Newscasting: Medium over Tedium

Antennas sprouting from the backs of their heads, huge earphones obviously linking them directly with Big Brother, they clearly dominated last week's Republican Convention—and the men they interviewed knew it. They had no hesitation in cutting off, say, Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooke in mid-thought with an authoritative "Excuse me, there is a signal from the anchor desk." From the Olympus of air-conditioned booths cantilevered above the convention floor, their colleagues, the TV pundits, looked down on the delegates with detachment and sometimes disdain, commenting with urbane coolness on the proceedings.

Four...

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