"Some people may have noticed the new computer shelf at the anchor desk. Rather than phone calls, we want to take real time e-mails, and we'll be starting that very soon"
About this Quote
The “new computer shelf at the anchor desk” is doing more work than set dressing. Crier is narrating a small studio upgrade as a cultural pivot: TV news, long built on one-way authority, is making room for the audience to talk back in public. By pointing out that “some people may have noticed,” she flatters viewers into feeling attentive and in-the-know, then recruits them into the next step. The hardware becomes a promise of proximity.
The contrast she draws - “Rather than phone calls” versus “real time e-mails” - isn’t just about convenience. It’s about control and optics. Phone calls are messy: voices, delays, screening, the risk of dead air. Email is text, filterable, quick to summarize, easy to curate. “Real time” sells immediacy while still letting producers gatekeep the conversation. It signals modernity without surrendering the newsroom’s grip on the narrative.
Context matters here: mid-90s-to-early-2000s news was scrambling to look digital, interactive, future-ready. The line reads like a broadcast-era version of “drop your thoughts in the comments,” before comments became synonymous with chaos. Crier’s measured phrasing - “we want to take” - frames interactivity as a service, not a concession, keeping the anchor’s authority intact while borrowing the internet’s participatory glow. “We’ll be starting that very soon” is the classic television tease, but it’s also institutional caution: the future is arriving, just not fast enough to disrupt the show.
The contrast she draws - “Rather than phone calls” versus “real time e-mails” - isn’t just about convenience. It’s about control and optics. Phone calls are messy: voices, delays, screening, the risk of dead air. Email is text, filterable, quick to summarize, easy to curate. “Real time” sells immediacy while still letting producers gatekeep the conversation. It signals modernity without surrendering the newsroom’s grip on the narrative.
Context matters here: mid-90s-to-early-2000s news was scrambling to look digital, interactive, future-ready. The line reads like a broadcast-era version of “drop your thoughts in the comments,” before comments became synonymous with chaos. Crier’s measured phrasing - “we want to take” - frames interactivity as a service, not a concession, keeping the anchor’s authority intact while borrowing the internet’s participatory glow. “We’ll be starting that very soon” is the classic television tease, but it’s also institutional caution: the future is arriving, just not fast enough to disrupt the show.
Quote Details
| Topic | Internet |
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