Moose Jaw’s Earl CameronAndHow News Became Entertainment
By Richard Dowson Opinion/Commentary
Many people don’t ‘watch’ News. The attitude, “I know the Strait of Hormuz is closed, but I can’t do anything about it, so why bother.”
Today News is sensationalized to make it entertaining.
Here’s an example. If there was a major vehicle accident on Highway One the news will call it an “horrendous” accident. That’s followed by interviews by people giving their opinion. Who needs the word “horrendous”. It’s used to sensationalize the news. Same as the interviews.
Not all News is sensationalized.
BBC tries to keep a clear head and presents the facts on their TV News-casts. They entertain by providing guests with opinions or assumptions.
The Old Days
News wasn’t always sensationalized for entertainment.
In the ‘old days’ a radio station like Moose Jaw’s CHAB received national the news over a teletype from the Canadian Press. Local stories were added and given to an Announcer to read ‘on air’.
The Announcer read ‘the facts’ from the story. Modifiers like ‘horrendous were not added. The listener determined if the News was good or bad.
Old Newspapers printed the facts. Newspapers had an ‘Editorial Page’ where opinions were presented and sensationalized for entertainment.
Earl Cameron – News Announcer – CHAB Radio and CBC Television
The career of Moose Jaw’s Earl Cameron, a well-known CBC News Announcer in his day, brackets the change in News from ‘just the facts’, to ‘sensationalized entertainment’.
Earl Cameron
Earl Cameron was born in Moose Jaw on June 12, 1915. He got a summer job at CHAB and went on to be a Radio Announcer. He was hired by CBC Radio, Toronto in 1944 as “… reader of the daily CBC National News Bulletin”. (Wikipedia) In 1959 he was made anchor of CBC Television National News and held that job until 1966.
In 1966 CBC Television News followed American news-networks and formatted News from ‘just the facts’ to ‘News as entertainment’. The CBC National News Bulletin was cancelled. Earl was removed and given other work at CBC. He retired in 1976 and died in Barrie, Ontario in January 2005.
Summary
Next time you have the TV News on, make a mental note of the sensationalized stories and ask yourself, “Do I need all this extra stuff?”
Writer Richard Dowson is a retired educator.
He is known for his frequenting local coffee shops and other places seniors gather.
In a previous life he wrote comedy for CHED in Edmonton.
His views may or may not reflect the views of this publication.