signal succumbs to noise
October 31, 2000 7:53 AM Subscribe
signal succumbs to noise -- frankly i'm not surprised, but still it's depressing. then again i never really recovered from daljit daliwal's leaving ITN world news for public television...
Yep, this is the big news here. Carol Marin was one part of the fantastic NBC 5 news team with Ron Magers - they were the 10PM news here. Then, the station manager was axed and replaced with (IIRC) Joel Cheatwood, who loved sensational news and even hired Jerry Springer as a commentator.
The Springer move caused both Magers and Marin - very highly respected journalists - to quit. NBC 5 scrambled. Magers wound up at ABC 7, and Marin at CBS 2.
Marin's show was indeed praised in the media, but no one watched it. No one wants hard news. They want stories like "How to Lose Those Huge Hips" and "How Can I Make Good Cookies for the Holidays?" Marin's newscast was too challenging and cerebral for most people, I think.
Remember: things need to be dumbed down to gain public acceptance (see: popular music, movies, television, presidential candidates....)
posted by hijinx at 8:36 AM on October 31, 2000
The Springer move caused both Magers and Marin - very highly respected journalists - to quit. NBC 5 scrambled. Magers wound up at ABC 7, and Marin at CBS 2.
Marin's show was indeed praised in the media, but no one watched it. No one wants hard news. They want stories like "How to Lose Those Huge Hips" and "How Can I Make Good Cookies for the Holidays?" Marin's newscast was too challenging and cerebral for most people, I think.
Remember: things need to be dumbed down to gain public acceptance (see: popular music, movies, television, presidential candidates....)
posted by hijinx at 8:36 AM on October 31, 2000
Fuck me, that's depressing. My girlfriend says that she's learnt more about the world from a couple of months of BBC America than years of network news. And having seen what's usually on offer, I can understand why.
posted by holgate at 9:12 AM on October 31, 2000
posted by holgate at 9:12 AM on October 31, 2000
Marin had been frustrated with the course of things for some time. She'd long refused to do any of the announcing chores for the Thursday night "ER" promotional specials, oops, local news segments focusing on an ER star. Even so, I believe there is something to be said for their critics: at times I felt her show was somber and leaden, nothing like the brisk informative pace of a BBC (or, for that matter, Daljit) broadcast. We do have PBS, and I don't think we necessarily need another.
For my money, cut out:
# network star promo crap
# video news release fodder lightly rewritten
# Storm Watch 2000! with reporters forced to broadcast from a growing snowdrift
# lead stories focusing on juicy car-accident or fire footage
... and you'll be more than halfway there.
posted by dhartung at 12:33 PM on October 31, 2000
For my money, cut out:
# network star promo crap
# video news release fodder lightly rewritten
# Storm Watch 2000! with reporters forced to broadcast from a growing snowdrift
# lead stories focusing on juicy car-accident or fire footage
... and you'll be more than halfway there.
posted by dhartung at 12:33 PM on October 31, 2000
Lose the "live from the scene of last week's crime", too. As that's starting to infect British news reporting.
posted by holgate at 2:35 PM on October 31, 2000
posted by holgate at 2:35 PM on October 31, 2000
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posted by cCranium at 8:15 AM on October 31, 2000