Going full drama for this one, no otherworldly shenanigans. Well, that is if you don’t consider Television the representation of Evil Incarnate! But yeah, this one is pretty interesting straight-forward look at really what the birth of modern “News” hath wrought upon us, with some darkly comic looks at how fucked our Methods of Primary Information Dissemination actually works. Well, worked. Broadcast News is for suckers, it’s the commentary and showmanship that gets the ratings! And we’ve seen 50 years of fine-tuning to this brain-beast since then.
Aged-out News Anchor Howard Beale is pretty much burnt out. Despite his heyday, he’s anchoring on bottom-wrung UBS-TV in the sad shadow of the major television Networks ABC, NBC and CBS (I hear all those C’s stand for ‘Communist’ btw. Allegedly). But after pretty much hitting rock bottom and getting his 2-week notice, Beale announces he is going to commit suicide live on TV in a week. This sets off an interesting tale as we witness a play of human worth, newsroom integrity and corporate control. It sounds a lot more boringer than it is, really pretty enthralling look as a tired counter-culture turns apathetic, and a feisty new producer Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) who changes the broadcast model with her new take on programming.
Television was the new mass media, kicking newspapers and magazines to the curb. What are those, you ask? Yeah, well, Network Television is going the way of the newspaper soon too, given recent trends. Internet Streamers? Just more fractured new bosses, same as the old bosses. But you do still have that UHF equivalent, the off-channel content creators filling that same void, with niche coverage and uncensored commentary. But here, It’s all about the Glass Teat and the “boredom killing business” this helped spawn. Fantastically done drama, not too many lulls as the politics of ratings and messaging the masses plays out, for those coveted ad dollars and...maybe a little more. The Diana relationship subplot is a little slow, but it really does help establish the surprising shallowness behind the new drive for eyeballs and minds. Dunaway, William Holden, Robert Duvall and Peter Finch as Beale all do a great job here, and seems to be a pretty legit look at the news business. Well, at least partially, from the Control Room aspect. They really don’t listen to what the anchors are saying, just looking at the countdown clock and counting the moments closer to grabbin’ a beer after the show. From what I’ve read.
