The Networks Evening News are Lost

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Yesterday, FTVLive pointed you to the CBS Evening News and how it appeared that local TV news consultants were now advising the network on how to overuse the term “breaking news.”

That story generated a number of emails to FTVLive, pointing to the fact that both ABC and NBC news are not any better.

Here is a sampling of the emails we got:

Hi Scott,

I’m glad you called out CBS News for the glut of “breaking news” that really isn’t, but you do realize, I hope, that NBC and Lester Holt are probably worse offenders. The top 8 or 9 stories tonight (Monday) were “breaking.” Several were headlines this morning; the others did not qualify either. This is a nightly occurrence on NBC, along with them putting “millions” of people in jeopardy every chance they get. “Millions are under threat of severe weather” (translation: it’s gonna rain). That happens just about every day too—sometimes more than once.

I have tuned out local news because of this crap. I tuned out CBS News because I can’t even watch Norah O’Donnell after her plot to get Jeff Glor out. I liked his low-key, personable approach. I switched over to NBC News recently just to catch headlines and it’s intolerable. So, soon the TV will be off completely at dinner time.

Just my two cents as a non-media person.

Is your critique of CBS a joke? Have you EVER watched ABC, where Muir says the word “tonight” no less than 70 times by my count the other day…as every correspondent piece starts with “tonight” when its a days old story, when every story of theirs is “breaking” when it’s not….and when nearly every SINGLE standup of theirs is on Columbus Ave in NYC when its about stories all over the country?

Seriously. CBS is legitimately not 10% as bad.

Obviously, neither David Muir nor whoever writes his scripts has ever covered a trial or taken a law class. Here’s what Muir read as a lead-in to Marcus Moore’s package: “We turn next tonight to dramatic opening arguments in the trial of the former Dallas police officer murdering her neighbor.” Anyone who knows anything about trials knows that attorneys make opening STATEMENTS and closing ARGUMENTS. Come on, ABC. That’s just minor league stuff.