🗞News tickers: All the news that’s fit to crawl

If you’ve been watching MSNBC lately you may have noticed something missing: The US cable news station decided in April to [kill the scrolling feed of news and commentary at the bottom of the screen,]( “for a cleaner view that puts our reporting more front and center,” according to a network spokesperson. Versions of the TV news ticker date all the way back to the 1950s, but they didn’t become truly ubiquitous until September 11, 2001. In the days following the terrorist attacks, with too much news flowing in for anchors to convey verbally, [the ticker became indispensable for the stations and their viewers.]( The same way a Twitter feed today can transfix people during a crisis, the nation had its eyes glued to the scroll, waiting for the next update. The TV news ticker is a descendent of the stock ticker and grandchild of the “zipper” news on buildings in Times Square. At the very least, it’s also Twitter’s neurotic uncle. With a limited amount of space to display pertinent information, [early uses of Twitter by news organizations]( often mimicked the ticker’s style, simply posting the headline of a story. Skeptics were quick to [blame cable news for starting the age of information overload]( but Americans [mostly just got comfortable with it](. So now that information overload is everywhere, is cable news ready to settle down? 🐦 [Tweet this]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Brought to you by [Quartz Obsession] News tickers June 12, 2018 Breaking the news --------------------------------------------------------------- If you’ve been watching MSNBC lately you may have noticed something missing: The US cable news station decided in April to [kill the scrolling feed of news and commentary at the bottom of the screen,]( “for a cleaner view that puts our reporting more front and center,” according to a network spokesperson. Versions of the TV news ticker date all the way back to the 1950s, but they didn’t become truly ubiquitous until September 11, 2001. In the days following the terrorist attacks, with too much news flowing in for anchors to convey verbally, [the ticker became indispensable for the stations and their viewers.]( The same way a Twitter feed today can transfix people during a crisis, the nation had its eyes glued to the scroll, waiting for the next update. The TV news ticker is a descendent of the stock ticker and grandchild of the “zipper” news on buildings in Times Square. At the very least, it’s also Twitter’s neurotic uncle. With a limited amount of space to display pertinent information, [early uses of Twitter by news organizations]( often mimicked the ticker’s style, simply posting the headline of a story. Skeptics were quick to [blame cable news for starting the age of information overload]( but Americans [mostly just got comfortable with it](. So now that information overload is everywhere, is cable news ready to settle down? 🐦 [Tweet this]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Charted 🐦 [Tweet this chart]( Giphy By the digits [$15,000:]( Cost to purchase an original Thomas Edison stock market ticker. While Edison didn’t invent the stock ticker, his 1870 invention made them widely popular. [77%:]( Proportion of respondents in a 2016 Pew survey who said information overload is not a problem [112:]( Average number of ticker items per hour shown on CNN during a 2007 research study [261,925,664:]( Flashes per hour from the 14,800 bulbs that displayed scrolling news headlines on the Times Square “zipper” Brought to you by INFINITI Don’t ask for attention. Command it. --------------------------------------------------------------- INFINITI believes it’s what’s on the inside that counts. However, with the all-new 2019 INFINITI QX50, the outsides becomes just as important. From the QX50’s exceptional engineering and elegantly designed interior cabin to its stylish and dynamic exterior—it looks like we nailed both.[Learn more about INFINITI’s all-new 2019 QX50]( Giphy Million-Dollar Question Why’s it called a ticker? --------------------------------------------------------------- It all started with [the invention of a system]( that used the telegraph to transmit and print stock prices, which was put into use in the late 1860s. The “tick tick tick” sound that emanated from the machine led to the name “stock ticker,” and the long, narrow strip of paper it printed on ticker tape. The ticker name stuck when [NBC premiered The Today Show in 1952](. The company printed headlines on a strip of ticker tape and superimposed it along the bottom of the screen. It didn’t catch on with viewers and was dropped a few months later. Other variations began appearing in the 1980s, including on ESPN and some local news stations, but it wasn’t until 1989 that news tickers were put into regular use by a TV network: CNN Headline News featured scrolling stock prices during its daytime programming, and sports scores on nights and weekends. Timeline The ticker pre-9/11 --------------------------------------------------------------- [1867:]( Edward A. Calahan invents a stock price ticker system using ticker tape and a telegraphic printer. The prices of stocks in Morse code were printed on a rolling piece of paper. The advancing technology would eventually end the practice of hand-delivering stock prices on the trading floor. [1928:]( The New York Times starts displaying scrolling news headlines on