Fox's Aggravating Banner at Bottom of Screen. Exclusive footage: Tops of palm trees, sky, smoke.

gogov.com ^ | April 7, 2003

[BJungNan]

"News Alert" screen banners obscure what cameras are trying to show, leave viewers frustrated.

Wow, this one is so true. I can not stand that darn banner that Fox puts up on the bottom of the screen. I guess I am not the only one.

Yesterday it was so idiotic. The anchor was saying, here is our exclusive footage and the only thing they were showing was the tops of palm trees, a little smoke and sky. Whatever was so exclusive was behind the banner.

Is anyone at Fox watching their own coverage? The anchors must not see the same screen we do or they would surely do something about it. (Mr. O, Most rediculas item of the day?)

[ConservativeMan55]

As great as footage as it was...they showed it over 100 times...but its either that...or you can watch CNN and listen to how we are "losing"

[George from New England]

I'm going to get shot here...but my guess is that these are union staff that would actually have to sit up and watch the program. They'd have to turn off an turn on the lower-third titles as the program dictates. Probably not in their contract.

[stuartcr]

If they truly wanted to just report, so we could decide, the banners would be gone, or at least minimized. They are as guilty as any other channel.

[ibme]

that banner is driving me crazy
sometimes, all you see is the sky

[MinuteGal]

I hope everyone here that's complaining about the banner notifies FOX by email, as I did. No use griping to the choir.

Leni

[InspiredPath1]

Agreed. 25% of the screen is covered.

The waving flag at upper left corner ... "War Alert" flashes at center of screen ... Rotating "Fox News" emblem lower left ... Dow, Nasdaq, S & P Stock returns constantly changing at lower right ... the "crawl" at the bottom giving snippets of news, all competing with a subdivided screen showing talking head on the left and scenes of Baghdad on the right.

Regrettably, this is too much for my overloaded senses. I have nowhere to turn.

[InspiredPath1]

It's more fun griping to the choir ..... whats their address, i'll gripe to them instead.

[jae471]

Yesterday, one anchor actually said, on air, "Can we take down the banner?" during the coverage of the 3ID outside the palace. So they are watching, but few are paying attention.

[pepsi_junkie]

Last night was particularly egregious. They were showing what might have been an oil fire, but the fire was all covered with the stupid banner so you couldnt see it at all. Might as well be radio at this point. Those stupid banners only make sense when talking heads are on, any other time they should go AWAY.

[clintonh8r]

I sent an email last night. I doubt that they care...

[PBRSTREETGANG]

"We report, you see the sky"

[shezza]

Uh, do you own a remote? If you'll flip around, you'll see that MSNBC's banner is even wider. CNN's is about the same. If you want to write a letter of complaint, try Bloomberg. They cover about 75% of their screen with crawls and banners. (It's kind of like the wide-screen edition of a movie playing on your home telly. The first few minutes, those black bands are annoying...then you don't even notice them.)

[RGSpincich]

Last night Brian Wilson actually asked "on-air" for the banner to be removed to show a better view of the tanks by the river.

[Mfkmmof4]

Change the station and watch Katie Couric.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

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[Outlaw76]

This morning, 4/7/03, at around 1am CST I heard the anchor call for them to please remove the banner for a minute.

I was overjoyed to see much of my TV actualy showing me the new temporary HQ of the 3rd ID (Saddam's Palace) rather than the usual tripe.

If I could remember the guy's name I'd give him all the Kudo's he deserves. He's the one that repetively says 'Our Greg Kelly in Baghdad'.

[lsee]

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