Redartz: With all the craziness in our world today, most of us keep tabs on current events; via the tv news, the net, even (yes, still) the newspapers. But how about 'back then'? When you were a kid, did you pay any attention at all to the news? Did you read any of the paper aside from the comics?
When I was little, my folks always tuned in Walter Cronkite with the CBS News. Even to
was the one I turned to all through college.
A few years earlier, I (and every Saturday Morning cartoon viewer) got bits of the news from "In the News", short featurettes during commercial breaks and between shows. Those jounalistic episodes might have helped foment my later thirst for news and analysis.
How about you? Send us all a bulletin; just the facts...
28 comments:
I'll tell you, Red-- you would have been the young news-following exception to the rule in our little rural, mid-western neck of the woods (back in the late 60's/early 70's). Whether local or network-- our eyes would just massively glaze over, and we'd high-tail it out of there to find something more fun to do in the 6:00 to 7:00 hour. Although-- we did have a particularly great meteorologist on one local station who was energetic, informative, passionate and absolutely knew his stuff, who we would scramble back in to watch. He worked with an early version of a dry-erase type map board, and would quickly draw in everything he was talking about with proper meteorological symbols and terminology.
Walter Cronkite was still a familiar face (and voice) of course.
And we were always a newspaper family (South Bend Tribune)--- and still are (Washington Post). We don't have a cable or other television package-- so we've never had cable news programming. . . and I daresay we may be better off for it.
Our casual news source tends to be NPR, and has been for decades. Right there on the good ol' radio. Even on-line I try to stick with print-journalism/newspaper sites, as well as NPR/Reuters and such. Sources that sit near the peak of the Media Bias pyramid. . .
Brave topic, this!
I daresay we're small enough a group where it won't lead to meltdowns--- (I hope I hope I hope!)
HB
I think I became news literate when I was still elementary school age; even though, like HB, I often left the room when my dad turned on the nightly news, I sometimes sat by and listened, or sort of half listened. I often had a comic book in my hands. In our house, by the way, it was always NBC news for some reason (I never probed into it too much, but it may have had something to do with my dad, an immigrant from Eastern Europe, considering Cronkite "too liberal"). So John Chancellor was the personality I initially associated with 'serious news.' And I really liked the In the News shorts on Saturday mornings.
Our family bought a newspaper subscription (initially for the Statesman-Journal, the paper of record for Salem, OR, later for the Portland Oregonian) when I was in about 6th grade, and soon I actually began reading more than just the comics page, mainly the world news and editorial pages.
I don't think I became news literate around the time Peter Jennings was at the London desk for ABC. I remember being fascinated by his accent, which was untraceable. He was Canadian, but that only came out in subtle bursts, and he also tried to be folksy saying things like, "Mizzourah" for Missouri. My own accent at the time was located somewhere between "Fargo" and Lake Wobegon, and now that I've eliminated it, I get a lot of guesses of "vaguely Canadian," probably because Jennings was my model.
Other than that, newspapers were strictly the "Green Sheet" of the local paper, so called because it was a section of green newsprint where the comics were, and thus easy findable among the rest of the sheets. And Albert the Alleycat, a puppet who gave the weather on the local news station, which my cousins thought was the craziest thing when they came into town for a visit.
I didn't pay much attention to the news as a kid ... I guess I figured it was too boring. But a few things stand out: Skylab II coming down (in my childish paranoia, I assumed it would land on me); the Iranian hostage crisis (top story every day, even here in Canada); and Reagan getting shot in 1981 (another story that dominated the news).
HB- good reference to the meteorologists! Sometimes they were the best feature of the news. In my high school days the weatherman for our local Indianapolis station was a certain David Letterman. Wonder what happened to him...
And thanks for mentioning the media bias pyramid. It's a helpful tool to find the most even handed coverage. I follow five news sites daily across the political spectrum, but have the greatest interest in those 'at the top`.
Colin- the BBC is one of my daily news sources. It's good to get the viewpoint of journalists from 'across the pond's with some distance from the events here.
Edo- yes, John Chancellor. Pretty solid anchorman...
Selenarch- interesting comments about Peter Jennings. Never really noticed his accent. Perhaps due to my midwestern upbringing. In journalism class in college we were taught that the big national networks would look for anchors with a midwest accent because it was most generic, and easily understood by listeners across the country.
And Albert the Alleycat sounds excellent!
