There appears to be a genuine difference of opinion over whether Channel 4 has disbanded its special projects unit, which includes its famed I-Team.

News director Scott Libin insists the unit — which produces everything from long-form news to segments more appropriate for Oprah — has merely been reorganized. The 11-person team — which includes the station's top anchors, three producers, reporter Caroline Lowe, and three photojournalists — has been physically integrated into the newsroom, and will do more day-to-day stories.

"We will not pass up any stories we'd have done a week ago, a month ago," Libin says. "What we are trying to do is make better use of our resources. One of the best places to develop story ideas is on the street, in pursuit of regular coverage."

From Libin's perspective, the shift means he can throw more folks at a given day's hot story — say, an extra report on the Red River floods. Meanwhile, more 'CCO journalists can get a crack at long-form stories — a prospect relished by several reporters I spoke with. They also applauded the flexibility afforded by not having to accommodate a long-form story every night.

"We're not going to assume every promotable piece runs 4 minutes," Libin says. "We will have fewer long stories that, frankly, don't require that length. You can do a pretty promotable story in half that time. Here's the uncomfortable truth: We're not the only station that has sometimes given a story more time than it deserves because of where it's slotted in the newscast."

Economics is clearly a factor; more boots on the ground help counteract a shrinking newsroom. But there's another compelling motivator: technology.

Viewers may not have realized it, but Sweeps Months are a thing of the past. Twin Cities stations are now judged by new-generation "people meters" that track viewing daily, down to the minute. I-Teams and the like were propelled by the need to rachet up the hype four times a year. Now, day-to-day attractions are prime, be it hitting the top story harder to broadening the topics on any given newscast.

Libin asserts he's not aping KSTP's "more news" mantra and blisteringly high story counts. "This is not story-count-driven strategy," he says. "Again, we're not backing away an inch from project energy — I just think our day-to-day coverage will improve. I've promised the staff if they have a great investigation, we'll pursue it."

The reporters I spoke with seem willing to take this on faith — but there are certainly skeptics who say if you don't have team looking for the big stuff, you'll find less of it. With the relentlessness of day-to-day, the unit has all but been disbanded, they say.

To be sure, we're decades past the hard-hitting glory days when the I-Team was busting judges, or getting the drop on cops spending on-duty hours in the Skyway Lounge. Today's long-forms range from the noble (Don Shelby's Project Energy) to whether your restaurant coffee is really decaf. At a time when the station has cut high-priced talent like Paul Douglas and Jeanette Trompeter, this arrangement appears to trim the sails of Don, Frank and Amelia, who ride herd on the station's most and least substantial projects.

As for whether it makes a better newscast, check back in a few months.