a news junkie lament

As an escape from reality shows and tired old sitcoms with their laugh-tracks, I had become a news junkie, my channel of choice Newsworld - the home of not only the superb Passionate Eye, W5 and the Fifth Estate, but excellent ongoing news coverage.

Whatever happened to the old Newsworld, CBC? Is this cluttered screen with its scrolling, zipping, flashing, sliding components your new "digital look"?

To compare:

With Newsworld there was an anchor reading the news and an easily-read scrolling news strip across the bottom.

Now we have a screen that includes -

- the time, scrolling up through Mountain, Pacific, CT, AT and ET
- the CBC news logo
- a box proclaiming "News Now" but wait! Every 3 seconds the colours change first of the printing, one word at a time, then the background, sliding to the left, then to the right.
- the news strip at the bottom is now half its previous size and moves - not smoothly as before - but zips off the screen to the left after I've read the first 5 words. The only place you'll find tinier print is what you're Not covered for in a contract.
- above that is a 5-day scrolling weather forecast for the whole country. I can think of no circumstances under which I would need to know the weather in Iqaluit that I cannot pronounce and can barely spell. And what happened to the u after the q? Besides, 2 clicks and I could be on the Weather channel.
- then comes a box with admittedly pertinent information - subject being discussed, interviewer, interviewee, etc. again scrolling to the left or right. -

THEN finally we have the anchor

And just in case we missed the boxes that proclaimed this to be CBC News, or Sports, or whatever, 6 TV screens in the background will sometimes flash reminders.

By way of introduction to their "new look", the anchors do a skit made up of hi-speed flash-card type images of them delivering one sentence, 2-3 words each, sometimes only 1. The mind reels. Gravol, anyone?

Trying to watch the news has become a multitasking exercise in frustration with all the extraneous movement. Information overload and so disconcerting. Just the news, please!

Did I say "lament"? Make that "rant".

There. I feel better.