I always watched the news when I was a kid. I especially enjoyed ITV news bulletins, as they had a weirdly jolly theme tune that sounded a bit like the Tom and Jerry theme tune and the newsreader Reginald Bosanquet would start each broadcast by reading out that day's headlines, with a bong from Big Ben between each headline. Bong! "Inflation hits 8%." Bong! "Politician jailed for fraud." Bong! "War breaks out in Luxembourg." Bong! Oh yes, those were the days.
As for newspapers, we generally read the Daily Express which was a kind of low-grade imitation of The Daily Mail which is famous for not being the most reliable distributor of facts that there is.
Hiya,
I started off reading the news by delivering the early morning paper in my area.
Hey, I needed a source of income to purchase multiple copies of 'IT, The Living Colossus'.
Anyho, the news company thought that their employees should be well versed in current affairs so I started keeping up with them.
Can't say that I understood what was going on but probably had a better grasp than most of the inmates of the village's educational institution.
The best was when I discovered the Editorial page and Art Buchwald. I could never understand why that Jack Anderson fellow wasn't as funny.
Seeya,
pfgavigan
A group that won't cause meltdowns HB? Hold my beer!
Like Steve who Does Comics, I always watched the news as a kid, although no disrespect to Reginald Bosanquet - very impressive how he managed to keep reading the headlines while so obviously smashed - but the theme that hooked me in was the one for a current affairs show called Weekend World.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lSFSi8Dup4
Some Americans of a certain age may recognize that tune!
But for me its always been associated with lengthy discussions and interviews about politics, economics and whatnot early on Sunday afternoons (and then something like Thunderbirds or The Persuaders would be on after).
Not sure why I was so into that stuff... probably the 70s were just an interesting time. The 80s too. It was the 90s that finished off current events for me - boring.
Fortunately (?) the crazies have made something of a come back in the 21st century, so the news is pretty entertaining again. And Brexit hasn't even happened yet!
-sean
Sean, The Weekend World theme tune was indeed awesome. I also loved the positively apocalyptical theme tune to World in Action. Every time it came on, I expected nuclear war to break out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95qLDc7zwYY
Steve DC- checked out that link you posted. Very moody, and so much funky 70's organ!
Pfg- it's laudable that young Pfg took your employer's recommendation to heart and became a news junkie! And glad you mentioned the editorial pages. Art Buchwald was great. Also good reading were Mike Royko out of Chicago, and Paul Harvey. And Earl Wilson, with "Earl's Pearls"...
Sean- you're absolutely right, news so far in the 21st century is far from boring! Of course sometimes we might wish that it were a little less the roller coaster ride that it is...
Yeah, World In Action had a great theme too Steve.
Play it over footage from Threads for maximum apocalyptic effect, and relive the feel of late 70s/dawn of the 80s Sheffield!
-sean
Say, could I give a shout-out to CBC's "As It Happens"?
The talk about news show theme music brought it to mind. 'Cause it has ALWAYS been this wonderfully upbeat, accidentally-retro ('cause it's apparently been the theme for so long that it BECAME retro just by hangin' around--!) jazz/rock steering-wheel thumper. I moved to the DC area in 1984, and even then it was the VERY late-night program on local NPR station WAMU (I think). Like-- the 11:30 or 12:00 a.m. slot, which I would all too often be listening to while driving home from a rehearsal or a show for years & years & years. And no matter how knackered or dismal I might have been feeling, that theme song, with the unfailingly friendly announcer voice-over, ALWAYS ending in an unforgivable pun or similar wordplay, would get me to take a cleansing breath and give me a small. Much like Kai Ryssdal's "MarketPlace", that show always managed to convey a sense of hope and common-sense stability during even the most dire of societal times. It's still going strong, I'm sure, but I'm just not out that late anymore. . .
**PFG-- Man, a MORNING paper route? When you were a kid? Wow-- that is a flippin' tough row to hoe! I had an afternoon (w/ Sunday morning) route for a short while- but it prevented me from doing ANYTHING else school-related, so I happily let it go--
And you're from the upper midwest, too--- what was your solution for delivering in the snow?**
HB
Hiya,
Well HB . . .
I walked through the snow usually carrying thirty five plus pounds of newsprint.
The Sunday edition was worse but my father did me the huge favor of meeting me at several points so I could replenish my bag without trying to get them all in there at once.
I was in a hilly area so bicycles were of no use.
However this did support my comic book habit and several years of college.
