Tonight, it's happening live !
It's a tough job, making broadcasts filled with canned fluff and
hours-old taped packages seem up-to-date. So, starting way
back in the nineties, I chronicled the practice at NBC NIghtly
News of inserting the word "tonight" into the copy more than
a dozen times per broadcast. My theory: it made the newscast
seem more newsy.
Now comes Marvin Block, who deconstructs a recent Anderson
Cooper script to find similar topical weaseling afoot.
At this moment, this is what's going on, tonight.
[via Harry Sheaer and Mervin Block]