How the news should be | atractivoquenobello

[tweetmeme] Objectivity is an endangered species in the news & media world not many channels are ready to fight for. Political favors & friendships, tv and cable rights, investors, financial interests… drive the daily news tendency; and what rots our tv and radio stations has unfortunately in many cases been extended to the internet.

Politically-engaged media companies are way too common these days, or even worst, political parties controlling our news with biased opinions far from reality…. in our so called “democratic” countries. One thing is expressing a tendency opinion (nothing wrong with that) another thing is distorting a fact, which occurs in national TV channels like the Italian, Polish, French or Spanish ones. Probably the most noisy case is that of Berlusconi, who’s been controlling the Italian media for more than a decade… three over-the-air state media networks, three privately held ones, the country’s biggest publisher… some serious damage to free speech.

In France Sarkokzy has also created his very own audiovisual empire placing his friends here and there, dismissing famous presenters like old monarchs (TF1) or favoring “private” companies like Orange and their incipient cable-web monopole. And the list goes on in Spain (Zapatero & friends), Poland….. etc

Few media actors have kept a neutral style over the years and can proudly say to have criticized (or even harder: not criticized at all) every politician regardless of their color. Not even world famous “neutral” channels like the BBC could pass the virginal test without having marked their reputation once or twice.

However there’s an editorial style which some channels like Euronews have popularized in the last few years, where an apolitical and humanized vision has been extremely well accepted by critics and viewers.

One of the best examples is Spanish “La 2 Noticias” a midnight news program who just celebrated their 15^th anniversary 3 days ago.

The most awarded news program in Spanish TV nationally & internationally started in 1994 with a newsreader & a director who had never been in such positions: Fran Llorente & Lorenzo Milá who btw proposed to create a news program without TV presenter “only with images & videos” (a format nowadays used by Euronews).

Such a radical proposal wasn’t accepted but many others were. A news program whose main reports, interviews or news coverage would be about culture, environment, with a clear international approach… all those things which couldn’t find a place in a normal news program.

“La 2 Noticias” has known how to adapt & evolve each day… from those innovative credits to the latest “open camera” (giving the possibility for anyone to record and send their own news), real-time social networking interaction during the news…..etc.

But the main reason why this “original” news format has succeeded is because of their presenters. Lorenzo Milá, Cristina Villanueva, Mara Torres…. a long list of human professionals who wouldn’t mind gesticulating or expressing their feelings when negative news or amazing events took place (we’ve seen a few tears several times haven’t we?).