17 replies to this topic

[Coopershawk]

Anyone remember this show? I saw a version of it tonight on Shaw channel 12 CTV News at 5. Louise Hartland regularly stumbled over words, followed by Yvonne Raymond, Mira Laurence and Brittany King. It was like watching a BCIT practicum with first year students! C'mon CTV...you can do better! Joe Perkins does a good job but he is becoming as transient as Hudson Mack.

[theboss]

Unfortunately this seems to be a problem with many media outlets. The standard just isn't good enough and most local news broadcasts are ripe with goofs and stumbles. Perkins and Johnson do a decent job, but a lot of the fill-in staff are close to 'boom goes the dynamite" territory. Brittany King seems fine on the radio but she's very stiff in front of the camera. Oh well, at least their blunders provide entertainment. 

[Coopershawk]

So true. CFAX and CKNW also appear to have dropped their standards to an all time low.

[AllseeingEye]

I have no insight into current on air (radio, TV) media practices but I do know back in the day when my dad was in both mediums from 1956-77, it was not uncommon for both radio (especially) and TV to have behind the scenes meetings with the on-air personalities specifically geared to critiquing their performances and reviewing things like voice intonation & inflection, elocution, pronunciation and even spelling in the case of notes to be read on air. I have a binder from CJVI from the late 1950's full of such meeting minutes as well as a similar notebook from CHEK circa ~ 1963. Quite fascinating reading in their own fashion with more than a few laughs viewed from today's social standards.

 

I tend to agree though the standard today, especially at CHEK, is generally poor. I continue to be amazed when street or other local geographic sites are mispronounced, sometimes routinely. Of course back in the day CHEK was not employee-owned and certainly did not have the budget constraints that must be part of today's operation. I doubt "grammar lessons" are a present day budget item.....

Edited by AllseeingEye, 25 August 2014 - 08:11 AM.

[Coopershawk]

Thanks ASE...as you said, those binders represent a totally different era. It's too bad that many young radio and TV personalities have lost that professional approach that your dad and others brought to the table. Oh well, times change I guess, and not necessarily for the better in this example.

[http]

Pronunciation is serious business in the news.  The CBC's venerable Russ Germain (RIP) once said to his colleagues, "If you can't get the name right, what else are you getting wrong?"

[AllseeingEye]

Thanks ASE...as you said, those binders represent a totally different era. It's too bad that many young radio and TV personalities have lost that professional approach that your dad and others brought to the table. Oh well, times change I guess, and not necessarily for the better in this example.

The best notes have to be from a meeting in the fall of 1958 when the GM at CJVI says to both my dad and one of the other reporters:

 

"........X and Y remember when reading the advertisements during the newscast to speak clearly and to focus on both your tone and inflection: the majority of our listeners between 1-3 pm are women who are also consumers of the sponsor's product.....women trust a confident-sounding male voice and as a consequence are more likely to buy more! They're happy; the sponsor is happy; I'm happy!"

 

Pure gold.

[Coopershawk]

Pure gold it is! I remember hearing some advice apparently Frosty Forst gave to new BCIT grads..."Lift it off the page...make it sound like you're not reading a script"! 

[AllseeingEye]

Pure gold it is! I remember hearing some advice apparently Frosty Forst gave to new BCIT grads..."Lift it off the page...make it sound like you're not reading a script"! 

Ah Mr. Forst.....toss up between him and Phil Till in terms of which is my favorite BC broadcaster from the past 20+ years. They were/are both great.

 

At my dad's service in 2012 I had a great huddle with several ex-BCTV-Global-CHEK personalities who showed up including Rick Norris who was the master switch/controller first at CHEK and later spent many years at CHAN-BCTV-Global before retiring just in the last 5-6 years. He and other technicians literally used to babysit me in the mid-60's when dad was doing his show and had to punt me up into the control room. I have very fond memories of that time. Rick mentioned that Rob(ert) Malcolm was one of best, most prepared and professional newsreaders he was ever associated with.

[LJ]

I loved Rob Malcom, he was a great newsreader, and the interaction between him and John the sports guy was great.

[AllseeingEye]

I loved Rob Malcom, he was a great newsreader, and the interaction between him and John the sports guy was great.

Agree and that would be John McKeachie LJ. Long time BCTV-Global sportscaster. He used to spend countless hours flirting on air with Pam Martin which of course got him nowhere, lol. I used to tease him to no end on that. Today McKeach is a consultant working in the financial services industry in Vancouver. Financial services, real estate and travel seem to be the 3 main areas old media biz types go once the public glory ends. Obviously name recognition helps in all those niches....

