(This article was written for my internship at the Yoair Blog; This article was refined for publishing after I had submitted it as a research paper for a class)
Television has allowed the public to be able to see and hear the news with a new medium aside from radio and newspapers. Due to television, people began to see real-life pictures and videos of events occurring as well as seeing those covering the news in real-time. “... and for the first time the television screen brought us face to face, into immediate contact with those individuals who were shaping the present.”1 The rise in television and television news broadcasts changed how journalists and journalism work were sought after and viewed. The introduction of televised news broadcasts allowed the public to form a relationship with broadcasters and feel like they too were taking part in the coverage of news now that they could see what was going on. Television's introduction created a new platform that is still used in a positively impactful manner in modern times.
It also has been used in a negative way through the exploitation of news. As stated by John F. Kennedy when speaking about the power of radio and television in the hands of those who control those platforms, "It is a tremendous power to do great good or great evil. It can be used to lead or mislead - to educate and illuminate, or to deceive and indoctrinate.”2 Despite being used at times in a deceptive manner, television news still greatly shaped the future for all kinds of news coverage. As television progressed and blossomed, the opening of job opportunities and revenue began to grow. To meet the demands of the new platform, work would be done to alter the style of news coverage for television compared to newspapers and radio.
Television as a new form of Mass Media
Due to the change and rise in popularity of television, radio and newspapers were not as sought after. By the late 1970s millions of Americans owned a television and were tuning into stations that broadcasted news among the other forms of broadcast entertainment available.3 Americans now had the ability to tune into news broadcasts instead of waiting for the newspaper or tuning into a radio station, and they made an added effort to tune into these tv broadcasts. Newspapers and radio broadcasts were serving their purpose to the public by the time the television and its news broadcasts were in full swing. While newspapers and radio broadcasts did not become fads, television provided the added element of live pictures and videos to the table along with existing audio which became intriguing and investment-worthy to the average American.
“Thus in 1950 television news passed from something novel to a medium contending for a full measure of respect and attention on a day-to-day basis.”4 Edward weeks, writer and former editor of Atlantic Monthly AKA The Atlantic, would give a lecture at the University of Georgia in 1951 speaking about 50 years of change in journalism. In this lecture, weeks would provide information on the rise of television and what television news broadcasts would need to do to compete with newspapers and radio, stating “If a telecast is to keep pace with what the camera records, the text must be so simplified, so swift, that there is no time for the larger meaning or the inner interpretation.”5
Transition to Television Broadcasts
Television is still standing the test of time, but before the breakthroughs, journalists and broadcast stations wondered how television news broadcasts would survive long enough without an established revenue source as well as being worthy of airtime. The speed in which technology had been advancing brought the need for change in the techniques, values and practices used by journalists. Journalism and its journalists along with the news itself, in transitioning to television suffered from an identity crisis. The news itself was considered a “necessary interruption”6 from entertainment broadcasts to show the public what they needed to see and be informed on. The fear of showing bias or emotion needed to dissipate for news media to grow under television, “So, whether news organizations like it or not, they have to get involved in ways that were considered unobjective a few years ago.”7
Journalism under television broadcasts would require more skills. The most basic but required skill needed for journalists that carried over to television was an understanding and “knowledge of the news.”8 Former CBS News president Richard Salant highlights what broadcast stations such as CBS News were created for. “We at CBS News believe…our responsibility, our job,...is to provide our viewers and listeners with what they, as individual members of a democratic society need to know rather than provide them with what they are interested in.”18 Television allowed the public to see things they never saw before. Live coverage of events such as the Korean war, Vietnam war, and the civil rights movement allowed Americans to be sooner and better informed. Some point to the ability of viewers to simply change the channel should they not care about the issues ongoing around them. With real live pictures however, it became harder to avoid seeing and hearing about significant ongoing events.
Writing for television
To work for a television station, those looking for work needed to understand the importance and value of visuals, audio, and writing. News shows that provided pictures and footage of what they were covering became favored over those that provided no pictures at all. Once color television became available, this too would be favored over black and white picture. Writers of television news worked to convey the message in the same manner as other news platforms, only they began to work under the impression that they were simply writing for a show. Television writers would need to focus more on clarity so that the message being broadcast would be understood by the audience, and a great deal of focus would be put on the structure of the story in the same way done in storybooks, plays, and movies. The structure of the story played a vital part in the viewer being conveyed by a news story’s subject matter, so writers would work on the climax of a story and the cause and effect so that the story would flow nicely during the broadcast and appeal to the emotions of its audience.
