TE
That's cause they've nothing to slash 
But yes the break has been shortening on the September side - it used to be the case that the slashed period would extend from mid-July through till mid-Sept to coincide with the new autumn schedule, but mid August now seems to be the new starting point.
Agreed for the need to accentuate the positive - particularly the graphics, a really elegant look, including the moving lines as mentioned behind sports graphics etc. Perhaps the opening graphics go on for a bit long with nothing exactly happening visully, but at least the fine music largely makes up for that.
Also note that news directors have finally copped on to what that sticky-up metal bar does on the gallery desk, i.e. dissolves have at last become commonplace at the beginning and end of many reports, something virtually unheard of even 18 months ago - no doubt another belated influence from British television. They haven't introduced the fast half-second dissolve yet though - due to arrive in 2007
Bryan Dobson is still the best male newsreader, followed by Anthony Murnane as close second on proper bulletins on RTÉ One - he turns into a gibbering eejit on Two. He ought to be used more for mainstream bulletins as he's very good.
On the female side Una O'Hagan is truly superb, a newsreader of many fine qualities. Doyle I suppose has to come second - she's dodgy on a lot of counts, notably cues, but you can't but like her as being one of the old school and that fantastic voice
Ní Bheoláin's voice on the othr hand gets on my nerves have to say, and she's way too earnest when asking questions etc (and useless in making them seem unscripted), but agreed is doing well on Six One thus far.
Can't agree about Eilenn Wheelan though - she's way too rigid, self conscious and her overall demeanour is that of a person with a pole shoved up their..... Excellent journalist though.
Also picture resolution from the studio is really outstanding - who needs HD when you've this?!
RTÉ News' coverage of Europe is excellent, both in terms of the amount and their journalist of international excellence Seán Wheelan - he could work for the BBC he's that good.
But really the big letdown of RTÉ News are its reports' presentation - it is just abominable. They are shoddily produced piles of rubbish for the most part - V/Os with any old pictures thrown down on top. It is simply unacceptable in 2005.
By far the worst culprit is Joe O'Brien Agriculture Correspondent/Defence Corr. His reports are just ghastly - they tell you nothing, they show you nothing, and are humdrum pieces of student media rubbish tossed together to fullfill the story brief. His camera deliverance is also woeful.
And s mentioned before, Paul Cunningham Environment Corr is little better as for whatever reason many of his reports are edited down to a 'highlights' version for the Nine, often making sketchy information barely even comprehensible.
Way too often the very medium RTÉ Television News operates in shoots itself in the foot it's that bad - i.e. the crappy irrelvant pictures they toss over voiceovers are often so distracting as to make the story difficult to even understand, whatever about the woeful audio levels actually drowning out the voiceovers!
But I think what perfectly sums up RTÉ News' appalling disregard for the visual medium it operates in is its tribunal coverage. For the best part of a decade now RTÉ have been covering tribunals based at Dublin Castle (whatever about the many others), and exactly what methods have they come up with to convey these long-running and reported-on-daily sagas? Absolutely nothing . Nothing at all.
For the past ten years the national broadcaster have used nothing but images of people walking in and walking out and in and out of the tribunal locations, and shots of the Upper Yard & Bedford Tower of Dublin Castle. Non-stop.
You'd think that the Director of News somewhere in the past decade (Ed Mulhall having been here for 8 of those) would have sat down with a couple of news directors and worked out a plan. You'd think that standard graphic packages would have been put together, that the possibility of some reconstructions would be considered, that other inventive visual means would have been conjured up.
But no - absolutely nothing, not even for the most high-profile of modules. Do you think the BBC would have gotton away with this sort of crap for ten years?! Appallingly chucked together reports from the likes of John Kilrane that not even a wannabe journalist in a Transition Year class would dare churn out?
How is the viewer even supposed to even understand what is being said over shoddy images of people and minders rushing about the place getting into cars, coming down steps, media scrums, journalists getting in the way, doors being closed ete etc etc, and precise tribunal deliverances being read over this!!!
It really beggars belief.
It is television news at its very worst, and it sums up RTÉ's news reports to a tee; a blatent lack of understanding of the medium being used. Most of it's stuff is visual radio.
And this is not how things have to be with television news anymore - not by a long shot.