[LJ]

Agree and that would be John McKeachie LJ. Long time BCTV-Global sportscaster. He used to spend countless hours flirting on air with Pam Martin which of course got him nowhere, lol. I used to tease him to no end on that. Today McKeach is a consultant working in the financial services industry in Vancouver. Financial services, real estate and travel seem to be the 3 main areas old media biz types go once the public glory ends. Obviously name recognition helps in all those niches....

That's it. Rob Malcolm's dad lived in the same apartment building that I did in Coquitlam and so I got to know Rob a little bit when he came for visits. Actually invited me to a party that Pam was at. Ah the glory days.

[Holden West]

I think you guys are either too young or you have selective memories.

 

I remember a lot more screw-ups in the 70s and 80s. Local and Seattle newscasters would cry at sad stories or they would lose it and wouldn't stop laughing at some items. It would happen all the time. I remember one Seattle anchor just stared at the camera--I guess the TelePrompter malfunctioned or went blank--for at least ten solid seconds. That's an eternity on air. Eventually you could hear a producer whisper from off-stage, "Hattie!  Say something!!" But she just remained frozen like a deer in the headlights. They went to commercial and ended the program without the traditional sign-off, I guess she was so humilated.

[AllseeingEye]

H-W if I were a betting man   I would bet Coopershawk and I are both considerably older than you for starters, and I will confidently state that I for one certainly do not have a selective memory. I was practically brought up as kid in the electronic media biz in Victoria and Vancouver and recall the industry quite vividly up to age 18, particularly with respect to the TV landscape.

 

I maintain my assertion re: CHEK (especially) that - while I am quite aware their financial model and employee-owned circumstances are very different and doubtless gives them very little latitude in terms of budget "extras" - overall, in comparison, today's variant does not measure up particularly well, IMO. Although I have no doubt the staff does the best they can with the finite $ resources they are forced to work with, I routinely see anchor's struggle with basic pronunciation issues relative to local street or other geographic features. The sports commentary is especially average to poor with player names almost routinely butchered (that happened again last week regarding a well known MLB player). "Back in the old days" that rarely if ever happened and if it did then there was much behind the scenes activity expressly designed to address it. And if that did not work then that individual simply did not make the cut and was out of a job.

 

I won't name names although in terms of handing out an "atta girl" Astrid Braunschmitt to name one local TV personality is good. She's interviewed me a couple of times and I am always impressed with her manner and professionalism. I can't comment on the Seattle media scene and I am unsure about the reference to "the 80's" but those are just incidental points.

[Holden West]

I won't argue that pronunciation isn't drilled anymore and that standards have slipped. You are likely correct, and the typos in newspapers bear this out--mid level editors simply don't exist any more.

 

What I remember 30+ years ago is specifically the loss of emotional control, for instance a newscaster of yore would see a double entendre in a name and collapse in a fit of uncontrollable laughter that would spread to the rest of the crew until they cut to commercial. It was fun to watch at the time but I can't recall seeing it happen locally for years. The closest I remember is Andrew Johnson's 'canoodling' gaffe but that's not the same type of thing. Another thing I remember is seeing way more technical screwups and glitches back then. I guess technology has improved so that audio losses, dead mics, blank screens and cameras pointing in the wrong direction are virtually a thing of the past.

 

Also, I remember as a young child watching TV and the screen went blank and a voice came on saying "Please stand by" and I took it literally: I got up and walked toward the TV and stood there thinking it would help.

[AllseeingEye]

I won't argue that pronunciation isn't drilled anymore and that standards have slipped. You are likely correct, and the typos in newspapers bear this out--mid level editors simply don't exist any more.

 

What I remember 30+ years ago is specifically the loss of emotional control, for instance a newscaster of yore would see a double entendre in a name and collapse in a fit of uncontrollable laughter that would spread to the rest of the crew until they cut to commercial. It was fun to watch at the time but I can't recall seeing it happen locally for years. The closest I remember is Andrew Johnson's 'canoodling' gaffe but that's not the same type of thing. Another thing I remember is seeing way more technical screwups and glitches back then. I guess technology has improved so that audio losses, dead mics, blank screens and cameras pointing in the wrong direction are virtually a thing of the past.

 

Also, I remember as a young child watching TV and the screen went blank and a voice came on saying "Please stand by" and I took it literally: I got up and walked toward the TV and stood there thinking it would help.

Yep....and don't get me started on the T-C! CHEK has issues but they pale into insignificance compared to the local daily. Ugh.

[Mike K.]

Legendary screw-ups are alive and well, I can assure you.

 

Gobble gobble

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYfDnc42wog

[Mike K.]

I had the chance to catch the 6PM CTV newscast today and yikes, there were indeed several hiccups (so far).