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TV Bites With
Neena Louise |
Tick...tick...tick...
by Neena Louise
Ever since September 11th, cable television news networks have
implemented streaming "tickers" along the bottom of the
television screen spelling out supposedly newsworthy items. They defend
themselves of this new annoyance by saying there's so much going on that
it can't all be covered by commentary. Oh, puh-leeze. This may
have been true in the days immediately following September 11th, but it
is no longer the case and this new addition to screen clutter is useless
and irritating.
While watching CNN the other day, I became distracted by the ticker
which read "Welcome to CNN's ticker for [date]. This is the Xth day
of the year; X days left in the year..." THIS is
"news"??!? THIS is deemed so important it must be added to
CNN's cluttered screen? And, my, isn't CNN's screen cluttered? There's
its bug (logo) beside the program name; that stupid ticker along the
bottom; the caption that states who the talking head is; captions under
THAT caption with "sound bites"; the time flashes in various
time zones in the lower right corner; a "live" caption in the
upper left corner; stock prices periodically appear...how can you
possibly watch the actual program under all that mess? 'Course when the
Scourge of CNN, Paula Zahn, is on, it's a welcome distraction. But I
digress...
I was dismayed when network bugs made their appearance a few years ago
(a "bug" is the network logo that's always there in the bottom
corner of the screen). Viewers hate them and many have professed to be
watching less TV because of them. Who would have dreamed it possible,
then, that the networks could come up with something even more annoying
like the ticker? THIS is how they're going to increase viewership? THIS
is how they are going to lure viewers back? It's very difficult to watch
anything with the constant movement of a ticker as a distraction -
especially irritating when it has nothing to say (unless, of course, you
just have to know how many days are left in the year). How many
more ways are networks going to come up with to enrage viewers? I cringe
when I think of what they may dream up next. Perhaps a split screen with
4 images and streaming tickers under each one. Or have the news anchors
sing the news. Or dress in clown costumes. Or be naked [shudder].
I was always under the impression that cable news networks were reserved
for serious news. If I want fluff, I'll watch any number of
exploitive tabloid shows such as Inside Edition or Entertainment
Tonight. I always turned to MSNBC, Fox News and CNN for real news,
but the tabloid shows seem to have more serious pieces than the
so-called news networks. The news channels are so busy typing in their
ticker information, the actual programs have waned in their relevance. I
don't turn to CNN to find out which celebrity the public would most like
to cover in chocolate (yes, that was really a topic one day) - I
want to know what's going on in the world (duh). I have better luck with
the Weather Channel than CNN or MSNBC or Fox for serious news.
Enough with the tickers. We don't need them. We don't want them. They
are not necessary. Go 'way. Shoo.
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