Saturday, January 30, 2010

How To Report The News

Oh this is effing brilliant! A must watch for all television reporters. The Guardian's Charlie Brooker, take it away...

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9 comments:

Unknown said...

Charlie Booker is always great. Also check out screenwipe for more hilarious shit

January 30, 2010 at 2:06 AM
Alpha Za said...

It's so funny because its true.

January 30, 2010 at 2:37 AM
Ayza Omar said...

The guy's a genius because he's effectively presented a thesis in under two minutes of all that is wrong with daily TV news reporting.
and this is why:

The 'walky-talky' preamble and animated charts are more gora style than desi. Our newsrooms are usually too busy with their streaking blood-red 'Breaking News!!!' graphics (and sonic-boom sound effects) to bother with anything else. Also, our newsrooms are usually too broke to invest in a qualified graphic designer.

'Lazy and pointless voxpops,' as Brooker so effectively demonstrated with a bunch of his own pointless voxpops, are a Pakistani favorite. Apparently editors don't feel news will sell until they have some randomly picked, ignorant person who is more pre-occupied with personal problems than anything else, say something equivalent to 'duniya gol hay.'

The only common ailment, however, are the 'Dull visual abstractions' and will remain so until 3D graphics becomes as common and easy to use as the Wii.

Touche, Brooker, touche.

January 30, 2010 at 9:02 AM
MSS said...

When i grow up, i want to be Charlie Brooker. Someone introduced me to his column at the guardian a couple of years ago and i have worshipped him since.

Saad, is it screenwipe or screenburn? Also, the person who introduced me to Brooker recently pointed me in the direction of one Chris Morris, who is apparently the man Charlie Brooker wants to be when he grows up. Chris Morris is currently making a documentary about jihadis.

January 30, 2010 at 9:54 AM
Ali said...

Brooker's a genius. UK news reportage often follows this to a tee - especially on "local" issues.

I think VoxPops need to made punishable by law. It's the most patronisingly demotic form of news production.

Hate, hate, hate.

January 30, 2010 at 1:37 PM
wYSe Guy said...

Yeah I noticed this stuff over a decade ago about the formulaic ways western news reports work. You notice these things when you've got your eyes out for ANY segment CNN or BBC International do on Pakistan. When it came to Pakistan, or many dangerous situations they would always end on an annoying formulaic question.

Charlie Brooker was also good as the intro man for one of Adam Curtis's ultra-mini-docs "The Rise and Fall of the Television Journalist"

January 31, 2010 at 12:59 AM
wYSe Guy said...

And MSS - Chris Morris is not making a documentary about Jihadi's - He's made a mockumentary style film, called "Four Lions" with a bunch of bumbling Jihadi's. Here's an excerpt from "Four Lions"

January 31, 2010 at 1:05 AM
Anonymous said...

Hahahahah!! This was just totally brilliant.

January 31, 2010 at 5:00 AM
kona berwalla said...

Oh brilliant. you've opened my mind to something new... i will explore charlie brooker further.

@MSS
love your comment.

January 31, 2010 at 6:29 AM

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