writing, crafting a story — that now takes something of a backseat."

• Another huge change resulted from the rise of 24-hour cable news "niche" networks.

"Most people, when they have their TV on, they're not watching news of any sort," Lindsay said. "But a segment is. And to build on the margins and entice a few more people to watch news today, the imperative for a cable station is to find that one story that might bring 'em in."

Something like Trayvon Martin. Or Elizabeth Smart.

"So the selection process of stories now has been altered by the economics," Lindsay said. "And that has implications all the way down the line."

• The proliferation of channels and the expansion of the Internet has changed the equation for local news.

"Back in the day, if you wanted to see what was going on the world and you lived here, you could find out any time you wanted — as long as it was 6 or 10 [p.m.]," Lindsay said. "In fact, if you turned the television on at 6 or 10, that's all you could see [on local channels]. We had, not a monopoly, an oligopoly. And it was enormously profitable.

"The audience has been fragmented greatly. And so that alters the resources, and that alters the business model entirely. It's been very interesting to live through that kind of a change."

The other big change has everything to do with how America has changed since the 1970s.

"I was part of the generation that was swept in after Watergate," he said. "Journalism was a calling and it was high-profile and it was important. You saw a lot of high achievers say, 'This is where I can make a mark.'

"Not so much anymore."

He said that without a trace of bitterness. But he's absolutely right.

Scott D. Pierce covers television for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.