Sunday, October 15, 2006
Media musings
Being a full-time writer is the best thing ever and I'm loving every minute of it, but it's funny - journalism is like magic. When you become a magician and you learn all the tricks, you can't enjoy them any more because you know the secret. It's the same when I watch a documentary or read an article. I'm able to see through all the drama and hype and meaningless hyperbole and see the bare facts - which often aren't very impressive.
That's why you need the drama. Example - I was watching a documentary on catching this crocodile in Burundi, and it involved lots of infra-red footage of the croc checking out the trap. Pretty boring - until you add Jaws music and comments like 'an eye flickers in the distance' (um - yes, I can see that).
The other day I was listening to the showbiz goss on the radio, and it ended with "That's the latest from Hollywood - and remember, we had it first." Er, no - I think the wire services had it first. Every media organisation willing to pay receives those 24/7 - it's hardly an exclusive.
Even reading a basic newspaper article only takes me a couple of seconds now. I scan it, get the info I need, ignore the window dressing ('through their hijabs you could only see their eyes. And their tears') and move on. It certainly saves time.
On the other hand, working in journalism has also given me more of an appreciation of good writing. You can read a sentence and think 'wow - that's pithy', or 'great use of humour'. I read a piece the other day where the writer travelled back in time to his childhood halfway through the article, then returned to the present at the end of it. It was so seamless and well done, the literary equivalent of the screen going misty and an echoey voice saying 'It all seems like yesterday'.
This is why I'm don't like overuse of drama. If it's a good story, you don't need it. If it's crap story, you shouldn't be writing it in the first place. Unfortunately, drama always sells, so lines like the hijab one above (which I didn't make up) will always be on the front page. I guess I'll just maintain my moral superiority from the lofty heights of page 20.
That's why you need the drama. Example - I was watching a documentary on catching this crocodile in Burundi, and it involved lots of infra-red footage of the croc checking out the trap. Pretty boring - until you add Jaws music and comments like 'an eye flickers in the distance' (um - yes, I can see that).
The other day I was listening to the showbiz goss on the radio, and it ended with "That's the latest from Hollywood - and remember, we had it first." Er, no - I think the wire services had it first. Every media organisation willing to pay receives those 24/7 - it's hardly an exclusive.
Even reading a basic newspaper article only takes me a couple of seconds now. I scan it, get the info I need, ignore the window dressing ('through their hijabs you could only see their eyes. And their tears') and move on. It certainly saves time.
On the other hand, working in journalism has also given me more of an appreciation of good writing. You can read a sentence and think 'wow - that's pithy', or 'great use of humour'. I read a piece the other day where the writer travelled back in time to his childhood halfway through the article, then returned to the present at the end of it. It was so seamless and well done, the literary equivalent of the screen going misty and an echoey voice saying 'It all seems like yesterday'.
This is why I'm don't like overuse of drama. If it's a good story, you don't need it. If it's crap story, you shouldn't be writing it in the first place. Unfortunately, drama always sells, so lines like the hijab one above (which I didn't make up) will always be on the front page. I guess I'll just maintain my moral superiority from the lofty heights of page 20.