Broadcasting for television
Broadcasters themselves would be at the forefront of every broadcast, and they needed to act in an appropriate and cordial manner to sell the message in the news. The rise of television personalities specifically for news broadcasts allowed newscasters to do things never done by those who covered the news. What made a newscaster so trustworthy and popular was that, for the first time, some newscasters were showing emotions. Viewers could feel and see the shock, sincerity, and professionalism in Walter Cronkite’s breaking news broadcast of President Kennedy’s assassination.9
Showing some form of human emotion gravitated people towards a certain newscaster. “The Newscasters so favored were not always the best informed or the most responsible, but they were almost always those who most effectively managed to project a personality through the tube and who read the news with distinctive style.”10 Although newscasters began to grow a sense of personality, the fear of being looked at as impartial was still present. Newscasters would avoid showing their emotions and their true feelings on camera to keep their audience and viewers happy. Certain stations that targeted liberal or conservative audiences allowed their newscaster to voice their opinions and understanding of situations being covered. “But the doctrine of objectivity too often has been used as an excuse to avoid conscious and rational decisions which are nevertheless made one way or another.”11
Television News Bias
Two studies done surrounding television news bias worked to explain or at least show news bias in its new medium, and this, in turn, led to a more watchful eye on journalism and journalists. To begin, in 1972, Dennis T. Lowry looks at multiple measures of network television news bias via verbal and nonverbal cues. This study, completed in a 53-day span from the end of the Republican national convention and election day in 1972, worked to show bias between three news networks, including CBS, ABC, and NBC, and highlighted their coverage of these events in the 53-day span. The study looked through recorded audio of newscasts from the stations and searched for instances of verbal and nonverbal cues that would insinuate bias.
“The verbal data were not particularly clear-cut on the question of bias for one candidate or the other - … On the other hand, the non-verbal data did show an overall pattern which can be interpreted as a pro McGovern bias in general, but more-so for CBS and NBC than for ABC.”12 The study also implicated the three stations as showing significantly more “anti-Republican judgments than anti-Democratic judgments”13 while simultaneously having a higher rate of coverage of Richard Nixon. “It appears that TV news can be relatively unbiased in terms of verbal content and, at the same time, biased in terms of non-verbal content.”14
Television News Bias continued
A second study, completed by faculty and students of the University of Texas at Austin offers more into nonverbal cues. “We designed an experiment to investigate whether audience members react to nonverbal cues from a newscaster, and if so, what interpretations they give to them.”15 Findings from this study were calculated by running multiple tests focusing on simulated newscasts administered to students at the University.
The tests focused on two separate aspects. First was cued eyebrow raises at the end of delivering a story by the newscaster. Both test groups viewed raising of the eyebrows at the end of a story to be a signal of bias. The results of this study state “raised eyebrows are interpreted as a sign of bias when compared to the lack of such a cue.”16 The second aspect of the study was a cued smile during the presentation of the story. Instances of smiling were used to look for signs of bias by the audience. Participants were unable to distinguish smiling as biased. This was because the stories given to newscasters provided reason to invoke a smile in the newscaster. Regardless of training in finding bias, participants viewed raising of the eyebrows as easier to spot for bias than smiling. From these findings, the trustworthiness of some news stations and newscasters could be scrutinized. What drew in an audience to a station could now be viewed as being swayed by verbal and non-verbal cues. "Furthermore, it suggests that this is a conscious process, and people are not-at least in this one particular area being influenced without their awareness.”17 The amount of coverage a station gives to a particular political group or person might show instances of bias, as well as the personality of a newscaster. It can also be viewed as covering what is popular, or what a station views necessary for the public to see.
Power of the News to Influence the Public
As stated earlier, some worried the altering of facts and footage would worsen the public's attempt to be informed. The practice of misleading an audience or removing information in a story or newscast coverage became under scrutiny. News coverage of the Watts Rebellion (or Watts Riots) amplified the belief that television and radio news positively and negatively impacted the public's reaction to certain situations. In an overall assessment of news media, a proposed statement on news media by the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence would state, “. . .the news media contributes to misunderstanding in the public mind. Indeed, overlooking and oftentimes ignoring the substantive message of dissenters in conflict, news coverage can add to the unrest present.”19 W.J Morlock, former assistant manager of the General Election Company’s Commercial Equipment division in the late 1940’s explained his belief on television’s effects on society. Morlock was well adept and informed on radio as well as film and television technology and its uses. He believed television and radio were playing more of an impact than people knew. Morlock believed in the potential of the platforms for news, specifically radio and television. Morlock explains through 5 different examples the effect of television on societies' social, economic, and educational way of life. These examples included bigger investments into television broadcasts, public acceptance of television, and television broadcasting becoming a profitable business. Two other examples were increased spending by broadcasting stations to better their programming, and an increased request for additional education via television.20 Per Morlock, society’s growing acceptance and intrigue in television as a platform began to alter everyday habits. The pressing need for more televisions and television broadcasts presented better business and journalistic opportunities for news stations. Radio and television would continue to have the potential to provide Americans with many new job opportunities so long as the need for the two existed. Continued belief in television’s potential allowed the platform to become a successful business.
