Today there are literally hundreds of news channels offering us insights into the latest goings on in their region. Some are national channels, some are international and others are local. Through it all, they all contain one common characteristic, they aren’t that interesting. Here are different ways to liven up news channels.
Some of the bigger channels have forgotten that their role as journalists is report the news and not comment on it. These channels follow the belief that Americans don’t need to think for themselves, they will tell us what to think. That is simply unacceptable. We don’t need the commentary on the news; just report it in an unbiased manner.
Anchors can make or break a news show. Stoic and stiff newsreaders who tell us the news rather that talk to us about it can really put the audience off. Instead, adopting a conversational style using words that we all regularly adopt in our discussions would be a great way to liven up news channels.
While news channels have an obligation to report serious, earth shattering stories, it helps to include a few lighthearted ones in the show perhaps towards the end. At least then we are inclined to continue to watch the episode as opposed to getting depressed and opting for change in channel.
Listening to someone talk about a story is boring; watching it unfold on screen is definitely more interesting. One of the ways to liven up news channels is to include some pictures and rather than looping them over again, get more images. Nothing irritates a viewer more than the same video being played over again while someone reports the news in the background.
These days everything is labeled as breaking news. Something as trivial as a lost puppy could be accompanied with a breaking news tag. It almost seems as if news channels are grasping at straws to get us to watch them. Treating us with respect will garner more viewership rather than these devious tactics.
We don’t need such detailed analysis on the weather. It is probably the part of the news show that we all universally resort to channel surfing. Make it short and crisp, no more than 30 seconds as that’s really all we want and need to know about the weather.
Another trend used by some of the less respectable news channels is to sensationalize the news. Tag lines at the bottom of the screen often times contain something captivating like ‘Obama insults Christians’ followed by a question mark - ‘Obama insults Christians?’ The tagline makes us watch the story, which turns out to be nowhere close to anything captivating.
The best way to liven up news channels is to report the news in an unbiased natural manner with appropriate accompanying videos and images. We want to be informed and not manipulated. The sooner news channels realize that, the faster they will improve.
Top image source: examiner.com