News of a Nation

In the modern age of technology, the individual is able to receive news of around the nation or the world from various sources. Since stations; such as NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX, are distinct broadcast stations, some may have different techniques of presenting their stories.
Some broadcast stations, such as NBC, use the words “pierce” and “wail of sirens” to set the tone of the story to evoke emotions from viewers at home. Broadcast stations, like CBS, use visuals and interviews to give a clearer understanding of what happened and how it happened.
However, some stations, like FOX tend to give viewers a goofy and simply non-serious report on events and incidents that occur in the nation. Then there are stations, like ABC, who simply deliver the news clearly and directly to viewers at home. News stations around the nation have different methods of delivering their news, although some of them are less beneficial than others. During NBC’s Nightly News, with Brian Williams, the Pentagon correspondant, Jim Miklaszewski, emphasizes the implications the Navy yard shooting had in the four mile radius of the incident. He states, “... nearby schools were locked down, highways shut down, the Capital closed and the Nationals game postponed.” The emphasis of these implications the shooting had on the public shows the intense and immediate fear that struck throughout Washington D.C. The emphasis constantly hits the reader with the consequences of the shooting and it allows the viewer to realize the seriousness and the gravity the incident has had on people close to the capital and national security as well.
However, other news stations lack the ability to convey the seriousness of a news story to the public. FOX, for example, lacks that ability. The anchors and reporters tend to deviate from the topic, even if it’s serious, and begin to make funny remarks and jokes. In other words, they “goof off” on the job. It creates that sense of non-seriousness, in which the viewer may switch the channel to watch another news station that is, and sounds, reliable. On the other hand, CBS sets the tone of the story to give it that sense of seriousness the story needs so that it attracts attention from the viewers. For example, at the beginning of CBS Nightly News, with Scott Pelley, he begins the broadcast with this: “For the third time in just over a year, we are beginning this broadcast with a deadly mass shooting in this country.” The words “deadly mass shooting” allow the reader to infer that people have certainly lost their lives, therefore creating a depressing tone for the viewer. The fact that it is the third time that something like this has happened in a time span of about one year, is depressing, because it means that many lives have been lost during the year and this incident only adds to it. That depressing tone is what attracts viewers to crave more information on the incident.
Unlike CBS, ABC doesn’t develop a tone, but rather delivers the news clearly and directly. They are serious and informative when it comes to telling the public what is happening in the nation. They give animations and audio recordings help make the story clearer and understandable for the viewer and it gives the public an idea of the fear or happiness of the people involved in the story. They give a backstory, which is sufficient to let people know what has happened, where it occurred, and what were the consequences, before exploring the topic in depth. When they do explore the topic, they answer questions such as: what was the motive of his or her actions or how did this incident take place.
Each and every news broadcast station in the nation has its own distinct method of delivering national news to the public. Words that evoke emotion serve as a way to attract viewers’ attention to the story presented, but even so, some news stations fail to do so. Audio and visuals allow the viewer to acquire a better understanding of the story and a better idea of what happened during that event or incident.