Cultural Significance in Anthropology
Increased interest and viewership in television news broadcasts have benefited journalists with the opening and introduction of new job opportunities. It has also benefited broadcast station companies and its owners by allowing them to find and maintain a source of revenue via television. For the journalists and those involved with news media, whose goal is to have a more informed public, television became that very platform. Television news provided an alternative to radio broadcasts and newspaper reading. Television allows for coverage of stories and events like never before, which benefits the public’s interests, journalists and those who cover the news, and the stations that run the broadcasts. Real pictures and footage of events ongoing in the U.S and around the world provided the public a more immersive experience in becoming informed compared to earlier times when only newspapers and radio existed.
Television news broadcasts have impacted how the average person is able to keep up with relevant information while also allowing news broadcasters to experiment with the television format. While newscasters and new stations worked to limit any showing of biases, on-air broadcasts gave a small window of error before the camera, audio and signal could be cut. Allowing the public to follow along live meant they would see and hear every bit of content on their screen, scripted or unscripted.
Television can and is used to impact how viewers respond to the climate of society in their time. TV news broadcasts have positively impacted the way news is received and assessed, but it can be negatively used to sway the way the public's views, therefore losing some of the public's trust in journalists and the reporting being done. Regardless, television news broadcasts have allowed for news outlets to provide news to certain audiences that want to follow along on their tv sets as well as offer a new medium for journalists to work under.
References
1 Edward, Weeks. “The Years Of Great Awakening For Television.” Address. In Journalism Enters a New Half-Century: Press, Radio, Television and Specialized Publications as Seen through Institutes and Special Occasions at the Henry W. Grady Scholl of Journalism, 1950-51 LII, edited by John E. Drewry, 2nd ed., LII:160–60. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1951.
2John F. Kennedy Speech on Foreign Affairs, Remarks at the Radio and Television News Directors Association Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1959.
3 Needham, Harper, and Steers, Inc., “The Growth of Television in the United States” New York, NY, (1960 to 1980), 1973.
4 CBS News. “A Short Short History of TV News.” Chapter. In Television News Reporting, pp. 9–9. New York: Mc Graw-Hill book company, 1958.
5 Edward, Weeks. “Fifty Years of Change in Journalism” Lecture in Journalism Enters a New Half-Century: Press, Radio, Television and Specialized Publications as Seen through Institutes and Special Occasions at the Henry W. Grady Scholl of Journalism, 1950-51 LII, edited by John E. Drewry, 2nd ed., LII: pp.160–60. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1951.
6 Maury, Green. “Past and Present.” Chapter. In Television News Anatomy and Process, pp. 3–3. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc, 1969.
7 Ben H. Bagdikian, “The Press and Its Crisis of Identity.” Essay. In Mass Media in a Free Society, pp. 6–6. Lawrence, Kansas: edited by. Warren K. Agee, University Press of Kansas, 1971.
8 Maury, Green. “Opportunities and Requirements.” Chapter. In Television News Anatomy and Process, pp. 24–24. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc, 1969.
9 Walter, Cronkite. “JFK Assassination: Cronkite Informs a Shocked Nation.” cbsnews.com. CBS News, November 17, 2013. https://www.cbsnews.com/video/jfk-assassination cronkite-informs-a-shocked-nation/.
10 Maury Green. “Past and Present.” Chapter. In Television News Anatomy and Process, pp. 4-4. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc, 1969.
11 Ben H. Bagdikian, “The Press and Its Crisis of Identity.” Essay. In Mass Media in a Free Society, pp. 6–6. Lawrence, Kansas: edited by. Warren K. Agee, University Press of Kansas, 1971.
12 Dennis T. Lowry, “Multiple Measures of Network TV News Bias in Campaign ’72” (1974) pp. 15
13 Ibid., pp. 12
14 Ibid., Abstract
15 James W Tankard Jr, J Sean McCleneghan, Vijay Ganju, and Eui Bun Lee. “TV News Nonverbal Cues and Television News.” Journal of communication 27, no. 4 (1977): pp. 106–106 16 Ibid., pp. 111
17 Ibid., pp. 111
18 Richard S. Salant, Radio-Television: “Broadcast News: What People Need, Not What They Want." Variety (Archive: 1905-2000), Jan 03, 1979, 195,
http://csulb.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/magazines/radio-television broadcast-news-what-people-need/docview/1401345788/se-2?accountid=10351.
19 National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, Proposed Commission Statement on News Media, 1969.
20 W.J, Morlock. “What is television doing to your future?” Address in Journalism Enters a New Half-Century: Press, Radio, Television and Specialized Publications as Seen through Institutes and Special Occasions at the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism, 1950-51 LII, edited by John E. Drewry, 2nd ed., LII: pp.87-88. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1951.
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