One year later, the new 'Telenotícies' are already old

This week marks one year since TV3 premiered the new set for the Telenotícies and launched the 3CatInfo universe. After a large financial investment and months of self-promotion, the renovation was sold as a turning point for the public television news programs. One year later, the results allow us to call that into question. The technical flourishes that seemed like something special have resulted in the same old inertia. There was talk of much more dynamic sets thanks to robotic cameras. The forty-meter screen was supposed to allow for more organic and natural movements from the presenters. After a few shaky tracking shots, the news programs are as static as they were before. Beyond a tacky zoom in the style of Lazarov to kick off the TN migdia, we see no relevant dynamism. To close the Telenotícies, they have to show us the cameras in a wide shot taken with a crane. It seems they show us those huge contraptions to justify the change and the expense. But, for the viewers, visually it has made no difference.While news programs from the most prestigious networks in Europe tend to create more diaphanous and lighter spaces, the new sets are cluttered. The vertical totems cause distortions in proportions, and the step to access them limits movement. A resource that, instead of facilitating the work, has complicated it. It has forced the recording of fragments of the Telenotícies in the news analysis sections because they do not trust that live dynamics can withstand the section without problems. It is logical: errors and blunders are frequent. It was said that the format would allow graphics to be more exportable to mobile screens. An insignificant aspect that is more of a sales argument than a practical and tangible reality. The graphic design has already become outdated and in the set there is a saturation of semiotics. They want to give so many messages that the set is nonsense. On one hand, the view over Barcelona. Above, planet Earth. On the side, the projection of orange human shadows that simulate a newsroom moving in an unsettling way behind the presenters. What sense does it make to falsify reality in a news program that must convey truth? It was also announced that in the new stage, the editions would be more differentiated. The TN comarques was supposed to have “more practical contribution and experiences that would inspire”. But, for the moment, we see almost the same thing as in the TN migdia. One of the two great stars of the Telenotícies, Raquel Sans, who was taking on a new role giving more weight to the weekend evenings, has disappeared for four months. She has been on sick leave after participating in La travessa VIP, a program with precarious audience. Robbing Peter to pay Paul.3CatInfo, meanwhile, conveys the poverty it was already dragging along. It still looks God-forsaken, with some poorly edited news bulletins and that feeling of a boring, inhospitable, and lonely workspace. A year later, the change does not seem to justify the investment. More smoke and mirrors than television results.