TV News: A Graphic Obsession

Recently, KARE (Channel 11) introduced a new graphics package on its newscasts.  This is the same one that's been rolling out on Gannett-owned broadcast TV stations across the country.  But the anchors were so giddy over it, you'd have thought a baby giraffe had been born at the local zoo.

The new graphics can be dissected this way:  The first line tells in Twitter-like fashion the story you're watching right now.  The second line is for what stories are coming up next.  The third line is a news ticker.  All of this takes up the lower third of the TV screen, which means that even on a supersized HDTV you're getting less picture than you paid for.  It also has barely enough room to list the names of the on-camera anchors and reporters, as well as the person being interviewed.  Unless you have strong eyesight.

News tickers are a recent development in local TV.  Cable networks such as CNN, ESPN and CNBC have been using them for years, and with much less fanfare.

WCCO (Channel 4) remains king of the needless graphics on Twin Cities TV.  Every chance they get, they bombard their viewers with slides of upcoming programs and publicity shots of its reporters and anchors in lieu of covering actual news.  They must be the most self-important TV station in Minnesota, and that's no coincidence.

You know why local TV is so graphics-happy, don't you?  It's because station owners and networks such as Gannett and CBS (which owns WCCO) like to save as much money as they possibly can while turning a profit.  They'd rather spend money on graphics designers and IT professionals to operate high-tech character generators (or whatever they're called these days) in neutral facilities, turning your local hometown news into a homogenization of the company's 'brand'.  Hey, it's a lot cheaper than keeping on-air and off-air staff who actually work at the station.  So the next time you hear about layoffs at your local TV station, that's where the money's going.

But we don't want to be too hard on KARE.  They finally added the NBC peacock to its logo, proving to one and all that--after 34 years--they aren't embarrassed to be an NBC affiliate.  Also, KARE finally got rid of its variation of the "We Know What Matters" news theme that they had been using for years in favor of Gannett's own music.  This is one case where homogenization is an improvement.

Of course, the best graphics in the world are no substitute for a well-produced newscast, solid reporting values and a knack for knowing the area you're covering.  Mess with that, and viewers will find someone else who knows what matters.