But yes the break has been shortening on the September side - it used to be the case that the slashed period would extend from mid-July through till mid-Sept to coincide with the new autumn schedule, but mid August now seems to be the new starting point.
Agreed for the need to accentuate the positive - particularly the graphics, a really elegant look, including the moving lines as mentioned behind sports graphics etc. Perhaps the opening graphics go on for a bit long with nothing exactly happening visully, but at least the fine music largely makes up for that.
Also note that news directors have finally copped on to what that sticky-up metal bar does on the gallery desk, i.e. dissolves have at last become commonplace at the beginning and end of many reports, something virtually unheard of even 18 months ago - no doubt another belated influence from British television. They haven't introduced the fast half-second dissolve yet though - due to arrive in 2007
Bryan Dobson is still the best male newsreader, followed by Anthony Murnane as close second on proper bulletins on RTÉ One - he turns into a gibbering eejit on Two. He ought to be used more for mainstream bulletins as he's very good.
On the female side Una O'Hagan is truly superb, a newsreader of many fine qualities. Doyle I suppose has to come second - she's dodgy on a lot of counts, notably cues, but you can't but like her as being one of the old school and that fantastic voice
Ní Bheoláin's voice on the othr hand gets on my nerves have to say, and she's way too earnest when asking questions etc (and useless in making them seem unscripted), but agreed is doing well on Six One thus far.
Can't agree about Eilenn Wheelan though - she's way too rigid, self conscious and her overall demeanour is that of a person with a pole shoved up their....
. Excellent journalist though.
Also picture resolution from the studio is really outstanding - who needs HD when you've this?!
RTÉ News' coverage of Europe is excellent, both in terms of the amount and their journalist of international excellence Seán Wheelan - he could work for the BBC he's that good
.
But really the big letdown of RTÉ News are its reports' presentation - it is just abominable. They are shoddily produced piles of rubbish for the most part - V/Os with any old pictures thrown down on top. It is simply unacceptable in 2005.
By far the worst culprit is Joe O'Brien Agriculture Correspondent/Defence Corr. His reports are just ghastly - they tell you nothing, they show you nothing, and are humdrum pieces of student media rubbish tossed together to fullfill the story brief. His camera deliverance is also woeful.
And s mentioned before, Paul Cunningham Environment Corr is little better as for whatever reason many of his reports are edited down to a 'highlights' version for the Nine, often making sketchy information barely even comprehensible.
Way too often the very medium RTÉ Television News operates in shoots itself in the foot it's that bad - i.e. the crappy irrelvant pictures they toss over voiceovers are often so distracting as to make the story difficult to even understand, whatever about the woeful audio levels actually drowning out the voiceovers!
But I think what perfectly sums up RTÉ News' appalling disregard for the visual medium it operates in is its tribunal coverage. For the best part of a decade now RTÉ have been covering tribunals based at Dublin Castle (whatever about the many others), and exactly what methods have they come up with to convey these long-running and reported-on-daily sagas? Absolutely nothing . Nothing at all.
For the past ten years the national broadcaster have used nothing but images of people walking in and walking out and in and out of the tribunal locations, and shots of the Upper Yard & Bedford Tower of Dublin Castle. Non-stop.
You'd think that the Director of News somewhere in the past decade (Ed Mulhall having been here for 8 of those) would have sat down with a couple of news directors and worked out a plan. You'd think that standard graphic packages would have been put together, that the possibility of some reconstructions would be considered, that other inventive visual means would have been conjured up.
But no - absolutely nothing, not even for the most high-profile of modules. Do you think the BBC would have gotton away with this sort of crap for ten years?! Appallingly chucked together reports from the likes of John Kilrane that not even a wannabe journalist in a Transition Year class would dare churn out?
How is the viewer even supposed to even understand what is being said over shoddy images of people and minders rushing about the place getting into cars, coming down steps, media scrums, journalists getting in the way, doors being closed ete etc etc, and precise tribunal deliverances being read over this!!!
It really beggars belief.
It is television news at its very worst, and it sums up RTÉ's news reports to a tee; a blatent lack of understanding of the medium being used. Most of it's stuff is visual radio.
And this is not how things have to be with television news anymore - not by a long shot.
