TV news today is incompetent, unprofessional, filled with flaws and failures...
and badly in need of repair.
Alright, I confess immediately, I was schooled with the likes of Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, and later Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw. Talented, professional newscasters, who knew how to write, present and deliver important stories. Indeed, Cronkite was once voted the most “trusted man in America”. So the bar is high – but the current crop of folks delivering the news not only cannot come close to getting over that bar, they can barely squeeze under it. The incompetence on television is rampant, and not confined to any one station or cable outlet. Sadly…it is virtually everywhere!
There are many failings among this group, so I have dissected them to define and fully describe each aspect of ineptitude. In no particular order:
Fast talkers – What, what did he/she just say. I didn’t understand a word? It was just a blaze of gibberish. Hey, slow down, if you want me to get your point. (Cronkite taught himself to speak at a comprehensible 124 words/minute)
Everyone talking – This occurs on panels of say 4 to 6 presenters. All of a sudden it is out of control. It is more like a gaggle of geese screeching and honking as they pass overhead. There is no discipline among these folks; they all need to get in the conversation…at once.
Interrupter – Hey, let the guy finish his answer! You asked a question, now let’s hear his/her response. Chris Mathews is the best example, although there a lots of others. It’s not only annoying, but useless to have that guest on.
Arm wavers – Back to MSNBC for this one too. Chris Hays and Steve Kornacki are best examples. In fact once saw them on together, and if you turned off the sound, it would have looked like a prize fight with arms flying.
Question speech – This is all over the networks. The moderator, host, whatever, gives an extraordinarily long question with lots of moving parts. “What do you think if…and because…now that the president has…considering that the Senator decided…now that Congress has the bill?” The guest looks glassy-eyed wondering if or what part of the question mattered, and maybe which trap to avoid.
Ummm, you know – The “ummms” are an absolute no-no among trained, experienced television professionals; but then again we remind ourselves that these presenters are not professionals. The “you know” syndrome is a learned response from professional athletes, several of whom have become “you know champions” using the words perhaps dozens of times in a single sentence. To the credit of TV personalities who are afflicted, few of them will ever be champions…only contenders.
Beat the story to death – You all know what I mean. Once these minor league news shows get on to the subject du jour, they won’t let it go. Grab it…chew it…repeat it…regurgitate it…eat it again…and on it goes like a dog with a rag doll till all the stuffing is gone. And then, on to the next subject du jour. Same scenario. A quick look at BBC could illustrate how there are other stories (many in other countries) worthy of exploring.
Blonde, short skirt gals – I guess as a male with prurient interests, this in my favorite. Indeed it is the only reason to watch the worst “news “ cable station on TV: Fox News. And I use the word “news” with care, because as most people have learned this is not a “news” organization by any stretch of the imagination. It is the Opinion Pages of cable TV. It has provided sound bites to conservatives for years – I always know which of my friends watch it, because their politics usually come verbatim from Fox. But I digress, what Fox does have to offer is the model for most other “news” organizations: young blondes with short skirts. And Fox makes no effort to disguise this – most of their presenters are seated on couches or other places where they can show some skin. So, aside from being blonde, the other qualifier for a Fox presenter is… nice legs! Having a cutsie name like Megyn, Shannon, Kelly, Jamie etc. is a plus. These are news people? Not really, note, I never called them as such, I have used the word “presenter” throughout; and that’s just what they are. They “read” the news or make inane comments on issues of the day, with the shake of their blonde tresses…shapely legs…coy smiles…and flirtatious manners. If this sounds sexist…it is! But I am only reporting it – creating this product is Fox’s idea. I can envision one of these presenters describing something like the end of the world, as she smiles into the camera, and they run a close-up of her thigh.
So where does this leave us? Well, as a small mitigating circumstance, there are innumerably more TV stations now, than when Cronkite was on the air; and these stations are voracious in their need for talent. But the excesses, weaknesses, annoyances, failures are not so profound that they could not be corrected or at least improved upon. Till then, my best suggestion is to watch TVLand and “The Golden Girls”.