The tone of the news

The late David Brinkley

One thing that has changed greatly in my lifetime is the tone in which news is delivered on TV or radio. I'd describe it as changing from a neutral, professional tone to a chummy falsely intimate tone. Some of the older network newscasters retain a bit of the old formality but for the most part news is now delivered as if the newscaster were a friend, a buddy, a neighbor. Old fart that I am, this new delivery style drives me up the wall. Diane Sawyer, for example. She sounds like a nightmare's stepmother.

This pattern -- phony intimacy, false friendship -- has grown throughout the culture. Thus someone has 5000 "friends" on Facebook, including many s/he has never met in person. There's been a cultural rush from substance to surface in everything from relationships to public discourse.

Slightly off subject, I'm reminded of something my dad told me and my late best friend Dick Crooks' stepdad told him. The same thing. Each observed our deep friendship and told us to cherish it, it was very rare. They had not experienced friendship this close, even though each was very social and had many "friends." But there are close friends and other friends, friends and acquaintances. I was lucky to have several very deep friendships during my lifetime, though I outlived them all. I miss them.