By Dr. Lydia Reeves Timmins, University of Delaware

A new semester is underway, and my students are once again amazing me. But it’s not ALL in a good way.

In my introductory journalism class, I tried to give them the sweep of broadcasting, beginning with Edward R. Murrow. I think we all agree he is the classic anchorman with an amazing ability to deliver the news. Well, we—as in the news people. For students—not so much.

I played some of the famous reports from WWII London and asked the students for their opinion. “Monotone”. “Not believable”. They asked, why didn’t he have any emotion? He didn’t seem to care.

Right now, you may be reading those words and feeling confused—imagine how I felt as I listened! I asked the students why they perceived the dean of American broadcasting as boring—they said “Well his voice is so smooth, it just sounds monotonous.” Well, what a pickle for me.

I was planning to discuss how news had progressed from the Golden Age—and now they wouldn’t admit that age was golden! Thinking quickly, I played the Cronkite clip of the Kennedy assassination. Again, with the boring comments. Also, they wondered why he was reporting rumors before they were confirmed.

I snagged the radio report from the Hindenburg disaster, and this time they thought the reporter was “too hysterical.” Jeez, is there no pleasing these young people? They also threw in the comment that reporters nowadays who go live from the beach during a hurricane are kind of cheesy.

So who DO they like?

They agreed reporters and anchors should show SOME emotion, but not too much. Should sound calm and confident, but not boring. Should look honest and believable, and not cheesy. Of those who said they watched news on TV—NBC’s Brian Williams was the most favored. He seemed to have the right blend of calmness, believability AND emotion.

For me, an interesting lesson on our young audience. The ones who watch are looking for authenticity and humanity. If they don’t find those qualities in the news on TV, they’ll look for it elsewhere.  Of course, the students in this one class are aspiring journalists (most of them) so they are more engaged with the news process than an average student with another major.

But Murrow, monotonous? Really? Ugh.