Boy oh boy, I was THRILLED to read Greg Byron's essay on local TV news coverage for our most recent homework assignment.
In general, I'm fond of ANYTHING that debunks schemes or goes against expectations, so it's no surprise that I enjoyed reading this article that unravels local TV broadcasts. For someone who has never analyzed TV news, Bryon's essay is a good primer. I think an overwhelming number of people rely on TV broadcasts as their primary news source, and as this essay reveals, TV news is incredibly unreliable.
One thing I realized by reading this article is how TV news writers embrace a completely different style of news writing than the style used by print journalists. In print, news is delivered as purely factual. In class, we are reminded again and again to remove any and all bias from our writing, and that's tricky. But, as Bryon details in his essay, TV news writers are actually ENCOURAGED to play up emotions. That violates journalism ethics, so I'm wondering how we can actually associate TV news with journalism. To me, it seems more like a magic show or a circus. TV News is all about spectacle and entertainment.
Anyway, if you liked Byron's essay, I suggest you check out the writings of Neil Postman. Postman is my favorite media theorist, and I'm sure Julie Young can back me up on this (Actually, I'm fairly sure Julie dislikes Postman's writing). Postman teaches media studies at New York University, and he has written a gazillion books (okay, 19) on the subject of media. His book How to Watch TV News, co-authored with Steve Powers, a former TV journalist and now journalism professor, is an in-depth study of broadcast news. He and Powers analyze news broadcasts from every angle, and if you were interested by what Byron had to say, turn to this book. For example, Postman and Powers go into greater detail about the role of the anchorperson on TV news. They also reveal the purposes of film clips and donuts, editing, and teases.
If you'd like to learn more about Postman's media theories, this website provides a good glimpse at his work.
Posted by Kate Cielinski at September 29, 2003 08:42 AMWe sleep; they live!
Postman is a great writer; it was good to see your reference to his work here. You might have already read it, but another Postman text I'd recommend to folks is AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH which decries the way not only literacy but also politics are negatively influenced by TV culture. His book Technopoly is more of the same, but relevant to the internet age.
Posted by: Mike Arnzen at September 29, 2003 10:15 AMJust in case you didn't believe her, Kate admires Neil Postman like she loves Lance Olsen and stalks Dave Eggars.
Posted by: Julie at September 29, 2003 10:35 AM