Katrina: We Don’t Need The Lower Thirds

Scott Fybush, editor of the trade publication NorthEast Radio Watch, writes into Aaron Barnhart‘s TV Barn:

“The photojournalists on the scene are doing yeoman work under unimaginable conditions. Yet CNN, and to a lesser extent the other cable networks, insists on burying those pictures behind a screen full of redundant, useless or even insulting information. I do not need a brightly-colored banner telling me I’m watching “BREAKING NEWS” or “DEVELOPING STORY” or, as Larry King’s graphics told us last night, “KILLER HURRICANE KATRINA.” Nor do I need text informing me that I’m seeing “GRAPHIC IMAGES FROM NEW ORLEANS CONVENTION CENTER.” What I want to see are those images, not little bits of them behind distracting graphics. I single out CNN because it’s decided to leave its lower-third graphics up nonstop. It’s not only an insult to me as a viewer, it’s an insult to the men and women putting their lives on the line to get these pictures to us.”