If we say it faster, will it sound more urgent and important? ABC News thinks so. If you watch ABC World News, you’ll have to listen faster. I’m not criticizing their content. Although they are not shy about using the broadcast clichés that should make us all cringe. They are going after the young viewer, who research shows, are not watching network evening newscasts. To their credit, they have given NBC Nightly News a run for first place since the Brian Williams episode. They have chosen a path they think works.
Full disclosure, I worked for CBS owned and operated stations in Philadelphia for 25 years, after starting at ABC owned stations in Detroit and New York. I do think the CBS Evening News and all the CBS News programs are better than everyone else. The bigger issue is how television news, whether network or local, engages viewers. The biggest historical impact on television news presentation was Eyewitness News created by Al Primo at KYW-TV in Philadelphia in the mid 1960s and then used with great success at WABC-TV in New York. It became the standard for local news.
Eyewitness News had reporters on the set reporting their stories, and later, live on the scene. Anchors and reporters would talk back and forth about the stories. Unfortunately, this devolved into “Happy Talk” at many stations around the country. At first, network news executives and producers looked down on local news. They were doing the real serious news. But the impact of Eyewitness News spread over the decades. Everywhere from the network evening newscasts, the morning news programs, to shows like “ET” and “The Insider”.
But content is king. Of course, presentation and promotion are important. You have to get them to watch. But this phony sense of urgency and breathlessness just rings hollow, and is almost embarrassing. Thoughtful, engrossing content can succeed. Just look at “60 Minutes”. I’m not suggesting daily newscasts are going to be produced like “60 Minutes” pieces. But we can learn that clear, concise writing and the weaving together of facts to grab the viewers’ attention is our goal.
We are in a new world of rapid fire information. It comes at us around the clock in bursts. There is much more information available to more people in seconds than ever before in history. That’s a good thing. But the job of the journalist is even more important now. We have to supply the context. We have to tell viewers the why, and what it means to them. Why should they care? It can’t be a blizzard of information, some of which turns out not to be what it first seemed. Everyone now has the tools to get the information, and even get it before a reporter or news crews get to the scene. Many news stories rely on cell phone video shot by people in the middle of the action. That can be dramatic and attention grabbing. Anyone can point and shoot. That doesn’t make them a journalist.
Facts are a powerful tool in any society. They are manipulated and twisted in the hands of dictators and tyrants. They can be used to enlighten, engage, create change, and get justice in a free society. They are the truth. How we gather them and present them are a privilege written in the Constitution. Journalists write history in real time. It’s a responsibility we take on to serve our fellow citizens. Opinion polls show many people don’t trust the news media to be fair and accurate. We have to get it right and produce it well. Most people won’t give us a second chance if they feel we haven’t been straight with them. Reading faster won’t help.
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