"Broadcast News"

When Johannes Gutenburg introduced the printing press in the year 1493, text turned from exclusive to accessible. As the years went by, information was passed on from generation to generation through the means of print media. Come 1604, Johann Carolus published the first ever weekly newspaper in Germany entitled, “Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien”. This weekly newspaper covered topics on politics, sports, lifestyle, entertainment, and matters current at that time. Print was a breakthrough in the proliferating ways to access information, but advancements in technology continuously pursued. From attaining the latest news only on print, the rise of television news became another avenue for the public to be updated on the latest topics, events, and trends. On December 7, 1941, moments after the Pearl Harbor was bombed, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) released its initial television news broadcast at 8:45pm with news anchorman, Ray Forrest. This was a quantum leap for the news industry as it transcended from print to television.

In light of television newsrooms, the film “Broadcast News” depicted the on-scene and off-scene happenings of the news industry. The 1987 released film was written and directed by James L. Brooks. It was set in Washington D.C., where each character played a significant role in portraying professionalism, romance, and conflict as co-workers at a National Television Network. The film prominently revolved around the life of Jane Craig, a news-writer producer at the respective Washington television network. Her relationship with a former sportscaster, Tom Grunick, sparked the moment they met at an unsuccessful local broadcasters conference. Grunick proclaimed himself short-sighted and uninformed with the current news. His venture towards becoming the news anchor for Craig’s show was not a stroll along the park, rather a roller coaster that rode him to a wide range of opportunities. Craig and Grunick were assigned to report on the Middle Eastern Crisis, as it was Grunick’s first time to report live in studio, he was heavily dependent on Craig to walk him through the facts as he projected himself unto screen. The 160-second screen time wasn’t easy for Grunick, nor was it a breeze for Craig and the production team. In the end, the whole broadcast was a success. Little did Grunick and the television news crew know that there were extra layers beneath all the off-screen work. With only Craig aware, all the facts and information Craig spoonfed Grunick came from her best friend and often work partner, Aaron Altman.

Another angle of Jane Craig’s life was deeply centered on her best friend, Aaron Altman. For Craig, her relationship with Altman was platonic. A dilemma emerged within Altman’s feelings the moment Tom Grunick speared into Craig’s life with his sharp looks and charming aura. Rubber hit the road when Altman expressed his true feelings for Craig but she left him at a loose end. It was an unrequited love, for Craig’s feelings of intimacy were for Grunick and not Altman.

In retrospect, a case of job loss was at the cost to save 24 million dollars for the television news company. Many of the employees had to get laid-off. Others like Craig and Grunick, had to be transferred to different areas in the world, and the rest together with Altman, were made to stay. This drove relationships to strain because jobs of people were taken away. After this unfortunate event, an unpleasant discovery about Tom Grunick was made. His experience as a news anchor in the television news network wasn’t a breeze. He encountered a variation of news, that ranged from from good to tragic. In his stay at the Washington television news network, one story he covered delved upon the topic of rape. The treatment of the broadcast exhibited his emotion; his face caressed with tears giving the viewers an impression that he was affected by the whole situation and sympathasized with her. After the recession of jobs in the Washington television news network, Altman discovered and soon after informed Craig that Grunick’s tears and emotions were all staged and none of his feelings were authentic. Craig was apalled by the whole act and discontinued her relations with Tom Grunick.

Come the innovation, still there were and still are stark differences from a print newsroom to a television newsroom. In terms of accessibility, print is a lot more widespread versus television, especially in remote areas like the province where electricity is not apparent. Although television is the most genuine, authentic and dramatic type of medium, in order to communicate with an audience through more than just the sense of sight comes at a cost. It takes a lot more money to produce. In television, a whole production team, a studio, and anchors come together and that counts for a lot of money management. In a print newsroom, preparation is also at a slower pace, and there is more leeway to edit information to be released throughout the day as compared to television news network. In television, there is no such thing as a live edit, for what’s said on air is instantly heard by the public.

The film showed me the importance of thinking on your feet. A lot of pressure comes with television news network, when everything is so fast-paced, information still has to be correct because viewers are relying on not only what they see but what they hear too. Every second counts in the news industry, and that was presented in the film, Broadcast News.