Dear Editor,
It seems the NCN Linden television has gone full swing with the Christianburg Magistrate’s Court. They punctually maintain their rendezvous with every court session, without which no newscast is ever complete, and outline a full and detailed account of all and sundry. Now, there is no denying that there aren’t court proceedings that qualify as newsworthy and of which the public needs to be informed, and certainly many of these will not be palatable, and that is all fair and understandable. But these daily reported court cases which cover over 50-60% of the news-bearing spots don’t show NCN in a good light, particularly when every single matter, no matter how trifling, domestic or private is meticulously recorded and released to the public to be consumed as news. Now from my interaction with members of the community this style from NCN doesn’t sell well; they are of the opinion that many of the televised news reports serve no purpose whatsoever, because they are too negative and there is seldom anything nice about court battles anyway. Can’t NCN embark on a much more meaningful approach? Why can’t they use up such quality time to assiduously garner other newsworthy material; surely there are a fair number of failings around the community/region and uplifting ones too. There are projects; preposterous institutional improprieties; injustices; human interest stories – good/bad, enthralling, inspiring, emotional and sad, etc.
They can even seek out other national and international events that have not been televised by other local stations, or even, just for the sake of Lindeners and Region 10.
There’s so much that can be introduced, so they won’t have to be rushing off to the Christianburg Magistrate’s Court scavenging for trifling, petty and mundane episodes decorated and disseminated as news. Now finally, the last thing I would want to do, but am hesitant about doing, is coming down harshly on the young newscasters who need to be encouraged, but I ask: doesn’t the NCN conduct training sessions – voice modulation, among other things – that are so vital for effectiveness? I think that we need to strive to present the news in a much more commanding and arresting manner. Yes we can! But honestly, Linden definitely needs another TV station – ‘fuh real.’
Yours faithfully,
Frank Fyffe
