Amanpour: Don’t Make News A “Happy Camper War & Disaster Zone Travelogue”

CNN star Christiane Amanpour says CNN Pipeline and its ilk are very practical, but they don’t yet carry the same weight as great TV news. “Why? Because ‘it’s the pictures stupid. And the storytelling.’ Simple as that. Of course there are pictures online, but it’s nowhere near the same as watching a magnificently shot TV news report on a big screen with proper sound quality.”

Her comments come in a Q&A with Virginia Heffernan on NYTimes.com. You have to wonder who she’s referring to in this paragraph:

“I reject and try to hold the line — my line at least — against the inclination by some to turn news reporting into a ‘happy-camper war-and-disaster-zone travelogue.’ I am uncomfortable watching deadly serious places and moments treated as the latest in extreme-adventure playgrounds for your own heroics or Petri dishes for examining your own feelings! Reporters notebooks are great, until they start replacing hard news.”