Chewing Gum for the Eyes

I do not mean to imply that television news deliberately aims to deprive Americans of a coherent, contextual understanding of their world. I mean to say that when news is packaged as entertainment, that is the inevitable result. And in saying that the television news show entertains but does not inform, I am saying something far more serious than that we are being deprived of authentic information. I am saying we are losing our sense of what it means to be well informed.
             Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

Brian Williams, formally the anchor of NBC Nightly News, was suspended this past week for six months.  His crime was in telling people that he was on a helicopter that was shot down in Afghanistan.  Now, as it was, he was nearby but in an effort at self-aggrandizement and to establish his bonafide as a reporter who reports from the front lines, he felt the need to lie.  In some ways, Mr. Williams’ actions were predictable and indicative of a general decline in the professional standard that has clearly lost its way in the last several decades. 

Watching television news broadcasts from the 1960s is jarring in its approach, what defined news and what was expected from its presenters.  Taking its cue from the growing professionalism of newspaper reporting, television news saw its duty as telling viewers what was happening around the world.  National broadcasts were filled with news, compared to modern broadcast that have fifteen minutes of “hard” news and the other half filled with fluff material.  Suit-wearing talking heads played it as straight as possible.  There was not emotiveness or gesticulation.  Instead, the more controlled the presenter was, the more trusted and respected they were.   

The 24-hour news development, first seen with CNN, changed radically the role of the presenter.  Entertainment was always an element of news presentation but with CNN and other subsequent news networks and programs, entertainment took on a whole new dimension.  In doing so, it changed how the news would be delivered and what would be presented.  It was an extension of the programming dilemma – directors trying to figure out how to fill large swaths of segments and soon, the idea of opinion news materialized and took off.   

Over the last few decades, the line between news and entertainment have systematically disappeared.  Furthermore, the Internet has eroded the once-proud professional guidelines, eradicating the neutral tone, the formality and the gravitas required.  The shrill of newscasters smacks of desperation, not trusting their role or their purpose to the American people.  This is typified with the disaster theme music which is widely mocked but never corrected.   

The lack of formality is yet another frantic attempt to appeal to people based on false assumptions of what is required to obtain and keep an audience.  It is seen in the dressing-down of presenters and the informality of language such as calling the president simply “Obama” or the usage of slang or trendy phrases.  It trivializes and minimizes the importance of the news, smacking of the transient nature of Twitter or any other social media site. 

And then, there is the nature and legitimacy of the presenters of themselves.  Do a Google search of Walter Cronkite, John Chancellor, Bob Schieffer or Frank Reynolds – just to name a few.  They treated the news seriously and therefore, so did those watching.  The demeanor and professionalism of news anchors led people to trust and believe in what was being reported.  That kind of faith does not exist today.  Modern presenters have acted so silly over the last few decades, they have to affect a "serious" tone to present serious information.  This has impacted how Americans respond to the news.  Our current generation considers a serious treatment of the news made up of taking a picture of themselves, holding a placard that says #fillinyourtritepoliticalstatementhere.  The news is no longer treated important so why should our response to it be so?   

With the rampant rise of news as entertainment and the opinionated pablum that fills out the network days, why are we surprised or outraged that Brain Williams fudged on the details.  The idea that NBC, the purveyors of MSNBC, should be shocked and appalled by Mr. Williams’ actions is disingenuous at best.  It is easy to see that if news continues on this path, incidents like Mr. Williams’ will be considered quaint in comparison.  NBC and other networks can pat themselves on the back for putting their foot down on like incidents but it does nothing to reverse television news’ downward trend.

The Legacy of a Prominent Man

If you can stomach a swim through the major news networks, check out the big boys and consider what you have observed. News is no longer such but rather entertainment. There is not a single aspect of the news that is not infiltrated by and consumed with the entertainment factor. This includes everything from fancy graphics to theme songs to dramatic segment titles. However, within this sea of noise is one network that has managed, mostly, to avoid the entertainment element in news. And, behind this network for its entire history, one man has run it with dignity and focus. The network is C-SPAN and the man is its CEO (who has recently retired) Brian Lamb.

Famed cultural critic Neil Postman once discussed the nature of television news and how the paradigm by which news networks present was (and is) based on entertainment. It trivializes the concept of news and challenges the definition of what should be classified as news. The 24-hour news networks further distort what constitutes news and the appropriate way in which to present the same. Today, one can watch the news and observe the screaming, over-gesticulating anchors and wonder where the adults are. It is little wonder that fewer people watch the news on television because the viewers question the worth of what is being presented.

In the late 1970s, former political operative Brian Lamb proposed a network that would broadcast live coverage of House and Senate deliberations. What began as a peek behind the legislative curtain of the Congress has expanded over the years to include committee hearings, congressional testimony, British parliamentary proceedings and political and cultural interviews. The Sunday morning news show on C-SPAN includes a host with a newspaper, a highlighter and a string of callers posing questions. However, nothing is focused on the presenter and technology is non-existence. Brian Lamb conducted that Sunday morning show for decades and recently, shifted to interviews of authors and political figures and never made the conversation about himself or the presentation but solely about the subject.

Over the decades, Mr. Lamb has created a network that defies the trend and instead of making itself the story, simply points the lens at the news-makers and allows the viewer to determine their own opinion. No other network operates with such respect and deference to the viewers’ intelligence. As the shrill and antics of the other networks increase as their numbers dwindle, C-SPAN continues to provide the service for which all Americans should be thankful. As Brian Lamb steps down as CEO of C-SPAN, he leaves a legacy that will be compared to the news anchors and figures of days gone by and in the final analysis, viewers will see his greatness while further understanding the baseness and vacuous nature of those who purport to carry on the journalistic tradition.