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'AFTER HOURS' by John Morley
T V NEWS, AFTER EMOTIONS, NOT MINDS
T V News is a popular, dynamic force in our society. It has drama, shock, clout,
excitement. It costs nothing and is easy to watch from your easy chair. It is also
convenient, leaving both hands free to sip a drink and munch a snack.
It carries more drama then the most expert writer of prose showing war, killing,
fires, earthquakes, accidents, police shoot-outs in sound and color. And its all
presented by young, handsome personalities who read their scripts well and almost
throw kisses at you from the screen. Nothing wrong with that?
But there is. As a veteran reporter here and abroad, I like T V News only up to a
point. The point where news becomes show-business and is after the emotions.
Van Gordon Sauter, President, CBS News, confirmed this reaction in Esquire Magazine
recently. He wrote: " The kind of thing we're looking for in our T V News is some-
thing that evokes an emotional response. When I go back to the Control Room, I tell
them, goddam it we've got to touch people. A lot of stories have an inherent drama,
but others have to be done in a way that will bring out an emotional response in
our viewers. "
" Emotional response", " reach out and touch people ", " done in a way ", meaning
doctor-it-up when emotion doesn't exist? This is not news. Its show-business,
group encounter sessions, psychodrama, intimidation and propaganda.
Intentionally eliciting emotional response is a legitimate function of the T V
Soap Operas, the opera, movies, theatre, novels, sports and political speeches.
But journalism, reporting? Never. Manipulating minds and hearts belongs to the
editorial page, or editorial comments on T V. If journalism becomes a quest for
emotional effect, than reporting becomes manipulation. The pursuit of emotional
responses involves editorial judgements. These do not belong in a news program.
The T V news camera has an important part to play in portraying news. But it be-
comes deficient when it is used, for the most part, not to transmit information,
but to convey scenes with the greatest emotional effect. Scenes, of course, can be
informative. But its one thing for emotional effect to be a consequence of reporting
and something else for an emotional response to be the aim of reporting.
Given the T V camera's capacities and T V News time limitation 22 minutes out of
a 30 minute newscast, there is a temptation to make the most of the emotional wallop
on every one of the 22 minutes. And that leaves out important news that do not have
emotional clout.
T V News has an important role to play, so long as it reports significant news
and let the emotional response remain where it belongs in = show-business
T V News has no equal in reporting exciting events here and abroad. It is a mi-
racle of our time. And it can be used to inform dramatically and well.
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"ocrText": "'AFTER HOURS' by John Morley\nT V NEWS, AFTER EMOTIONS, NOT MINDS\nT V News is a popular, dynamic force in our society. It has drama, shock, clout,\nexcitement. It costs nothing and is easy to watch from your easy chair. It is also\nconvenient, leaving both hands free to sip a drink and munch a snack.\nIt carries more drama then the most expert writer of prose showing war, killing,\nfires, earthquakes, accidents, police shoot-outs in sound and color. And its all\npresented by young, handsome personalities who read their scripts well and almost\nthrow kisses at you from the screen. Nothing wrong with that?\nBut there is. As a veteran reporter here and abroad, I like T V News only up to a\npoint. The point where news becomes show-business and is after the emotions.\nVan Gordon Sauter, President, CBS News, confirmed this reaction in Esquire Magazine\nrecently. He wrote: \" The kind of thing we're looking for in our T V News is some-\nthing that evokes an emotional response. When I go back to the Control Room, I tell\nthem, goddam it we've got to touch people. A lot of stories have an inherent drama,\nbut others have to be done in a way that will bring out an emotional response in\nour viewers. \"\n\" Emotional response\", \" reach out and touch people \", \" done in a way \", meaning\ndoctor-it-up when emotion doesn't exist? This is not news. Its show-business,\ngroup encounter sessions, psychodrama, intimidation and propaganda.\nIntentionally eliciting emotional response is a legitimate function of the T V\nSoap Operas, the opera, movies, theatre, novels, sports and political speeches.\nBut journalism, reporting? Never. Manipulating minds and hearts belongs to the\neditorial page, or editorial comments on T V. If journalism becomes a quest for\nemotional effect, than reporting becomes manipulation. The pursuit of emotional\nresponses involves editorial judgements. These do not belong in a news program.\nThe T V news camera has an important part to play in portraying news. But it be-\ncomes deficient when it is used, for the most part, not to transmit information,\nbut to convey scenes with the greatest emotional effect. Scenes, of course, can be\ninformative. But its one thing for emotional effect to be a consequence of reporting\nand something else for an emotional response to be the aim of reporting.\nGiven the T V camera's capacities and T V News time limitation 22 minutes out of\na 30 minute newscast, there is a temptation to make the most of the emotional wallop\non every one of the 22 minutes. And that leaves out important news that do not have\nemotional clout.\nT V News has an important role to play, so long as it reports significant news\nand let the emotional response remain where it belongs in = show-business\nT V News has no equal in reporting exciting events here and abroad. It is a mi-\nracle of our time. And it can be used to inform dramatically and well."
}