the outside of its offices at 1 Times Square. The “zipper” was a fixture of Times Square throughout most of the century and is considered to be the predecessor to the TV news ticker. [1952:]( The first incarnation of the TV news ticker debuts on the premier episode of NBC’s The Today Show. [1973:]( The Paul Newman–Robert Redford crime caper The Sting is released, featuring a complicated ticker-tape horse-racing con. [1989:]( CNN Headline News introduces a ticker to display stock prices. It’s considered to be the first regularly used ticker in cable news. [1995:]( ESPN begins using its 24-hour “BottomLine” sports ticker on its ESPN2 network. Fun fact! Before he moved to Hollywood, Ronald Reagan was an announcer for the Chicago Cubs. Back then, baseball announcers weren’t actually at the ballpark—[they just read from the ticker tape.]( Watch this! The premier of NBC’s The Today Show in 1952. Reuters/Brad Rickerby Origin story How 9/11 changed TV news --------------------------------------------------------------- Before it became a cable news mainstay, the news ticker was mostly familiar to sports fans and stock traders. But the events of September 11 [forced the hand]( of the three major US cable news networks: Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. Fox News [was first to start scrolling at 10:49 am Eastern Time,]( roughly 20 minutes after the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. CNN got rolling at 11:01 am, followed by MSNBC at around 2:00 pm. The ticker seemed like the best solution to the day’s conundrum: How do you keep a panicked public informed amid a deluge of breaking news? But the ticker’s value in the years that followed are up for debate. “At first, the ticker was like a relief valve, a way for millions of anxious viewers to tune in and quickly get updated: white house evacuated … faa has shut down all domestic flights … red cross appeal — blood donations … 2 aircraft carriers have been deployed … Then it became a kind of anxious Greek chorus of constant low-level chatter: anthrax scare … shoe bomb …,” [writes James Poniewozik in Time.]( The ticker spread from there, within the US and across the globe. Shortly after September 11, cable stations in Australia also implemented the crawl, while it took [the BBC three years to follow suit](. Today, tickers remain prevalent on news stations across the world. Reuters/Gary Cameron Pop quiz In 2008, which cable news station replaced its ticker with something called the “flipper,” only to revert back in 2013? Fox NewsCNNMSNBCCNBC Correct. CNN’s flipper presented one textual news item at a time rather than a scroll. At the time, Bart Feder, the senior vice president of programming for CNN, said: “The crawl fit its time, and fit the technology of the time. What we came to realize was that there’s a better way to do it.” It turned out not to be better. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Poetry slam! But I think the TV gimmick that I dislike most of all Is the little moving sign below referred to as a ‘CRAWL.’ Which moves in from the right and comprehension thus depends, On the viewer’s eye and must be followed till each sentence ends. And the poor old talking anchorperson stands no chance at all! — [Charles Osgood, “CBS News Sunday Morning,” October 2001]( Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji DIY Do you have what it takes to be a ticker writer? --------------------------------------------------------------- In 2008, [ESPN used an 11-person staff to run its 24-Hour BottomLine crawl.]( A [recent job posting by Fox News]( outlined what they look for in a ticker writer: - You will identify current breaking news stories and publish daily on the scrolling news ticker - Breakdown a story and highlight key information to write catchy headlines for assigned shift - Work in a team environment to share, review, edit and update all ticker copies - 1 year or good internship experience working in a live broadcast environment - Bachelor’s degree and solid knowledge of current events is required - Strong writer with demonstrated self-editing skills - Ability to work all shifts and handle the pressure of a 24-hour cable news environment - Candidate must have a positive attitude, strong work ethic, and excellent writing, grammar and spelling skills - Basic knowledge of newsroom functions a must - Must be a highly organized, and creative self-starter Fun fact! [The first ticker tape parade occurred in 1886]( and was completely spontaneous. As a procession marched up Broadway to celebrate the dedication of the Statue of Liberty; those stuck at work decided that tossing ticker tape out the window was a way to join in the fun. Watch this! As cable news stations [became more partisan,]( so did their crawls (some would argue), as illustrated in this 2003 Simpsons clip. Fox News was so outraged by the parody that it threatened to sue, [according to the show’s creator Matt Groening.]( Quotable “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” — [Herbert A. Simon]( Giphy Poll If the news ticker went away for good, would you miss it? [Click here to vote]( Yes, I’ve been banned from Twitter so I kind of need this.No, I cut the cord years ago. The fine print In yesterday’s poll, we asked how you feel about [durian]( “the king of fruits.” The vote was pretty divisive—but 38% of you “love and hate” it, and 36% just hate it. 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