YOUR LIKES/DISLIKES OF TV, NEWS CHANNELS (1 Viewer)

[cinerama10]

My least liked news on t.v. is the nightly ABC news with David Muir in NYC. I have no problem with David as a reader but my complaint is that after having an ad break, David returns with a brief news item for about10 seconds and then there are more commercials. When returning to the news the same thing happens again -a news items for about 10 seconds and then more commercials. Also David spends two and a half minutes at the beginning of the news telling us about the news headlines. Why so long? Headlines should last 20 seconds at the most.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Per our forum guidelines regarding no political references or comments, any such posts will be deleted and the poster will be subject to further disciplinary action including suspension.

 

[Malcolm R]

I do my best to avoid TV news. I read it online to avoid commercials and pick the stories I want to read.

 

[Paul Bosquet]

I avoid it for the most part also, mostly due to bias and being beholden to advertisers. The local paper claims to be ”balanced” but clearly they slant to one side. There are some alternatives sources for news that I tend to seek out.

 

[TravisR]

Thanks to the internet, one thing I've come to absolutely hate is having censorship for language in the news. I realize that the networks are beholden to the FCC but cable news channels aren't restricted by them so I feel like I'm being treated like a child when a real world event is being edited because someone said a "bad" word. I'm much more likely to get my news from a source that doesn't edit.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

I avoid TV news and try to read stories from a variety of sources and viewpoints.

 

[BobO'Link]

Having directed TV news for over 20 years I grew to loath the way such programs are produced and presented. It's all about *entertainment* and very little to do with actual news.

Example 1: While rolling up the promo for the 6pm newscast one afternoon I thought the story sounded interesting. Instead of waiting until the next day to watch it during my normal shift I actually tuned in at home that evening. The story contained *nothing* teased in the promo. The next morning I approached the producer of that newscast and asked: "What's up with that promo we ran yesterday about xxx? I watched and there was nothing in the story that you teased in the promo." She replied "That's right - but it got you to watch, didn't it?!" to which I replied "Yes - but *never* again. That's a very deceitful method and if *I* stop watching because of it I know there'll be others." She did not care at all... it achieved that one time limited "need" so she was pleased. She's now teaching news production at the local college.

Example 2: While in producer/director meetings, where we'd critique the week's broadcasts, the producers would regularly ask for more vfx for getting graphics on/off screen. They claimed "If you fly more graphics in and use more animation, viewership would go up." I always called BS on that and would throw back "If you'd learn to *write* you'd get more viewers. Quit stealing your news from the local paper and do some actual reporting!" Yeah... I was not liked much by the news writers/producers.

I've not watched any newscast, unless I was directing (and when you're in that chair you really don't hear what's being said by the on-air "talent"), in 40+ years. I get it from carefully vetted newspapers and online sources. I get my weather directly from NOAA (the same place "weather people" get theirs). I don't care about sports so don't need sources for that.

 

[Sam Favate]

Whenever the subject comes up, I advise anyone who will listen that they should always read the news, never watch the news. Having spent many years in print journalism, I think I know of what I speak. There is simply nothing worthwhile in television news. In some cases, it causes misinformation. There are many reliable print sources (and all are online). That's the way to go.

 

[cineMANIAC]

I don't watch TV news anymore but if I still did, I'd probably stick with PBS since they're not ad-driven, which alone makes them attractive to me by default. And I appreciate their more subdued, reflective demeanor when presenting news. That is, that's the way they used to be - I haven't really watched much news from any source lately so maybe even PBS has changed these days.

Yeah, those endless commercials. I can't imagine someone being completely devoid of a life that they actually sit there watching what amounts to commercials with tiny tidbits of "news" thrown in between. Maybe older folks, which would still not make sense because older people are nowhere near advertisers' desired demographics. Sooner or later people will get sick of being drowned in commercials and stop watching altogether.

 

[bmasters9]

Having directed TV news for over 20 years I grew to loath the way such programs are produced and presented. It's all about *entertainment* and very little to do with actual news.

Example 1: While rolling up the promo for the 6pm newscast one afternoon I thought the story sounded interesting. Instead of waiting until the next day to watch it during my normal shift I actually tuned in at home that evening. The story contained *nothing* teased in the promo. The next morning I approached the producer of that newscast and asked: "What's up with that promo we ran yesterday about xxx? I watched and there was nothing in the story that you teased in the promo." She replied "That's right - but it got you to watch, didn't it?!" to which I replied "Yes - but *never* again. That's a very deceitful method and if *I* stop watching because of it I know there'll be others." She did not care at all... it achieved that one time limited "need" so she was pleased. She's now teaching news production at the local college.

Example 2: While in producer/director meetings, where we'd critique the week's broadcasts, the producers would regularly ask for more vfx for getting graphics on/off screen. They claimed "If you fly more graphics in and use more animation, viewership would go up." I always called BS on that and would throw back "If you'd learn to *write* you'd get more viewers. Quit stealing your news from the local paper and do some actual reporting!" Yeah... I was not liked much by the news writers/producers.

I've not watched any newscast, unless I was directing (and when you're in that chair you really don't hear what's being said by the on-air "talent"), in 40+ years. I get it from carefully vetted newspapers and online sources. I get my weather directly from NOAA (the same place "weather people" get theirs). I don't care about sports so don't need sources for that.

All great points, and this is why old newscasts like this Eyewitness News Tonight one from Chicago on WLS from 1982 appeal far more to me these days than what TV news is now...