Many online and mass media services seem to buy the notion that a picture is more valuable than written words. Twitter, for instance, was for tweets, written words of 140 characters or less, but now virtually every tweet is accompanied by a picture, whether or not it is needed or relevant or helpful. There are many interviews on tv and there are often spoken statements by a reporter or a witness. "Then, the flaming ceiling caved and I don't know how the fireman managed to get out of that mess."
I read that the average speaker speaks about 130 words a minute. (By the way, an interesting fact I read the other day is that acoustic analysis shows there is not silence between spoken words. For native speakers, their brains break an incoming speech stream into words they recognize and know, while non-speakers of that spoken language just hear a continuous stream of unrecognizable sound.) I have never worked as a journalist or reporter or tv reporter but since human faces tell us a great deal about emotions and the surrounding conditions that make those emotions, I can see that the emotional impact of a tv report of a disaster or an outrage is greater if we see a distraught person trying to state what was experienced.
Still, I dislike the drift toward more on-camera talking and less printed words. When I read a headline about a bad fire, I get the idea. I don't want to see charred corpses or watch a disoriented survivor stumble through a description of what happened. I don't favor the practice of shoving a microphone in someone's face to record spoken comments.
Typical writing advice has included the phrase "Show, Don't Tell." This advice is usually taken to mean " don't state that there was a train collision." Instead, describe the mangled bodies and the terrible damage to property and pets. I say that advice may apply well to some situations, depending on what the communication is aiming for. I see that overly superficial statements about the disaster would be disrespectful and can add to tendencies to be uncaring and blasé.
I would still rather get my news and information in written form that I can read rapidly. If I want images and sounds, I can get them on my own.
