Re: When it becomes a "show."

[Mark Laurence <mlaurence@mindspring.com>]

On Friday, September 14, 2001, at 03:21  AM, Joseph Pappalardo wrote:

> The graphics, music, slide and marquee name bug me when they cover 
> incidents
> like this.
>
> Actually, I don't mind them 'naming' the coverage or the slide...or the
> music...what really makes me uncofortable is the off-screen
> announcer..."AMERICA UNDER ATTACK...Now here's correspondent Diane 
> Sawyer!"
>
> Even the WBZ Promo 'big voice' liner guy is doing these hokey
> introductions....

These things really bother me too.  They seem tasteless and self-serving 
to an extreme.  A few of the graphics have been valuable, such as the 
headline crawls at the bottom of the screen for the many of us who are 
tuning in and out, trying to catch up.  The everpresent station or 
network logo is tolerable.  But the pounding drums, the swirling Attack 
on America logos, the deep voice liner guys, it's totally inappropriate 
hucksterism.  It makes me think of the recent trend to label everything 
"Breaking News" like two-week old discussions of Gary Condit.  
Fortunately, the networks and stations seem to have seen the error of 
that way, and hopefully they will continue that trend of toning things 
down.

Mark
mlaurence@mindspring.com