News, weather, sports. When I was young, that's what TV news broadcast generally touted as being their fare.
Do you think that these days that's still an accurate description of what the average TV news broadcast gives to viewers, or do you think it is different? If different, is it more than or less thanthose three items? ~
No. The days of the TV new broadcast being opinionated are gone. They used to REPORT the news, not make it up. Thats why I dont watch cable TV news. Were is Walter Cronkite when you need him.
Back in the day, the news was half an hour long, there was one anchor who reported the news, kept his opinion to himself and signed off. Now, there are almost always two anchors, news is reported with some chit-chat between the anchors, some special feature of the day, the weather portion is expanded, usually with some overly dramatic weather person, more frivolity between anchors, weather person and sports announcer and then sign off. The days of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite are long gone, never to return. Too bad.
Our local morning news is broadcast in three half-hour sessions...each segment spouting off the same drivel. Weather every ten minutes. Fires and shootings get mentions. The local evening news is the same. I look forward to the half-hour, one talking-head, national news at 7pm. I like David Muir.
A story makes it into the news if it has one or more of seven values: impact, timeliness, prominence, proximity, bizarreness, conflict, and currency.
Impact means it has affected or will affect the lives of many people, or only one or a few people very strongly. Proximity means the degree of physical closeness to the reader or audience. Timeliness and currency - as recent as possible, or the latest in a continuing series of developments. Prominence mostly refers to who was involved - someone in power, with authority, or well known. Conflict - any kind - war, terrorism, riots, brawls, lawsuits, political debates, etc. Bizaarness - anything unexpected, unusual, very new, or weird.
Many people have an intense interest in sport so it has constant news value. The weather affects everyone. it gives us some idea of conditions the people we care about may be experiencing. And it helps us plan tomorrow and the near future.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at January 4, 2018 9:40 PM MST
Not much has changed except that politics has expanded into everything. When I was a kid, a litter of puppies was front page news.
News shows haven't changed all that much except they are slicker now. The news show used to be introduced by a John Philip Sousa march and maybe the sound of a teletype. The anchor would simply read what the teletype had printed.
