Good morning, everybody!

The television news genre is interesting enough, but narrowing it down into a more specific type of television news affords us to deepen our understanding of the particular genre. Morning news programs are a particularly entertaining and predictable subset of this genre. The major network morning shows include: Good Morning, America (ABC); The Today Show (NBC); The Early Show--(CBS); American Morning--(CNN). Below you can watch a video describing this genre. Individual slides are shown as well as you scroll down the page.

Some common features of morning television news programs include:

Funny weatherman
•Shown outside with a crowd
•Talks with audience members
•Often has a slogan

Trustworthy male host
•Handsome
•Older than the females
•Funny, but serious
•Wears a suit & tie everyday

Likeable female host
•Younger than male host
•Attractive but not sexy
•Clothing is bright, fashionable, yet professional
•Always happy

News update person
•Usually female
•Gives snippits of current news events
•Appears in other segments but is not a main anchor
•Chronicles feature stories
•Often a minority (race or ethnicity)
•Serious

Celebrity guests
•On-set interviews with celebrities in current headlines
•Tries to make the celebs look credible but this can backfire
–Britney Spears looked like “white trash”
–Tom Cruise seemed whacky & cult-ish
•Celebs promote current film, album, TV show
•Celebs defend themselves against tabloids

Morning concerts (why?)

Health/self-improvement features
•Colonoscopies (thanks, Katie)
•Breast cancer
•Overweight children
•Food allergies
•Autism
•Healthy cooking

Family values features
•Parenting tips for toddlers
•Coping with divorce
•Hosting a holiday party
•Planning a wedding

Middle-class audience