By MARISSA YOUNG<\/p>\n
Yesterday, I attended a presentation by Alina Falcon, Telemundo\u2019s executive vice president of News and Alternative Programming, in the School of Communication. She spoke about the changing role of the media, and one comment particularly struck me. She said that today, there is increasingly less unscripted, serious news; it is being replaced with straight talk, interviews, and other filler that costs less to produce.<\/p>\n
Falcon\u2019s remark resonated with me because, when I watch news programs, I feel uncomfortable during certain segments that can\u2019t really be classified as news.<\/p>\n
Though whether entertainment news is news is a controversial topic among journalists, that\u2019s not close to what I mean.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying that entertainment stories shouldn\u2019t be on the news.\u00a0 Some people really are interested in celebrities, TV shows, and the like. At least these stories deliver information to which the average person isn\u2019t already privy. But news programs often take this too far, as in shamelessly plugging their own networks\u2019 shows.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find stories raving about the \u201cmust-see\u201d season of The Voice<\/i> (does anybody even watch this, anyway?) on NBC, but the show isn\u2019t so much as mentioned on ABC or CBS.<\/p>\n
Then there are the stories that can\u2019t be labeled \u201cnewsworthy\u201d by any standard.\u00a0 The kind entitled \u201cSix Places You May Have Misplaced Your Keys\u201d or \u201cEight Things You Shouldn\u2019t Say to Strangers.\u201d\u00a0 These types of stories have literally no<\/i> new or valuable information.\u00a0 I mean, if a cameraman from the news station came up to me right now, I could cover the same story off the top of my head.<\/p>\n
The best is when the programs show you teasers from upcoming stories. \u201cWhat was the unbelievable item a student found in her lunch?\u201d \u00a0\u201cComing up: You\u2019ll never believe what happens in this video!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cStay tuned for the shock a mother got when she opened her front door!\u201d<\/p>\n
You wait a half hour to find out.\u00a0 Sometimes, the story really is surprising, like if the girl found a diamond ring in her sandwich. Still, it\u2019s cruel that programs leave you hanging for so long to hear about it. Other times, the content is just short of being as engaging as a black screen: the video is of a guy failing to balance on one foot, or the mother was checking her mail until she realized it was Sunday.<\/p>\n
This kind of programming is embarrassing to watch, and should be infinitely more embarrassing to air. I challenge networks to spend some money and give us real news or to remove this fa\u00e7ade by at least transferring these filler clips to differently categorized programs.\u00a0 Otherwise, networks would be better off showing sitcom reruns during the time slots these stories waste.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By MARISSA YOUNG Yesterday, I attended a presentation by Alina Falcon, Telemundo\u2019s executive vice president of News and Alternative Programming, in the School of Communication. She spoke about the changing role of the media, and one comment particularly struck me. … Continue reading