Posted on 01/15/2015 4:08:30 PM PST by SamAdams76
Used to be that breaking news was a major event. You'd be sitting home watching a television show and suddenly the screen would flash "SPECIAL REPORT". At that moment, your heart would just about stop. Then you would be shown a newsroom full of typewriters going clickety clack and men with white shirts and skinny ties with their sleeves rolled up would be dashing back and forth in the background clutching sheaves of paper.
The camera would then slowly pan to a solemn news anchor as the narrator gravely intones "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special news bulletin, now Harry Reasoner..."
By now, dishes are clattering on the kitchen floor as Mom dashes into the living room. Dad is putting down his pipe and newspaper. Little brother and sister are getting the "hush" sign.
Did a president just get shot? Did we just bomb some country? Did a country bomb us? Did Charlie Manson escape from prison? Did Martians land in New Jersey?
All those thoughts and more are rushing through your mind as you wait to hear what kind of earth-shattering event was deemed worthy of interrupting "Laverne & Shirley" or "The Love Boat" in prime time.
Only a handful of times did this happen when I was growing up. A few that I remember was when Nixon announced he was resigning. The Iranian Hostages were getting freed. A plane crashed somewhere. The lights went out in New York City and people were rioting. Elvis Presley died. John Lennon got shot. The Pope got shot.
You pretty much knew something major was up when they flashed that special report across the screen.
But it's not like that anymore. The news networks (FoxNews, CNN, etc.) have ruined the "Special Report" by claiming "Breaking News" pretty much 24/7.
Go ahead. Tune in FoxNews right now and you will likely see that "Breaking News" graphic at the bottom of the screen with scrolling text underneath it.
They ruined it. They ruined it for everybody. We are never going to experience those special heart-stopping moments again.
That all said, please don't be a wiseguy and tag this thread to Breaking News.
equals...
"Look, shiny object!" (for those viewers with lesser spans of atten.... uh, umm, whatever)
.
It’s because our culture is based on Professional Wrestling.
Actually, it makes them feel more important on just reporting the stupid obvious.
TV Guide did a story on the same back in 1965 of “BREAKING NEWS!” The illustration in TV Guide was great! It showed the TV jumping at the people watching as they recoiled in horror, Even the dog!
The report was that LBJ’s flu case was moderating.
The worst “BREAKING NEWS!” I remember was after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when we were on the verge of nuclear war and all on edge, when, on Dec 24, the “BREAKING NEWS!” was NORAD had seen something incoming over the DEW Line. The pucker factor hit! Was it Russian Missiles? WERE WE ALL GONNA DIE! No! It was Santa Claus!
The leftard news media destroyed themselves with 24 hour cable news, where they get stuck on stupid when something mediocre happens.
It’s called infotainment and was described in anticipation by Paddy Chayefsky in the movie Network (see link below). It’s not about discernment or perceptive and intelligent insights, it’s about dumbing down to the impressionable young, the most ignorant generation ever. Everything and everybody caters to them. Witness the inane use of rap and hip hop bumper music (becoming more prevalent day by day) and the utter stupidity and banality of commercials. Sure, we live in an age where more information is available than ever before, but also a time when there are fewer knowledgeable people. This accounts for Obama’s success in large measure, the triumph of style (such as it is) over substance. He’s a marketable product just like a box of Kleenex. And he was sold like a box of Kleenex to a gullible and moronic electorate. A Washington or Jefferson wouldn’t have a chance with the voters of today. Jefferson - “I own that I am no friend of energetic government, it is always oppressive.” Obama - “Hope and Change.” Jefferson - “Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty.” Obama - “You didn’t build that.” Washington - “To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.” Obama- “Welcome to the white house Jay-Z.” Howard Beale (Network) - “We’re in a lot of trouble.” Just so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFvT_qEZJf8
... because when it was a Special Report, they had to interrupt the regularly scheduled program. With Breaking News on the cable channels, they are merely interrupting themselves.
What is this ‘TV’ thing that has everyone worked up so much ?
It is just like in Southern California where a forecast of 1 inch of rain in the area is called a “Storm Watch”
Actually, when it comes to the current administration, professional wrestling has more credibility.
Whenever I am back east visiting my parents, every time I hear thatbstupid Fox News Breaking News alert chime sound effect from the other room, it puts me on edge like they are going to say an airliner just hit a skyscraper. It really pisses me off. I guess I am especially effected becuse I don’t own a television set
It is indeed intended to draw our attention—though mostly it’s not a huge story, and the news itself is actually stale. Nancy (dis)Grace is known for it—and other terms like Alert are used too.
And it’s on the web too..
http://gotnews.com/
BREAKING: #Huckabee’s Willie Horton Problem: He Let Lots of Murderers, Criminals Out
BREAKING: Ted Cruz Was Named World’s Best Debater in ’90s #TedCruzCrimes
BREAKING: ‘ISIS’ #CENTCOM Twitter Hackers Hacked Albuquerque Paper Last Year #CyberCaliphate
BREAKING: CONFIRMED: Colorado Springs #NAACPBombing Is A Hoax #NAACPFirecrackering
Another one is Developing Story and some stations will headline a story and say “Only On... (channel)”
Breaking News! News channels and websites overuse the term Breaking News for everything! Alert! Developing Story! Sun rises! Breaking News! Car accident! Breaking News! Winter is cold! Alert! Stay tuned for more on this developing news as we bring you every detail FIRST and ONLY here!Breaking!!!!
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