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One more Di note



So if I may ramble for a moment. . .

I've finally had a chance to look at a lot of the web sites and
commentary surrounding the death of Princess Diana, and I would have to
say that I agree with Noth when he says a new set of habits were
developed/displayed on Saturday night.

As most of you know (or may have guessed), I work for WRAL-TV5 and WB-50
over in Raleigh.  I was putting the finishing touches on my show when
the news initially came over the wire.  It was added to the show as a
copy story.  Then I looked up 20 minutes later (9:45 for a 10p show) and
NBC and ABC both did a national pre-emptive cut-in to show first video
of the crash scene.  However, that was really all they could do until
their regular nightly news at 11.  So now this bombshell has been
dropped. . . where do people go for information?

They could go to CNN, but they would be getting the same info every 20
minutes.  Some of them flipped to WB and watched our 10 pm show to see
what was up, but with the scarcity of info and video, we could only
devote 1:10 to it out of a 26 minute show.  So most people went to the
Internet.  There they could get the information as it was happening for
the most part, and at the same time they could feel a part of the news
process by discussing it with people on-line.  The Internet filled a
void created by these early cut-ins.  It provided a non-structured
outlet both for news and info, and for people's emotions (which is a
tale for another mail).   

Think for a moment about tragedy and how it defines the entertainment
habits of the public.  My grandparents have said they will never forget
sitting in front of the radio and hearing about the explosion of the
Hindenburg.  People still come together to discuss where they were and
how they heard about it when JFK was assasinated.  People of my
generation attach that kind of significance to the explosion of the
Space Shuttle Challenger.  Now, people will remember being "on the 'Net"
to hear about Princess Di, thus proving that the Internet has carved a
niche for itself in the world of public acceptance as a news medium.
Now the question is whether or not it is accepted by journalists
themselves.  But that's a topic for next week.

On that note, let me just say that I have seen more file footage of
Diana this week than any American probably ever wanted to see, and ask
your forgiveness for belaboring a point that many people would like to
see laid to rest.

Stephanie Beck
   
-- 

Stephanie Lyn Beck	   "Spend your life loving and thinking - that
stephb@interpath.com	     is the true life of the spirit." 
					- Voltaire