Broadcast News Presenters and Reporters Expressing Personal Feelings

[sandiegoinexile]

They're supposed to be journalists.

They are news readers. I have never understood why everyone gets in such a tizzy over this, be it left or right. The goal of most broadcasts is not to disseminate information. The goal is to make money. And to make money, you must have attractive folks who appeal to the viewers. More viewers = more money. Decades ago, the corporate money meisters decided that they needed a Ken-and-Barbie Happy Talk presentation to attract eyeballs. Then it was a balanced diversity. Now the current approach is lots of "look at this videotape" or "see this crazy person" or "look what is the most popular youtube video" or "let me tell you what I think". The money men think that news readers have to bond with their audience of viewers, many of whom are sitting alone in front of their TV and need some company.

Folks on TV pretend to be journalists, sorta like how race car drivers pretend to be athletes, or reality stars pretend to be important, or message board devotees pretend to be accurate fonts of knowledge. Sure, some -- maybe many -- fit the bill, and do it extraordinarily well. But plenty of them miss the boat. Big time.

 

[FreddyE1977]

In my view it's not professional, but it has been going on in TV news forever.

Here in Pittsburgh, Patty and Daddy Burns at KDKA-TV were two of the very worst.
But that never kept KD from being a top-rated news station. In some weird folksy
kind of way people seemed to like it.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why they do it.

If an atom bomb had gone off in Downtown Pittsburgh, people would have been
tuning in to hear Bill Burns say "at least it took care of all of the pigeons in Market Square"

 

[Ultimajock]

That cat was let out of the bag on February 27, 1968, when Walter Cronkite made his personal comments on the Vietnam War on The CBS Evening News.

It began a lot earlier. Reporters did a lot of cheerleading during World War 2.

...try Walter Winchell on both CBS and NBC, Drew Pearson and Dorothy Thompson on NBC, H.V. Kaltenborn on CBS and Fulton Lewis Jr. and Gabriel Heatter on Mutual years before Pearl Harbor...

 

[TheBigA]

try Walter Winchell on both CBS and NBC, Drew Pearson and Dorothy Thompson on NBC, H.V. Kaltenborn on CBS and Fulton Lewis Jr. and Gabriel Heatter on Mutual years before Pearl Harbor...

To be honest, all of them were specifically identified as commentators. Not strictly reporters or presenters.

 

[JeeperOne]

Are you tired of broadcast news presenters and reporters expressing their own personal feelings about the stories they tell?

It's called EDITORIALIZING which has sadly become a lost art in the world of news presentation today

Cheers

 

[JeeperOne]

That cat was let out of the bag on February 27, 1968, when Walter Cronkite made his personal comments on the Vietnam War on The CBS Evening News.

It began a lot earlier. Reporters did a lot of cheerleading during World War 2.

...try Walter Winchell on both CBS and NBC, Drew Pearson and Dorothy Thompson on NBC, H.V. Kaltenborn on CBS and Fulton Lewis Jr. and Gabriel Heatter on Mutual years before Pearl Harbor...

Actually H.V. Kaltenborn was on NBC. Not CBS

And then there's the king of 'em all - EDWARD R. MURROW on CBS

Cheers

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

It's called EDITORIALIZING which has sadly become a lost art in the world of news presentation today

I don't see the role of COMMENATOR being fully interchangeable with the activity we call EDITROIALIZING. They may be cousins standing at the same bus stop but they are not identical twins.

Some people in this thread seem to consider NEWS READER as being interchangeable with REPORTER.

 

[Robnoxious]

Diane Sawyer is the worst culprit of injecting "feelings" into every story to the point of nausea.
As such, I never watch ABC News anymore.
Peter Jennings may have been "folksy" during his tenure but to me it never came across as such.

I kind of miss the guy in retrospect.

 

[Ultimajock]

Actually H.V. Kaltenborn was on NBC. Not CBS

...Kaltenborn started out on CBS, covering the Spanish Civil War and the Czech Crisis of 1938. He didn't move to NBC until 1940...

 

[recto101]

Wait remember Lou Dobbs of CNN and Fox he always acts like an objective reporter but he always insert his opinions to the clip.

 

[LKellerIII]

Wait remember Lou Dobbs of CNN and Fox he always acts like an objective reporter but he always insert his opinions to the clip.

This is nothing new, though I suspect it's more prevalent now. In the 50s and 60s, Los Angeles had George Putnam on KTTV and later KTLA. He was immensely popular, and was reportedly the highest paid news anchor in American - making more money for his local LA newscast than Walter Cronkite made at CBS.

Putnam's program always featured his official "One Reporter's Opinion" editorial, but really, he editorialized frequently throughout the program, and his program was seriously slanted toward the right wing of American politics throughout. These days, Putnam would be very comfortable at Fox News.

 

[recto101]

Wait remember Lou Dobbs of CNN and Fox he always acts like an objective reporter but he always insert his opinions to the clip.

This is nothing new, though I suspect it's more prevalent now. In the 50s and 60s, Los Angeles had George Putnam on KTTV and later KTLA. He was immensely popular, and was reportedly the highest paid news anchor in American - making more money for his local LA newscast than Walter Cronkite made at CBS.

