Absurdism In James L. Brooks Broadcast News

Within Joyce Nelson’s essay, “TV News: A Structure of Reassurance”, Nelson criticizes the TV news structure that perpetually disconnects current events from their historical background through comforting anchorpeople partnered with advanced technology to create a TV program that minimizes the important implications of current events. Though lacking the amount of information that a print news publication can maintain, the TV news can convey immediate information through technological advances of modern TV equipment to allow the medium to remain competitive. The façade of in-the-moment international information broadcasted directly to viewers enables anchorpeople to maintain the feeling of immediateness, keeping the viewers believing the program

Having served nearly thirty years at CBS News, Mr. Goldberg had earned a reputation as one of the most original writers and thinkers in broadcast journalism. However, when he observed his own industry, he realized the liberal media had completely missed their mission to give honest news. After years of sharing his observations and promoting more balanced reportings, Goldberg soon realized that no one listened because they believed they were doing the right thing. The liberal bias continued, therefore Bernard Goldberg decided to take the situation into his own hands and expose the distortion of the media himself. Goldberg’s breathtaking and shocking best seller book, Bias, reveals the close-mindedness of the news culture and their mission to entertain rather than share facts.

As society advances and the opinions of the general public change several press outlets work to stay up to date with the changing times. However, in an attempt to stay modernized journalists often times sacrifice their integrity to stay favorable in the public eye. These degrading actions, often times sacrifice the true news for more appealing news. Clare Boothe Luce, American journalist and politician, gives a controversial speech to the Women’s National Press Club condemning her female audience. Moreover, as a female addressing an audience of women she is able to give her true opinion and is able to honestly critique her colleagues. She persuades her audience by preparing them for the criticism by reiterating that she is the guest, by praising journalism, and by logically providing reasoning that the journalistic view must change for the good of the general public.

In 1960, American journalist and politician Clare Boothe Luce speaks to journalists at the Women’s National Press Club. She brings up the topic of integrity. Not only does integrity affect journalists, but also the media as a whole. From the beginning, she is straightforward with the audience, she is going to give them hell. She goes on to say that everyone in the audience will be revolted, but should listen through. This prepares the room full of female journalists to feel attacked by her criticisms of the American press. Luce argues that integrity needs to be restored in the media, to do this she appeals to their values while using a defensive tone along with a positive one, while also creating

Her tone moves from a humorous tone to a more serious one. For example, she states the responsibilities of a journalist such as, “On a working, finite level it is the effort to achieve illuminating candor in print and to strip away cant.” A more serious tone is channeled to capitalize the importance of journalism. She also uses strong syntax and anaphora to stress her point, “It is the effort to…” This statement shows the audience as journalists that what they do is important, and it should be remembered.

Now I realise it seems a bit hypocritical of me to attack the media’s representation of a news event when I myself am a part of the hype-generating circus we call mass media. However, the voice of my wise, high-school English teacher echoes in my subconscious that we should always be critical of the texts we consume and conscious of the

In the late 1950s and into the 1960s responsibility played a large role in how news was distributed. Three television networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, were among the outlets with formally trained news anchors who brought forth a sense of unity in the country. But, as the years progressed and people began to develop special interests, the ways news was relayed transformed (Turow, 1997, p. 40).

“The whole problem with news on television comes down to this all the words uttered in an hour of news coverage could be printed on one page of a newspaper”. The average news cast is only twenty-two minutes long,and that's not nearly enough time to cover the days events.In Neil Postman’s essay “The News” Postman talks about the structure,content,and goals and results of a television news cast. The news can be compared to the theatres in terms of its structure. According to Postman, “Music takes us immediately into the realm of the symbolic, a world that is not to be taken literally.”

Additionally, the setting also contributes to a better understanding as to why America is not the greatest country in the world. Given the title of the series that this episode belongs to is “The Newsroom”, one can assume that its purpose is to inform the audience on a topic. The

Murrow continues his speech to elaborate on the power of broadcast journalism. Murrow explains that the television is a platform to educate and inform the public. It is a place for debating and questioning the status quo. Yet, it is being used for entertainment and mundaneness.

 Information  was  bought  and  sold  irrespective  of  its  use  or  meaning,     1   and   this   is   how   the   value   of   news   has   come   to   rely   on   its   novelty,   interest   and   curiosity  and  not  on  its  functionality  (Postman,  1986).       “Television   speaks   in   only   one   persistent   voice   –   the   voice   of   entertainment,”   (Postman,  1986).

Directed by Chris Foster, Black and White and Dead All Over portrays a medium of newspapers aren’t getting to the foundation of stories; instead, they are retelling simple facts that many people may have already heard or can assume. Over many newspapers, a conclusion that the reporting quality has become less and less over the years. In the documentary, the narrator’s use interviews, reporter stories, and considerable facts to let the audience know about the lack of high-quality reporting and maintaining circulation throughout the nation. The narrators are notable journalists: Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman that have dealt with law-breaking and personal sacrifice to obtain a high-quality story for different newspapers.

The belief that journalism is in decline has triggered major alarms, because society needs an informational environment that is easily available to all citizens such as newspapers. There is a large body of journalist that suggests that if television has taken over from the press as our main source of news this may limit our capacity to learn about public affairs; newspapers are believed to be far more effective than television at conveying detailed information necessary to understand complex and detailed issues. There is also widespread concern that if journalism fails as a profession it will not be able to reach large sections of the community, particularly younger or less educated readers. This may reinforce a growing gap among citizens between the information that they receive.

When it comes to finding about the news of what’s going on in our world, we want details and facts. We want the juice of what’s actually going on. The debate between the efficiency of newspapers and TV news, TV news is a lot more effective.

One could say that the news is constituted of an accurate, balanced and timely reportage on the events of the day, or a combination of what will interest and engage the public. But the primary point is that news never just ‘happens': what appears in a bulletin is an attempt to a comprehensible interpretation of selected events, and as such is never wholly value-free. (cf. Barnard 2000: 139-149)