TV newsreaders- then and now!

Over the decades, there is a sea change in all spheres- none more so than in the TV newsreaders. Newsreaders have got a complete makeover, unrecognizable, when compared to their predecessors. News has stayed much the same, whether it be the vagaries of politics, the weather or Cricket! It is the presentation that has changed.

Back in the good-old days, newsreaders were staid personalities. Nothing shook them, whether it be India winning the world cup or a devastating calamity. They read both with the same dead-pan expression. They were truly yogis who maintained that equanimity in all tumultuous situations!

Occasionally, house flies flew about the TV studio and settled on the newsreader’s nose. The fly did his best to provoke the newsreader, flitting from nostril to nostril. But not one twitch from the newsreader! Finally, it was the fly that gave up and flew away!

Newsreaders had a fan following. We admired their flair and poise, their voice and enunciation. The viewer observed subtle skills. In the absence of a tele-prompter, the newsreader could look the viewer in the eye and reel off sentence after sentence, not once glancing at his notes.  

TV news was an “also ran”- a quiet, 15-minute program that brought the day to a close.  The drone of the newsreader lulled you to a good night’s sleep! Those were simple days.

Contrast this with today’s hype and hoopla! The 15-minute news is now stretched to a channel of its own, that runs through the day and night, 24 x 7. The monotone voice will not work anymore. Today’s news anchors are complete showmen- theatrical and loud, dramatic, and opinionated! How else can you capture the viewer’s attention?

Factual news is now “interpreted”- with a melodramatic twist on each channel. There is breaking news and more breaking news! For any topic, the news anchor gathers bullies from opposing camps and pits them against each other in a verbal duel.  The result is total mayhem. It is a street brawl as the participants bay for each other’s blood- rolling up the sleeves, knotting up the lungi, slapping the thighs and spitting on the palms! The decibel levels shoot up, to outshout the other in the ensuing slugfest.

The saving grace is that the participants are all virtual. Had they been in the same studio, it would have come down to blows and fisticuffs. The viewer’s primitive instincts are stoked. Reclining on the sofa, he is like a Roman Emperor salivating over a gladiatorial fight to the finish.

Of course, you cannot blame the news anchors. They will swear that the public wants just this- a Dirty Picture, where entertainment, entertainment, entertainment rules the roost.

Meanwhile, what about news?