TV News suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome. Today's coverage of Heath Ledger's death is a prime reminder.
Shortly after 17:00 (aka 5:00 p.m.) ET, I switched on the TV to see what the U.S. financial markets had done in light of the precipitous overnight drop in Asia.
Instead I got uninterrupted (well, interrupted by commercials but not by news), fatigue-inducing coverage of Ledger's death.
Ledger was a talented actor and his death is unfortunate and untimely. But not worthy of hijacking other news of the day with far greater impact on viewers' lives.
As with most breaking stories,
little information was available. Found dead on bed surrounded by pills. In addition little new information would be forthcoming because a) tests for cause would need to be performed, and b) police aren't going to say much early in an investigation.
So news anchors are left trying to fill air time when they have nothing newsworthy to say. The high point of one broadcast was the anchor commenting, "what you're seeing now is new live footage." And what was that footage? Video of the pack of other camera crews filming the apartment house entrance. Not exactly gripping or informative!
Reminds me of the comment by one of the greatest evening news anchors, David Brinkley: The one function that TV News performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were."
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