I don’t usually watch CNN’s AC360°. It’s not because I dislike Anderson Cooper or CNN, it just airs at an inconvenient time for me. With bad weather in-state and me stuck at my desk, I caught a little tonight.
I was upset by one thing I saw. You may find this a small thing, but to me it’s very important.
Tonight’s show included a series of reports tied together under the banner “Up Close: The Next President.” I suspect Anderson Cooper had the night off and this was a good way to have him appear through pre-taped “ins and outs.” In other words, the show goes on.
In one segment they aired a package on John McCain where some old still images were used to illustrate points. Something didn’t seem right. As is often the case, digital zoom and pan was added to the photos. Producers are scared viewers will be bored if the video doesn’t move. This adds a little extra flash. However, it leaves the context of the photo untouched.
Meanwhile, the photos looked like they were 3D, though I knew they were not. Something was wrong.
I now know what I saw. If a photo included five people, as an example, they were each isolated, basically cut-out and placed on an individual layer. Then those layers were independently animated. This means the physical relationship between two or more people, or a person and his surroundings, could change and become something it was not! That’s dishonest.
My guess is, all this was done with naivety as opposed to evil intent. It adds a little more flash to something that’s lifeless and mundane. It’s still wrong. It’s still dishonest. It shouldn’t be done.
News should present a factual image of what is being reported–period. Not everything is, or has to be, flashy.
So much for the old saying “a picture never lies”
Guess that went away with the first digital camera.