Opinion: Longer format, better coverage

At the onset of the television age, most Americans remember Walter Cronkite as the go-to guy when it came to getting the real scoop on what was happening in the news. Ending each show with, “And that’s the way it is …” Cronkite made CBS News No. 1in its time slot.

Numerous television reporters of that age got their start in newspapers, then went on to radio and had a wide range of diverse experiences before they came to television, including many from the world war.

Contrast this with today’s news readers.

The first real news stars I remember, when I started to pay attention to news, were Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. They were on NBC from late October 1956 to late July 1970, and the program ran for 15 minutes until September 1963, when it expanded to 30 minutes. Thinking back, I find it hard to believe that the Huntley/Brinkley News ran for 15 minutes. Imagine that -- a news program that ran for 15 minutes.

In 1980, when CNN came on line as a 24-hour cable news channel, I thought that NEWS had finally arrived. With 24 hours to cover the news, reporters could delve into the details of stories that prior to that time they had to cover in a few minutes.

But after having watched CNN for a number of years, it dawned on me that they reported the news in 15 minutes, had an hour or two of opinion from “analysts” and then re-ran the same 15 minutes of news.

Chet and David would be right at home.

One notable exception to television’s vast wasteland of pseudo news was William F. Buckley’s “Firing Line.” This hour-long interview program with a single guest that covered topics of the day was an example of what Public Television should have stayed with. Brian Lamb’s “Booknotes” and “Q&A” on CSPAN was another bright spot.

These extended interview format shows are being replicated on a variety of platforms by so-called podcasters. These content creators, with interview formats that can run as long as three hours, include guests as widely diverse as Tulsi Gabbard, former U.S. Congresswoman, and NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

The format assures in-depth coverage of the subject under discussion, and the viewer has a much more varied understanding of the issue. We need more of this.

“Good night, Chet.” “Good night, David.”

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

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