Peeling The Onion
I have been reading a fascinating book about the history of tabloid newspapers. You know — the kinds of newspapers that have the seamy headlines about the rich and famous, and the photographs of their rear ends in not-so-flattering bathing suits. The book’s author says many of our news programs on television are simply the evolution of tabloid newspapers. He’s right.
The book was published in the last decade. The tabloid philosophy has since spread to the so-called mainstream nightly network news.
A thorough analysis of television news takes a careful peeling back of several layers of information. It’s like an onion, maybe an onion that has been in the onion bin for a couple of weeks too long.
This disclaimer: I’m not a professor, and I don’t even have a master’s degree in journalism. I am simply a reporter, broadcaster, and writer who has been there, done that, made the mistakes, and also had some success at what I do.
TURN OUT THE LIGHTS
I wish we were in a dark room with a projection screen. I would show you a split-screen. On the left would be a series of clips from newscast opens, stories, and production examples from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. The right side of the screen would be a compilation of newscast opens, stories, and production examples of newscasts today. As each side played, we could stop and discuss what we saw and heard. My den is not big enough for all of you, so please use your imaginations.
The first thing you would notice in the older newscasts might be the “dry” straight-forward introductions and stark news sets. Compare that to the almost cartoon-like introduction to the newscasts we see today with graphics, flashes and audio swooshes, etc. It’s like a comparison of “Grapes of Wrath” and “Star Wars”. Computers and digital graphics have allowed producers to soup-up the look of news. But let’s look at something else.
On the side of the screen where we see contemporary newscasts, let’s take a minute to watch news opens from 40 different local television stations. This won’t take a minute, we will flash through them quickly. What do you see? Our random check shows local newscasts are almost uniform in their opens and graphics. Amazingly, some television stations have identical cartoon swoopies and sounds, and the orchestration is the same. How did that happen?
It happened when consultants saw that one newscast with a certain orchestra, certain colored sets, and graphics had wonderful ratings in one market. They figured that if it works well in say, Great Falls, it would also be a hit in Chattanooga. That’s where we see the first layer of similarity.
The book was published in the last decade. The tabloid philosophy has since spread to the so-called mainstream nightly network news.
A thorough analysis of television news takes a careful peeling back of several layers of information. It’s like an onion, maybe an onion that has been in the onion bin for a couple of weeks too long.
This disclaimer: I’m not a professor, and I don’t even have a master’s degree in journalism. I am simply a reporter, broadcaster, and writer who has been there, done that, made the mistakes, and also had some success at what I do.
TURN OUT THE LIGHTS
I wish we were in a dark room with a projection screen. I would show you a split-screen. On the left would be a series of clips from newscast opens, stories, and production examples from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. The right side of the screen would be a compilation of newscast opens, stories, and production examples of newscasts today. As each side played, we could stop and discuss what we saw and heard. My den is not big enough for all of you, so please use your imaginations.
The first thing you would notice in the older newscasts might be the “dry” straight-forward introductions and stark news sets. Compare that to the almost cartoon-like introduction to the newscasts we see today with graphics, flashes and audio swooshes, etc. It’s like a comparison of “Grapes of Wrath” and “Star Wars”. Computers and digital graphics have allowed producers to soup-up the look of news. But let’s look at something else.
On the side of the screen where we see contemporary newscasts, let’s take a minute to watch news opens from 40 different local television stations. This won’t take a minute, we will flash through them quickly. What do you see? Our random check shows local newscasts are almost uniform in their opens and graphics. Amazingly, some television stations have identical cartoon swoopies and sounds, and the orchestration is the same. How did that happen?
It happened when consultants saw that one newscast with a certain orchestra, certain colored sets, and graphics had wonderful ratings in one market. They figured that if it works well in say, Great Falls, it would also be a hit in Chattanooga. That’s where we see the first layer of similarity.
That first peel of the onion shows us television news producers are willing to at least try the same look and feel of a newscast in another town in order to improve the ratings in their own market. They “buy the package” from production houses that supply the music, the graphics, and sometimes, even the set design. Well, at least it takes the worry out of having to come up with something on your own, right?
Next: ” The Look ”
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