Thanks for this, Dick. I have been a major news junkie all my adult life. For many years, I watched the evening news and the Sunday shows faithfully. But I stopped watching both about 15 years ago and it hasn’t cost me anything. There was nothing there but stuff I’d already read online or in print. And, in the case of the Sunday shows, softball interviews with spinners and liars. Cable news is much worse for the country, as you said, and I’ve stopped watching that too. But I agree with you that it’s a cancer that deserves a separate piece.
When 15-minute evening network newscasts (originated by John Cameron Swayze) went to half an hour in the age of Cronkite and Hiuntley-Brinkley, the change was hailed as an informational breakthrough. But in truth the constraints of even that timeframe combined with TV's star system have always impeded good journalism. More and more, the glamorization of news anchors (essentially news readers) has become sillier and sillier, something only amplified when they are flown to the site of an important story to dramatize its (and their) importance. Dan Rather blurting out to soldiers shutting him down at Tiananmen Square "Do you know who I am?" comes to mind. In that regard to to my mind the setback that cost Brian Williams his anchor chair may have lost him some money but turned out to be a great career move, liberating him to an hour-long spot that allows him to actually explore a story. Of course the programs he (and all the cable newscasters) preside over now are not news at all but commentary — a subject for another day.
Thanks for this, Dick. I have been a major news junkie all my adult life. For many years, I watched the evening news and the Sunday shows faithfully. But I stopped watching both about 15 years ago and it hasn’t cost me anything. There was nothing there but stuff I’d already read online or in print. And, in the case of the Sunday shows, softball interviews with spinners and liars. Cable news is much worse for the country, as you said, and I’ve stopped watching that too. But I agree with you that it’s a cancer that deserves a separate piece.
You have nailed it Dick! Let’s hope TV newscasters are listening (actually, in this case, reading).
When 15-minute evening network newscasts (originated by John Cameron Swayze) went to half an hour in the age of Cronkite and Hiuntley-Brinkley, the change was hailed as an informational breakthrough. But in truth the constraints of even that timeframe combined with TV's star system have always impeded good journalism. More and more, the glamorization of news anchors (essentially news readers) has become sillier and sillier, something only amplified when they are flown to the site of an important story to dramatize its (and their) importance. Dan Rather blurting out to soldiers shutting him down at Tiananmen Square "Do you know who I am?" comes to mind. In that regard to to my mind the setback that cost Brian Williams his anchor chair may have lost him some money but turned out to be a great career move, liberating him to an hour-long spot that allows him to actually explore a story. Of course the programs he (and all the cable newscasters) preside over now are not news at all but commentary — a subject for another day.