Seeya.
pfgavigan
I was a paperboy also, and in the midwest. The Detroit Free Press which was a morning paper so delivery by 6am. Many a frozen finger in those days, I would have to walk the bike if the snow was too deep. Like pfgavigan I had help on most Sundays, a fellow paperboy's dad would drive us thru our routes.
I managed to chug through the snow on my bike for the most part-- since even if the roads weren't plowed to pavement level, there was still a navigable hard-pack surface to ride on. And I had a big, old-style "practical" bike, with baskets on the back. My Dad will still drive me through the second half most winter evenings-- and he pretty much decided to drive me through the Sunday Morning route whether I wanted him to or not.
It was def a good thing he did, though-!
HB
Hey, American ex-paper boys -
Whenever I see paper boys in US films or tv shows they just seem to cycle along the street, throwing the papers at front doors.
Is that accurate? Could you really get away with that?
-sean
Hiya
sean,
I don't know about other routes, but I definitely couldn't. Each customer had a designated place where they wanted their paper. With the weather that we had that was usually between the screen/weather door and the main door.
seeya,
pfg
Heya Sean--
I had a buddy in Elkhart, Indiana whose route had several throw-the-paper-at-the-house stops-- but it was smack in town where you could get away with that. No one else I ever knew could do that, though. That cliche' is really more of a relic from the 40's/50's, I think. And nowadays I don't know if bike-riding paper-carriers are even a thing anymore. It's been about 25 years since we last had a non-adult delivering our paper (Washington Post). I think the routes are much more spread out now since circulation has dropped off so drastically, so it requires someone able to drive a car. And it's a job that an adult can be counted to (usually) do reliably for the extra $$ in tight economic times-- so imagine that's led to a shift in the demographic. . .
(All speculation, of course---)
HB
Hand delivery right to the porch in front of the door. If it was wet out, a plastic bag over the paper.
Right HB, haven't seen a kid deliver a paper in decades. Actually it's a drive by with the paper dropped on the apron of the driveway.
Hiya,
Lets take this thread towards its logical conclusion:
Well HB . . .
I had it rough. I had to get up every morning at half past midnight three hours before the paper went to press so I could be in proper position to catch the two hundred pound bundles that caved in my chest so that they wouldn't fall into the freezing pond scum and dodge the speeding lorry. I would then sling the three hundred pound bag over my shoulders, cross the ice covered bridge, go down into the swamp and deliver a single paper to a desolate farm house. I would take the four hundred pound bag back to the goat path to the bridge and then up the slope of Mount Crumpet while avoiding the frequent avalanches and wild man eating capybaras that were so numerous in southern Wisconsin at the time. Afterwards I would leave a newspaper with each stop on my route, careful to make certain that none of them were stained with my blood, to the various Sherpa tents, while not falling to my death weighted down by my five hundred pound burden.
Good times.
seeya
pfgavigan
PFG--
"These youngsters today. . . they've got it DEAD easy-!"
(GREAT itinerary you've given us here--- 5-stars-- would definitely subscribe to your paper--)
[Carnivorous capybaras, eh? Man, that is indeed a tough row to hoe with a short straw. . . ]
HB
pfg, HB, and Killraven (good luck against the Martians, Kill) - thanks for the response.
It did seem a bit unlikely, but I am shocked to discover Hollywood and TV may not be giving me a completely 100% accurate portrayal of everyday life in the US.
-sean
Hiya,
Well yeah, but the worse bit was trying to get around the pokeman with the over-aggressive masculinity complex. I'd go left, he went left. I'd go right, he went right. I couldn't go under and trying to go overhead was . . .
Well . . . I never got over macho pikachu.
Don't worry, I'll go quietly.
Seeya
pfg
Pfg- Macho Pikachu. I love you guys!
Regarding paper delivery- our son delivered papers back in the 90s. Of course we aided, especially on Sundays. Had a living room full of papers, ad sections, and rubber bands. And when it rained or snowed, I'd have to get up early and drive him around. Must admit I wasn't sorry when he gave up the route...
I've. . . I've never had a pun so pungent that it cleared my sinuses before. . .
. . . Golly!. . .
(Achievement Unlocked, PFG!)
HB
Hiya,
Hey HB
I scents victory . . .
I resisted as long as I could.
The worst I've ever done was on a very stormy night at the airport where I am employed and someone asked " What's the radar," and I replied, "It's a large bowl that goes around in a circle but that's not what's important right now!"
Seeya,
pfg
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