Posts Tagged ‘NBC’
Breaking News
TV started in the US in the 1930’s and it’s been on a roll ever since. Personally, I’d argue that some aspects have gotten better and better (Sons of Anarchy, anyone?) others have stayed the same (I would argue that Two and a Half Men shows no growth from the uberformulaic 80s – seriously, the only thing missing is “What you talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?”). Yes there’s 3D TV now – though most of us don’t have that yet . . . but the stations themselves have upgraded to color and HD over the years. Technology aside, the medium has grown . . .
Still there’s one aspect of TV that has grown by leaps and bounds, but maybe not in a very good way. It seems to be a uniquely American thing, too: The advent of news as entertainment.
The nightly news has been around since TV started. So who’s to blame for this change? Is it the people’s fault for buying in? Yes! It is. But it’s also the news stations’ fault for doing it, for looking for that buy in. If I hear “Could your refrigerator be killing you?” one more time, I’m gonna scream. Especially when this is consistently followed by a news article that takes about five minutes to say “No, though there are very small amounts of mercury and other harmful chemicals in your fridge, they are safely tucked into the back of the unit and nowhere near your food. You would have to disassemble the appliance and lick every element to get an exposure to even a trace amount.” I have learned to ignore these sensationalist tactics . . . oh, and I got TiVo, so I just gratefully fast forward past any talking heads.
