Remember when "Breaking News" was really "Breaking News?"

[monmouth]

I know times have changed and one has to go with the flow. However, I was thinking back to those early days of television when all we had was ABC, CBS and NBC. Daytime TV consisted of game shows and soaps. They were new and just as addictive then as they are to some now. I remember rushing to get my kids in for their nap so I could watch "As The World Turns", "All My Children" and so on. You knew the TV Guide by heart and what shows were on what days and what times.

When "Breaking News" was flashed across the screen you stopped. I mean stopped cold, whether in your den, living room or downtown in the shopping district where television stores showed their wares in the window. "Breaking News" was what it really said it was. This was to be paid attention to. No flashing graphics or background gymnastics. Edward R. Murrow or perhaps Walter Cronkite or David Brinkley or Chet Huntley were going to deliver an important message and you needed to pay attention.

"Breaking News" means just about nothing to me these days. Tiger didn't make the cut? Paris broke a nail or some other drivel that is just not "Breaking News" to me. If it wasn't for the computer, specifically DU I swear I really wouldn't know what was going on in the world. I have become inured and that isn't good. Just my rant for the day on the lousy media and the great disservice they do us all.

[Robb]

1. Well said. nt

[dchill]

2. Barely.

But I'm 58.

:)

[monmouth]

18. Oh, your a young'un...LOL

[dchill]

23. Oh... Git offa my lawn!

:hi:

[beyurslf]

3. Exactly. Breaking news was something that would be remembered later.

Now it is just some annoying piece of gossip garbage.

[damntexdem]

4. Breaking news is now the action that the media perpetrates on the news.

As a result, our news is very, very broken.

[cbdo2007]

5. Our local news in the mornings is even worse - basically anything that happened between

3-6AM is "BREAKING NEWS!!!"

Example from a few weeks ago, "Breaking News this morning, there's a van on the side of the highway with a flat tire. One of the Eastbound lanes is closed and has been for 45 minutes. Again, this is Breaking News just in to our newsroom, we'll update you when more information becomes available." I'm paraphrasing but it WAS a van with a flat tire.

[rocktivity]

6. I was in college when Squeaky Fromme went after Gerald Ford

A soap opera I was watching was interruped. As the report ended, someone entered the lounge and said, "What's going on?" I said, "Somebody pointed a gun at the president, but they grabbed her, nothing happened, and he's okay." The student said, "No--what's happening on the soap opera?"

:headbang:
rocktivity

[monmouth]

11. OMG. I don't know whether to chuckle or feel badly....LOL...n/t

[Scuba]

7. Breaking News: Paris Hilton flashed...

... Paris Hilton, the poster child for the estate tax

[alphafemale]

8. The phrase "Breaking News" used to make my blood run cold

Nowadays, CNN schedules it at :37 minutes after the hour.

When they interrupt non-news programming for something you always know it's bad though.

[political_Dem]

9. Thanks to turning broadcast and cable news into entertainment, "Breaking News" has lost its meaning.

The old style of hardworking, middle-class anchors and reporters is over. Now we have over-paid, underwhelming, empty-headed, botoxed info-bots only reporting what their handlers tell them to. :(

That's why it is best to go to alternative news sources now.

[gratuitous]

10. I'd read your long-ass post, but . . .

Apparently somebody I don't know just did something I don't care about, and the teevee is jumping up and down to get my attention. Excuse me.

[monmouth]

12. Hahaha. I know what you mean, hope it's newsworthy...n/t

[pinboy3niner]

13. AND Breaking News now lasts for hours

The same story reported as "Breaking" at 8 AM is still reported as "Breaking" at 1 PM.

[ConcernedCanuk]

14. USA STOPS ALL IT'S WORLD-WIDE AGGRESSION

.
.
.

THAT would be "breaking news"

as in

it would be breaking the US capitalist/military complexes heart/pocketbooks . . .

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. Doesn't make much sense on 24h cable channels.

There's no regular programing to break into.

[SoCalDem]

16. Because they have re-formatted news, and packaged it into "shows"

people are used to the fact that whatever is on the early AM "shows" will just be tweaked throughout the day by all the other "shows", and rehashed ad nauseum, so ther only choice is which "team" they want to watch for their own peculiar slant on the story, as it evolves.

Occasionally something "new" will cross the wire during the day, having occurred after the daily "news scripts" have been written for the on-air-prompter-readers.

The only way to grab attention of people who have been hearing about the same stuff for hours (as interpreted by whomever is filling the chair at the moment), so it has to be very colorful and animated to catch their attention.

The prompter readers are usually so flummoxed when they have to go off script, so of course the "breaking news" banners have to also be repeated, until someone manages to tell the new information with some coherence.

[Stinky The Clown]

17. Kickey-Reccy

[pipi_k]

19. Someone else upthread said it best...

I, too, remember when the phrase "Breaking News" made the hair on my arms stand up and my stomach tighten up.

Now it can mean anything from a car chase in California to something that's been "breaking news" for five hours already.

[Jkid]

20. Breaking news is a joke in America.

These days, breaking news consists of crime, celebrity fiascos, and minor disasters. Nothing majorly important in politics or government or something that effects the nation or world. If they persists in that mentality, why not we abolish the words "Breaking News" and be done with it?

[Jazzgirl]

21. I recall a few weeks ago making the mistake of turning CNN on.

They had Breaking News!! on talking about Newt Gingrich said something nasty about Obama. I thought then there was nothing breaking about Newty poot's "opinion" on Obama and how low "news" had fallen. It is quite pitiful. See...it was so unimportant and insignificant that I can't even remember what newty poot was complaining about. They talked about it for 15 minutes!!!

[Speck Tater]

22. "Breaking News" is a relative term.

Back when George Washington was president breaking news was any news from Europe that was less than three months old.