Anyone else like Keith Morrison's voice? Dateline NBC narrator?
Keith Morrison is annoying as hell
Keith Morrison has one of the most annoying voices on TV, beaten only by fellow NBC correspondent, Josh Mankiewicz. In journalism, we're taught that the story is the focus, not the reporter. If anything takes the focus off the story, then the journalist has failed. This includes mannerisms, clothing, jewelry -- and yes, the voice, which includes volume, diction, thick accent (for the region served), etc. And few people are more distracting than Morrison and Mankiewicz. But the latter can be forgiven because he probably naturally sounds annoying; if anything, NBC was at fault for hiring him. But Morrison purposely treats each story like a work of fiction, talking to the viewers as if they're children. Why not let the stories speak for themselves? Why dramatize it with theatrical narration? What's the point of the pitch changes and teasing diction? To me, he cheapens the story and the entire NBC news department -- and insults his audience -- by feeling that we need dramatization before watching a story. In all seriousness, when I see his name attached to a story, I think there should be this disclaimer: "Based on a true story..." In other words, the story is no longer objective and purely factual, but rather a treated to a Keith Morrison spin. As such, I avoid any story with Morrison or Mankiewicz, unless it's crucial to my research. In fact, I avoid Dateline altogether (Chris Hansen's exploitative journalism being another reason), and stick to real journalism like 60 Minutes.
BryanF1969 - Definitely not a journalist
Well, BryanF1969 you are completely wrong. I may noy be able to change your opinion of Keith Morrison, but I'm almost positive you didn't attend journalism school. Keith Morrison is an award winning journalist and has a resume that would make you want to stick your foot in your mouth. People don't watch Dateline when they want to watch a recap of the day's events. Dateline is a news-magazine program that features news-worthy stories in a narrative format. I think his voice is very appropriate considering the nature of the program. I don't at all think Keith Morrison takes away from a story by over dramatizing or making things look fictional. I think you're completely misguided if you think he insults his audience and treats them like children. Where do you get off on saying something like that? For a researcer, I would have thought you might cite specific examples to back up your claims. Furthermore, you are completely ignorant if you think Chris Hansen is an exploitive journalist. Last time I checked, almost every news station (local and national) in the country had a team of investigative journalists whose entire job rested in alerting people to the dangers of society and sometimes their own communities. That's what journalim is all about. Anyone can read the news. It takes a special person to be an actual journalist. I don't know what school BryanF1969 went to, but if I were the academic dean and knew he was spouting all this nonsense, I'd ask for his diploma back.
