CHITCHAT NEWS

posted by James Reel

There’s a recent trend in NPR newscasts that disturbs me a little, even though there’s nothing inherently wrong with it. Have you noticed that, increasingly, the anchors, instead of switching to recorded items filed by field reporters, are sitting there and interviewing the reporters live? The same information still comes through, but in a subtly different way.

The cynic in me says that they’re just padding for time; the anchor takes five or 10 seconds (a significant period in a four and a half minute newscast) asking a question that wouldn’t need to be asked if the reporter were just delivering the info on his or her own.

The alarmist in me is worried about the apparent influence of cable news channels, which are dominated not by straightforward, factual news reports but by shows in which pundits sit around trading opinions (and often highly uninformed opinions). NPR is beginning to follow suit, with its field reporters cast now as pundits. Yes, they’ve done the research and interviews to prepare for their reports, but why are they being interviewed rather than going directly to experts in the field? Does NPR believe that its audience won’t sit still for a straightforward news item, instead demanding that it be “discussed,” even if the discussion takes only 45 seconds? Come on, guys—save that for long-form shows like Morning Edition and All Things Considered. During the top-of-the-hour news, you need to be making better use of every precious second.