No death knell for the evening news!
I grew up watching the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. Of course, it’s been years since I’ve watched it on a regular basis, but a couple of weeks ago I caught Dan and Co. and was reminded of the virtues of this format.
Chief among those virtues, in my mind, is that evening news programs must make choices. The cable news networks, with their 24 hours of daily air time and wealth of programs on different topics, can run almost any story they want to—and they do. A 30-minute news program, on the other hand, is the broadcast equivalent of the front page of a newspaper. Producers and editors are forced to choose what to include. Moreover, just as there is significance in where on the front page a newspaper article appears, there is often significance in the chronological arrangement of broadcast news stories within the program. I find these choices of inclusion and placement interesting.
Of course, some will say that the 24 hour news networks are fairer to the consumer, giving her access to more information and allowing her to decide for herself which stories are the most important, rather than receiving information at the whim of a news director. I think this argument sells the broadcast media short.
In truth, in every medium, in every format, writers, editors, and producers control which information is presented to us and how it is presented. They have an ethical duty to eschew bias and to make the best choices they can for their audiences. Presenting every single piece of information and abdicating responsibility for synthesizing and analyzing it is not good journalism—it’s laziness and cowardice. We should expect more from the media, who have been given the use of our public airwaves and the strongest constitutional free-speech protections.
Chief among those virtues, in my mind, is that evening news programs must make choices. The cable news networks, with their 24 hours of daily air time and wealth of programs on different topics, can run almost any story they want to—and they do. A 30-minute news program, on the other hand, is the broadcast equivalent of the front page of a newspaper. Producers and editors are forced to choose what to include. Moreover, just as there is significance in where on the front page a newspaper article appears, there is often significance in the chronological arrangement of broadcast news stories within the program. I find these choices of inclusion and placement interesting.
Of course, some will say that the 24 hour news networks are fairer to the consumer, giving her access to more information and allowing her to decide for herself which stories are the most important, rather than receiving information at the whim of a news director. I think this argument sells the broadcast media short.
In truth, in every medium, in every format, writers, editors, and producers control which information is presented to us and how it is presented. They have an ethical duty to eschew bias and to make the best choices they can for their audiences. Presenting every single piece of information and abdicating responsibility for synthesizing and analyzing it is not good journalism—it’s laziness and cowardice. We should expect more from the media, who have been given the use of our public airwaves and the strongest constitutional free-speech protections.
posted by Waage on Monday, December 06, 2004
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