Woe news is good news

For the majority of Australians, television is not simply their past-time, it is their world. Media theorists have long understood that television news is the dominant source of information most people use to shape their understanding of things outside their direct experience.

That dominance persists in the new millennium despite the advent of the Internet, with Morgan Polls reporting in 2005 that 48% of Australians still see television as their main source of information. The box in the corner, or more lately the LCD screen on the wall, is literally our window on the world.

There was a time when most households I knew shared a common evening ritual. The children controlled the television all afternoon, but come six o’clock they surrendered the remote. Everyone had to be quiet because Dad was watching the news.

It was a serious business as the head of the household paused to collect those essential kernels of information which would be chewed over and digested with family members, work-mates and friends.

Television campaigns have always worked to bolter that perception of substance.

Walter Cronkite, the grandfather of all newsreaders habitually concluded his bulletin with the reassuring phrase “… the way it is,” followed by the date – a maxim copied by the Nine Network, and reinforced with a campaign that reassured me I knew everything I needed to know, “… because Brian told me so.”

But knowledge is no longer the primary concern of news bulletins.

There has been a persistent ‘dumbing down’ of content over the past decade, particularly on commercial networks, as news programs pursue easy watching over information.

Bulletins have been broken down into a series of fast-paced briefs.

Stories have become steadily shorter and more polarised in presentation till there are only two sides to any issue.

Interview contributions have been snipped to the point that experts must rely on catch-phrases to convey their points. And the only certain inclusions are those stories that promise ‘dramatic scenes caught on tape!’ or ‘a rare insight’ into the lives of over-exposed celebrities.

The commercial networks nightly deliver the worst examples with Nine’s evening news showing vision of a stolen Israeli truck crashing into parked cars, while Seven directs our attention to Nicole Kidman riding horses in Centennial Park.

I know news directors will be the first to point out that television bulletins are limited by the time at their disposal and the pictures they require. But they are still responsible for what they choose to fill that finite slot with, and the manner in which they present those pictures.

In television news drama is everything. In the hands of Network Ten’s news crew a complex medical report is boiled down to “Cough syrup – not only dangerous, it could be deadly!” – one of many alarming statements that night. Copywriters go beyond inspiring curiosity and instead aim for tension and excitement.

This process hasn’t gone unnoticed. When asked, 83% of Australians say they would like “more in-depth analysis of the news, not just headlines.” However their conviction seems lacking; this desire doesn’t seem to have translated into increased audiences for more serious-minded bulletins.

The continuing popularity of these ‘news-ish’ programs seems to indicate that savvy broadcasters are also picking up on a desire to ‘switch off’ rather than ‘tune in’.

The result is a swirling mass of news and current affairs programs that are more alarming, amusing and arousing than informing.

The very presentation of most bulletins trivialises their content, from the plunging necklines and night-club attire of female news readers to the tabloid-style graphics that introduce their topics.

Ask yourself, is Network TEN trying to amuse or inform when Tim Bailey presents the weather report in front of a monster truck crushing cars?

Television news used to occupy an exalted place in the Australian household because it offered to help explain the world around us.

But our viewing habits are no longer characterised by information because information implies a responsibility to think and respond. Entertainment only asks us to react, and any decisions we make will only last as long as our rapidly waning attention spans.

If we are going to preach a Gospel that requires a response we would do well to only adopt those presentations that prepare audiences to listen rather than focus on putting them at their ease.

But even then, don’t be surprised if listeners struggle against connecting the Bible’s information with their need to act.

After all, there are still challenging news services out there; they just don’t rate very well.

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