The NY Daily News’ Richard Huff writes today about the ever-increasing use of webcams and Skype as a reporting tool in our local (and national) newscasts:
Cell-phone video, Skype and various other technologies are often pitched as being cutting-edge when, in reality, they absolutely lower the quality of the product. Few will admit that, though… Traditionally, new technology has almost always improved a product. TV news, of course, is bucking that trend.
Of course, the decision is not always an aesthetic one. With cutbacks and staff reductions occurring with increasing frequency, Skype can provide an obvious low-cost alternative for a newscast.
“While technology has improved our ability to gather and report the news with remarkable speed and precision, it is, at the same time, allowing news executives to diminish its quality,” a local correspondent told Huff. “Technology should be making the news better – instead, it’s making it cheaper.”
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