#29 Postby Zackiedawg » Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:32 am
Several have mentioned, in defense of media, that they are just doing their jobs, that they are giving the people what they want, and delivering what gets the ratings. And while this may be true, many of us who are 'bashing' the media are doing so because we remember a time when media was NOT entertainment. Ratings were not the only goal of television news programs, and circulation was not the only goal of newspapers. At least part of the mission was to deliver the actual facts, unbiased and unemotional, of an event or events occurring in the world.
What has happened, particularly over the past 15 years, has been the transition of newsmedia into an entertainment program, ratings-driven, sensationalized, opinionated, biased, and as emotional as possible to draw viewership...facts be darned.
The type of coverage we saw locally during Ernesto was but one more example of this 'new' media style. Anything to attract attention. Anything to beat the competition. Special graphics. Sound effects. Dramatic music. Special names for your weather forecast to make it sound like the only one of its kind. Picture in picture. Opinionated reporters. Dramatic presenters. Emotions bared. News has become 'Reality television'. And when a story isn't there, they make one...interviews on the street with deer-in-the-headlight civilians who suddenly sense their 15 minutes of fame and perform on cue, dramatic locations and angles with the camera...enhanced costuming to add to the illusion (raincoats, gloves, windmeters in hand), dramatic close-ups of empty store shelves and cars at gas stations, judicious editing through dozens of interviews and soundbites to find those with the most drama to back the story, and newscasters driving the drama and panic about the drama of the storm to come (even when it was already gone).
Understand, the blame for all of this isn't on the actual reporters. Yes, we understand they are doing their job. The blame is on the station managers, the network producers and brass, and the media market in general for abandoning the high road of unbiased fact-based news for the ratings-driven over-dramatic reality-hype drivel which has dominated local, national, and cable media in the past decade or more. Forced to don the raincoat and stand in a light drizzle in front of the Home Depot and report dramatically on the preparations for Ernesto the night it had been downgraded to a depression and the NHC was already declaring it a non-event which has broken up and is no longer any serious threat, our intrepid reporter is surely not to blame...they want to keep their job, and they are being told by their producers to make it good. They know that if they can't deliver the emotion and the drama, they will probably be replaced with a dim but attractive, MTV-age reporter with a flare for overacting. I would never blame the reporters themselves.
And what is the state of media today? Local media stiving to become the highest-rated program in their market...national media bragging about who is the highest rated evening broadcast, and the three cable giants with their 24hr programming pounding eachother with endless processions of talking heads and 3-D graphics, political debate shows, and searches for the next missing young blonde girl to turn into a months-long entertainment extravaganza. Has anyone actually caught any news on CNN, Fox, or MSNBC? All I seem to get is talk shows and debate shows.
Comparing these boards to news is silly. This is not claiming to be 'media', or 'news'. This site is a discussion forum. It was always meant to be a site where questions are asked, opinions are bared, and occasionally facts may surface. News was never for that purpose. You decide which definition most aptly fits what we see today:
NEWS: "a report of a recent event; intelligence; information. The presentation of a report on recent or new events in a newspaper or other periodical or on radio or television."
HYPE: "to stimulate, excite, or agitate. To create interest in by flamboyant or dramatic methods; promote or publicize showily. To intensify by ingenious or questionable claims, methods, etc. A method used to intensify the effect."
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I'm beginning to think some of the news and weather folks have stock in Lowe's and/or home depot! Heck early in Ernesto's track when Miss/La, and Ala. where in mind The Biloxi Homedepot sold out of Generators and 2 TRUCKLOADS that came in the next morning...There's Adequate coverage then there is Hype
