Re: News Radio & Ethics

[Shawn Mamros <mamros@MIT.EDU>]

Garrett wrote:
><<On Tue, 28 Mar 2000 09:41:20 -0500, "Chris Beckwith" <beckwith@ime.net> said:
>> Admittedly, the first time I heard a midday anchor on WBZ voicing a
>> spot it was disconcerting, but I've since become habituated to it.
>
>You'll note that Deb Lawler does all of the anchor reads on the
>morning news -- G.L. doesn't do them.

Also, I believe most (if not all) of the BZ news anchors who do read
ads precede them with, "The following is a commercial message"...

Going back to the "golden age" of radio, there were many announcers
who read both news and commercials.  Those announcers probably didn't
think of themselves as journalists, which is probably where the
distinction lies.

(I remember reading of one well-known radio announcer from Pittsburgh
whose show was sponsored by a bacon company.  He'd read the spot,
complete with sound effects of bacon frying, then would say, "Now
let's see what's cooking in the news"... unfortunately, one day
he apparently hadn't pre-read the news copy, which led off with a
story of a tragic school fire...  May sound like an urban legend,
but it was the person who wrote the news copy for the announcer who
related that story, so I believe it's authentic...)

-Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros@mit.edu