Kudos to Mark Joyella of mediabistro's TV Newser blog for pointing out CBC News' live coverage of the Ottawa shootings on Wednesday, with the Canadian broadcast relying upon a journalistic approach that was "smart, careful, and absolutely un-American."
Not un-American in a disrespectful way; un-American in that the newscast from Canada avoided all the hyperbole and dramatics that have become standard fare on U.S. cable TV news channels. Led by veteran anchor Peter Mansbridge, CBC sorted through unconfirmed and contradictory information, Joyella wrote, as the Canadian capital buildings remained on lockdown for hours.
Joyella described the nearly surreal experience he had as a viewer:
"As I watched via the network’s live stream in New York, I never heard a second of dramatic music, never saw a full-screen wipe with a catchy graphic like TERROR ON PARLIAMENT HILL, and never, ever heard Mansbridge or any of the CBC’s reporters dip even a toe into the waters of self-promotion.
"Compared that to the American cable news networks, where we’ve come to expect that every prime time newscast will begin with urgent music and BREAKING NEWS -- complete with multiple on-screen reminders that this is BREAKING NEWS of great importance. CBC’s coverage was, well, very Canadian. And to the nervous system of an American observer of TV news, it was decidedly strange to experience.
"Mansbridge, in sharp contrast to the frenetic, breathless delivery we’ve come to expect from American news anchors in times of breaking news (including stories of far less significance than the attacks in Canada), was thoughtful, took his time, and seemed at times to pause, and to consider his words before speaking. Just. Imagine. That.
"... CBC News was soundly beaten by various journalists on Twitter with word the War Memorial soldier had died, but when time came for Mansbridge to bring this sad fact into his coverage, he warned he had “bad news” to report, and then very carefully explained how CBC came to believe this information was correct. It wasn’t loud and urgent. It was quiet and somber. And as such, it felt very, very important. It felt proper."
"... CBC News was soundly beaten by various journalists on Twitter with word the War Memorial soldier had died, but when time came for Mansbridge to bring this sad fact into his coverage, he warned he had “bad news” to report, and then very carefully explained how CBC came to believe this information was correct. It wasn’t loud and urgent. It was quiet and somber. And as such, it felt very, very important. It felt proper."
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