It Was Like in a Movie (2026)

This isn’t new, but it’s annoying. CBC is adding music to news items to heighten our emotional reaction to what is presented, as if it were a movie. After tragedies, we often hear people say, ‘it was like in a movie,’ perhaps because of the flow of events or the absurdity of it all. Is this what CBC wants, to make it easier for us to say that?

We are concerned about the danger of AI content blurring reality, but I feel that ‘augmented’ content with its audio prompts to awaken our empathy is creating as much damage. I don’t know what is worse: making horror as banal as it can be or enhancing it to become entertaining?

I stopped watching this news because of the music. If I wanted a music video, I’d go somewhere else. Sadly, we fall for it too often; we believe the augmentation, the life that has become movie-like.

The news item I am referring to is by Margaret Evans (an excellent reporter who unfortunately works with marketer/editors): We visited a Palestinian village — then Israeli settlers showed up. It was first broadcast on November 13, 2024.

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6563907

#cbc