In the beginning, there was newspaper. People would read their news and interpret it for themselves; this system worked for many years, but following the invention of film people realised that it could be used as a new method of news. Enter Pathé News, who started presenting news shows in short cinema broadcasts from 1910. In 1928, after being sold to First National, they began to use sound and introduced narrators such as Bob Danvers-Walker, Dan Donaldson and Clem McCarthy. These narrators were the equivalent of modern presenters, and spoke over and explained footage. They were very well spoken gentlemen who clearly explained what was happening in a professional manner.
The first ever news broadcast on TV was hosted on WNBT in 1940 by Lowell Thomas, who had previously worked as a radio host. Lowell Thomas' news presenting style is what many people would think of as old news broadcasts on Television in terms of style and presentation, and was heavily inspired by the earlier Pathé examples.. The classic straight American accent (or British accents in Britain) with crisp and clear spoken words and sentences with a distinct middle to upper class accent. The presentation was professional and very straight forward, getting to the point without any conversation or jokes in between. This form of broadcasting would later develop into more modern news, but many parodies refer back to news like this as a form of referential humour due to the fame of the clear, concise presentation of these early news broadcasts.
The style of the early Lowell Thomas news broadcasts would eventually develop into the type of news available in the 1960s. Overall, the styles were very similar to and inspired by Lowell Thomas (who was still presenting during this time), and had yet to change much, but with the rise of rock and roll lifestyles, many people were more interested in seeing people getting interviewed, and the casualness and calmness of rockstars, such as, for example, The Beatles, people were enjoying seeing presenters have to word around their answers to questioning, even if it meant dropping the wholly appropriate professionalism of typical presenting styles of the time.
Once the 70s started, people had begun to see other types of news and show presenters emerging, with women and people of other races appearing to present news, often bringing their own personality into the mostly serious shows. This began to slowly shift throughout this decade in particular, however, as market research pointed towards these styles being seen as too professional in most American states, the US began changing to a much more pleasant presenting style in the form warm, friendly broadcasting and shows representing a happy workplace amongst people who not only worked together, but had their own friendships and even jokes that were represented in the way they spoke to one another. News shows started adapting and shows in this style were specifically being created, with news aimed at children and younger audiences even being developed in the form of shows such as Newsround, representing a form of presentation with people who would try to talk to children as equals while still maintaining that fun - yet professional - broadcast.
As time went on, other countries followed suit of making more casual news, and shows started emerging specifically to give people advice, to interview people or to show one kind of news in particular. While news became more chatty, other people saw this as an opportunity to create shows specifically for chatting, and talk shows started emerging throughout the 80s and 90s, where people hosted a show specifically to invite a special guest star (usually a celebrity) and ask questions to them, often chatting to them about it and trying to find out information viewers may find interesting. These were like less intimidating and serious interviews, and the styles were far more casual, making a calming and, sometimes, funny viewing for audiences who, instead of watching the show for a reading of news, would want to hear about the life and times of the latest movie stars.
Following the turn of the century, news shows have returned to a slightly more serious standpoint to distance themselves from the casualness of talk shows. While the news styles are no longer as serious and uptight as Lowell Thomas and Pathé News, they are no longer as casual as shows in the Newsround era, oftentimes being almost a mix of the two, where, if somebody makes a mistake or says something that may be misconstrued in a joking manner, they will remark to its humourousness, without drawing attention away from the actual news stories themselves, whereas talk shows continue the chatty casualness of the era beforehand.
Presentation evolved overtime, and will continue to evolve, and the study and research of this evolution is of interest, especially for people who, such as in this assignment, are going to be presenting something.
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