TV news sucks. I do not know anyone who likes the way TV news operates.
One of the biggest complaints you hear about TV news is that it is overly pessimistic and negative. TV news is depressing! Stress relief gurus actually tell their followers to turn off the TV news because it just leads to negative emotional energy.
TV Newscasters claim EVERYTHING is a crisis. They love to point out how wicked and deadly the word is. BE AFRAID!!!! BE VERY AFRAID!!!!! always seems to be the underlying message.
Having worked in the field of TV news for a quarter of a century, I have tons of opinions on this subject. TV News sucks for a lot of different reasons. I got so tired of the garbage I finally got out of the business entirely. It wasn’t just that so many stories were hyped to the point of absurdity, but also because show biz considerations completely ruled. No one cared about journalism, especially top management. All that mattered was how fancy, spectacular and entertaining we presented our “news.”
Top management seemed to think that the only things that mattered was the show biz stuff: things like what the set looked like, what music we used, what the graphics looked like, what kind of hair-do the anchor lady had.
They NEVER seemed to care whether we had our facts right, or indeed, they did not seem to care even if we presented any facts at all!
If ratings were down, they thought spiffing up the set or changing to more dramatic music was the answer! They never spoke of beefing up the caliber of our news stories. Nope, that was the furthest thing from their minds.
I am a firm believer that BAD MEDIA is affecting our country in very negative ways. We can not have a civil discussion about anything anymore because the TV news foments disagreement. They like conflict because conflict makes for more entertaining TV!
So they stress conflict and ignore agreeable actions.
They stress negativity and ignore positive actions.
The end result is that people are screaming and calling each other looney lefties or right wing nuts or just plain retarded and stupid.
We’ll never get anywhere this way!
As the “leader” of the discussion, TV news should be objective and non-emotional. They should lay out FACTS and leave opinions out of it!
I dare say if TV news behaved in a responsible way, we, as a country, could get a better grip on our problems and begin working on solutions rather than just screaming insults at each other.
But I do not think that will happen anytime soon. So in the meantime, please don’t take anything you see on the “news” too seriously. If you’re interested in facts, double and even triple check what you hear. Many of the large-scale TV news operations have agendas that color their coverage. Sometimes that agenda is political in nature, but often it is more corporate and public relations oriented. TV news needs to make money and they can not do that if they do stories on how the pharmaseuticals they’re advertising will kill you. Or how the car dealerships they are advertising sell re-cycled wrecks without disclosure. Or how the food companies they’re advertising are selling unhealthy garbage labeled “food.”
News is supposed to be a watchdog for the rest of us. Too bad they behave more like lap dogs, licking whatever hand is willing to feed them. And doing it IN THE MOST DRAMATIC WAY POSSIBLE. Because of course you can not have non-emotional coverage as that’s BORING and no one will watch.
Sigh…..
My favorite adage in news was “Dare to be Dull.” Yup, well done journalism is sometimes a tad dull compared to the hyped up, conflict driven drivel that passes for news these days.
Too bad for us all!
Rant over.
Thanks for reading Video Production Tips
Lorraine Grula
Internet Video Gal
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