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Do We Truly Need the Crawl?


clind

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Simply enough, every news network in the United States have the crawl on the bottom of the screen, excluding MSNBC during primetime, and CNN/MSNBC during documentaries, but is it truly useful to have on the screen for most of the broadcasting hours?

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Not really. I think it should be used, but reserved for an important/breaking news event to give more details, otherwise, it's just a long, repetative line of words, with a logo in-between (break), that will eventually make it into the news programming...

 

I wonder, did the Cable News industry began running the Crawl constantly since the 9/11 attacks?

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I wonder, did the Cable News industry began running the Crawl constantly since the 9/11 attacks?

I believe so, but don't quote me on that, to originally run emergency information on the bottom part of the screen.

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Yep, 9/11 is when the crawls started. CNN and MSNBC used the current crawl area as a bar for stock market data, as well as the time, during daytime programming, and was removed entirely during evening/overnight programming. I think FNC used a similar method, except did use a crawl during their morning show.

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I have a hard time watching the cable news nets because the screens are so cram packed, not just with crawls but spinning logos and "story branding" elements. It fries my brain.

 

It reminds me of when I worked in publishing. There, our unofficial motto was, "If the content stinks, package the crap out of it so people will think it's good."

 

jim

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Looking at it, the modified versions of the basic news ticker have been interesting, like the old CNN Headline News box (see

), or the MSNBC experiment with a ticker in which each story had a title above it (see
), or even the old style CNNi scroller (see
). Still, I don't think the original CNN scroller will ever be back, seems too ..... flashy (see
)
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Ugh, if anything, FNC should use a style similar to the ESPN1 ticker with the lighting where the edges are darker and the middle is bright, all along with dark font, but I guess that would end up being part of a larger refresh which the network badly needs to move foward from the horrible mess they turned the bottom third into since the migration to the new style started in Summer 2006

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was thinking about this the other day, so I decided to actually try reading it. It was helpful but that was really the first time I read it. It is especially helpful during breaking news events. I used it a lot then. But I do think the screen would look 'naked' without it. I'm just so used to it being there. Though I do agree other stupid graphics (see Fox) need to go. Though here is a note, with everything going digitial onto the internet, I wonder if the crawl will disappear. CNN Pipeline doesn't have a crawl, maybe cause it would be too pixelated. Just a thought.

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Maybe for Breaking News, but that's it.

 

CNN puts way too much information in their crawls, and sometimes I wonder if they remember that it's not like we're reading a few paragraphs in the newspaper. Give the story in 10 words or less, and just remind viewers they can get the full story on CNN.com.

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It's so bad now that even the local affiliates are getting into the game of tickers at the bottom.

 

About the only things the crawls/tickers should be used for is breaking news and weather. Or, if it is a sports network (ESPN, NESN, SNY, etc) run crawls during games, and recap shows.

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  • 2 months later...

I thought crawls started pre-9/11 on Headline News...

 

Yeah, but it wasn't ever really a "crawl" in the true sense of the word. Brief headlines and a weather forecast with sports scores and stock quotes appeared on screen. See this screenshot below:

 

cnn-headline-news.gif

 

I have to say though that I've gotten used to the crawl always being there. I agree with what jbjimbo said a few posts down...it really proves itself during breaking news. During our coverage of last night's bridge collapse, I half wanted to see a crawl down there just to keep our viewers on top of what was going on while we hit some of the other stories of the day.

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Well, in relation to the crawl as we commonly know it, the old CNN Headline News format was not so much a crawl as it was an information hub, I mean, they crammed quite a bit in the half-consumed screen. One note about the Headline design though was that it just took up so much room that pictures were not even important, but information excessively was. Honestly though, I kind of liked that version, it's in your face, gives you information, and you don't have to follow scrolling text.

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The CNNi one would be interesting if a network used it in the USA, though I think they'd probably set it up as a tumbler alike to the CNBC Index setup on the top of their screen.

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Guest GForceTV

Yeah, the CNNi one is good, where it only shows one story at a time. I think it's called a "flipper"

It actually reminds me of the news part of Headline News' 2001 graphics.

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It's very simple, how is the viewer supposed to watch video/anchor, read the crawl, understand what is being said, look at time/temp/stocks, and remember the station with all the garbage floating around the screen.

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  • 1 month later...

Headline News had a crawl going back to the early-90s, but it was used *only* for stock information during the weekday. It was two-tier stock crawl (*edit: Found a video, of this crawl, date unknown) similar to CNBC. I think it was dropped when CNNfn launched in 1995. When it was dropped, they went with a semi-transparent "info-line" that faded information in over the previous (here, 1996). When they updated their look in the late-90s (during the "First/Second/Third Watch" period) kept the "info line" (

, 2000).

 

When they updated again in late 2000 (when Andrea Thompson joined as co-anchor and the old set was first used) CNN:HN became completely unwatchable with the Bloomberg-like info hub.

 

I really wish they would just drop the crawl on all the networks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

One program on the cable news networks that does not use the crawl is Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC.

MSNBC doesn't largely use the crawl during primetime and overnight, and CNN doesn't use it usually during documentaries or other special programming or events (they've lowered it during presidential speeches, other big speeches, and special events)

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