Putnam's program always featured his official "One Reporter's Opinion" editorial, but really, he editorialized frequently throughout the program, and his program was seriously slanted toward the right wing of American politics throughout. These days, Putnam would be very comfortable at Fox News.

Remember the Late Pete Wilson of KGO and KRON he played the Objective Anchor on the 6pm news on KGO ABC7 and KRON4 but saved the political commentary for KGO AM 810. Look at the Late Dave Mcelhatton of KPIX he was objectionable but on KCBS 740 he did his opinions there. Look at Brian Sussman who was at KPIX and KCBS 74 he was objectionable during the weather reports but is a big propagandist for the Tea Party on KSFO and So is Barbara Simpson of KTVU and KSFO.

 

[recto101]

Diane Sawyer is the worst culprit of injecting "feelings" into every story to the point of nausea.
As such, I never watch ABC News anymore.
Peter Jennings may have been "folksy" during his tenure but to me it never came across as such.

I kind of miss the guy in retrospect.

.

I miss Peter Jennings he was the best Anchor of my Childhood. I was not born when Cronkite and Murrow was on tv but I know Peter Jennings was the best anchor on ABC for 2 decades.

 

[LKellerIII]

Wait remember Lou Dobbs of CNN and Fox he always acts like an objective reporter but he always insert his opinions to the clip.

This is nothing new, though I suspect it's more prevalent now. In the 50s and 60s, Los Angeles had George Putnam on KTTV and later KTLA. He was immensely popular, and was reportedly the highest paid news anchor in American - making more money for his local LA newscast than Walter Cronkite made at CBS.

Putnam's program always featured his official "One Reporter's Opinion" editorial, but really, he editorialized frequently throughout the program, and his program was seriously slanted toward the right wing of American politics throughout. These days, Putnam would be very comfortable at Fox News.

Remember the Late Pete Wilson of KGO and KRON he played the Objective Anchor on the 6pm news on KGO ABC7 and KRON4 but saved the political commentary for KGO AM 810. Look at the Late Dave Mcelhatton of KPIX he was objectionable but on KCBS 740 he did his opinions there. Look at Brian Sussman who was at KPIX and KCBS 74 he was objectionable during the weather reports but is a big propagandist for the Tea Party on KSFO and So is Barbara Simpson of KTVU and KSFO.

Recto - I think you mean "objective" not "objectionable." All those you mentioned above maintained objectivity as TV anchors and reporters. They were certainly entitled to express their opinions in other forums - that's what talk radio is for.

Sussman is a bit unusual, in that he was a weatherman. It's hard to fathom how he could editorialize a weather report, except possibly to deny global warming.

Barbara Simpson didn't get into conservative talk radio until she was no longer a news anchor. George Putnam in LA also became a talk host after he stopped anchoring the news, but he was a well-known conservative while he was still anchoring.

I found this interesting clip on You Tube - from the short-lived program Both Sides Now in which Putnam debated with comic Mort Sahl. While Putnam is in typical pompous form (you can clearly see the genesis of 'Ted Baxter' here), it's actually Sahl that gets carried away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzZnoYYPYbE

 

[bmasters1981]

I think generally that editorializing is fine when you're doing a commentary segment, because you're expressing an opinion and not reporting the news. Otherwise (for news anchors, weathermen, and sports people), I don't know.

 

[recto101]

Wait remember Lou Dobbs of CNN and Fox he always acts like an objective reporter but he always insert his opinions to the clip.

This is nothing new, though I suspect it's more prevalent now. In the 50s and 60s, Los Angeles had George Putnam on KTTV and later KTLA. He was immensely popular, and was reportedly the highest paid news anchor in American - making more money for his local LA newscast than Walter Cronkite made at CBS.

Putnam's program always featured his official "One Reporter's Opinion" editorial, but really, he editorialized frequently throughout the program, and his program was seriously slanted toward the right wing of American politics throughout. These days, Putnam would be very comfortable at Fox News.

Remember the Late Pete Wilson of KGO and KRON he played the Objective Anchor on the 6pm news on KGO ABC7 and KRON4 but saved the political commentary for KGO AM 810. Look at the Late Dave Mcelhatton of KPIX he was objectionable but on KCBS 740 he did his opinions there. Look at Brian Sussman who was at KPIX and KCBS 74 he was objectionable during the weather reports but is a big propagandist for the Tea Party on KSFO and So is Barbara Simpson of KTVU and KSFO.

Recto - I think you mean "objective" not "objectionable." All those you mentioned above maintained objectivity as TV anchors and reporters. They were certainly entitled to express their opinions in other forums - that's what talk radio is for.

Sussman is a bit unusual, in that he was a weatherman. It's hard to fathom how he could editorialize a weather report, except possibly to deny global warming.

Barbara Simpson didn't get into conservative talk radio until she was no longer a news anchor. George Putnam in LA also became a talk host after he stopped anchoring the news, but he was a well-known conservative while he was still anchoring.

I found this interesting clip on You Tube - from the short-lived program Both Sides Now in which Putnam debated with comic Mort Sahl. While Putnam is in typical pompous form (you can clearly see the genesis of 'Ted Baxter' here), it's actually Sahl that gets carried away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzZnoYYPYbE

In fact Brian Sussman did deny Global Warming on August 1st on a special apearance on a Hawaiian Talk Radio show doing a book tour on this subject..