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FLASHBACK: The Viewer Has The Final Say, But At What Price?
By Elise Meyer, Spring 2001
As television first entered the American frontier, viewers didn't have much choice in what they watched. There were three channels, and at six thirty every night, Americans made a date with their television sets to get the news.
To our generation, this may sound absurd. We are used to having a myriad of channels offering a plethora of shows. We can tune into the news at any time of the day. At first this might sound like a great exercise of one's individual rights, but I wonder whether this freedom has taken a toll on our minds?
"I don't expect someone who is fourteen, fifteen, sixteen or seventeen to become Meet the Press junkies. Hopefully you are sleeping in on Sunday or studying, but that's why God invented VCRs and TiVos." -Tim Russert
After talking with Tim Russert, news anchor and TV journalist for NBC's Meet the Press, a unique diamond in a rough of an increasing number of sensationalized news shows, one might begin to think so.
What must a television station do to attract viewers? Tim Russert says, "You must bring a uniqueness, bring a sense of excellence to your program...you have to offer context, perspective and insight." This sounds reasonable, and this philosophy is what makes Tim Russert and Meet the Press so respected.
Meet the Press is a news-talk show on which mostly well known individuals are invited to discuss and often defend their platform. But displaying journalistic fairness, Meet the Press is the only program on TV that also offers a forum for lesser knowns like Ralph Nader and it was the only major news program to have Harry Brown, the Libertarian candidate, Howard Philips, the candidate from the Constitution Party and John Haeglin of the Natural Law Party as guests.
Clearly the importance of presenting all sides to a controversy and all platforms, is unusual - a rarity as compared to other talky news shows that feature the more outrageous and the shouting from pseudo-news-talking heads.
Making the choice of what airs and what doesn't is an editorial decision, and today, it seems to lean away from the unbiased, the respectable, and objective reporting. Mr. Russert says, "...sometimes (there is) an over emphasis on scandal stories rather than substantive stories. I think it's a constant struggle and debate within journalistic circles to make sure that there is an appropriate balance."
How Meet the Press remains one of the most popular, respected news broadcasts on TV is a mystery in light of the fact that there are many more screamers, interrupters and scandal illustrators on the air. You could say it's Mr. Russert, and I won't argue. His insight, style and intelligence are special and rare. Perhaps it's also the realness, the maturity, the tendency of the show to address all sides of an issue that attracts its viewers.
Americans, especially those of my generation, should not lower standards for news - rather, news coverage standards should be raised. This means watching shows like Meet the Press, watching people like Tim Russert - this, despite the fact that Russert says," I don't expect someone who is fourteen, fifteen, sixteen or seventeen to become Meet the Press junkies. Hopefully you are sleeping in on Sunday or studying, but that's why God invented VCRs and TiVos."
I hope some teenagers become avid watchers of Meet the Press (or at least set their VCRs). For with all the freedom of choice we have, we are always left with the responsibility to make good decisions.
