40 Funny And Weird Moments From The ’80s And ’90s News That Got Shared By This Twitter Page

Bored Panda reached out to the author behind the 80snewsscreens Instagram page that shares “screengrabs from slower news days” to their audience of 65.3k followers.

“This started after I began searching YouTube for old Weather Channel clips as a way to help me fall asleep,” the creator recounted the origins of the project. “Something about that combo of the rudimentary graphics and smooth jazz, it's like Ambien,” they said and added that “It snowballed into me watching old commercials and promos, and then full newscasts from the '80s and '90s.”

According to the creator of 80snewsscreens, back before local news was run by only a handful of corporate owners, it had a more distinct local flavor. “Newscasters were big A-list personalities in their markets whom a station would brand themselves around. Additionally, there was a sense of DIY magic to a news production—using very basic tools to pull off something that tried (and mostly succeeded!) to appear high-budget and sleek.”

The author added that out of context, it all looks funny. “I wanted to share some of the best stuff from these clips, so I created the account. It's really, really fun. There are meme creators who are really good at the '80s low-res, 'imperfect' aesthetic—@teenagestepdad being my favorite.”

“People are finding and loving analog media again—cassettes and VHS tapes are having a resurgence and I'm here for it. I am forever thankful for those content uploaders who transfer old VHS tapes onto YouTube,” they explained.

If you’re into the aesthetic too, make sure to check out another account with screengrabs of old late-night infomercials and local ads called @2amcommercials by the same creator. They also added that a friend of theirs who helped with posting on 80snewsscreens has spun off a @90snewsscreens account, so check it out too!

We reached out to Lisa Yaszek, a Regents Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech, where she researches and teaches science fiction as a global language crossing centuries, continents, and cultures, who shared some very interesting insights on old-school screen grabs.

“There are two main differences between current news screen grabs and those from the 1980s. First and foremost, current news screen grabs have much higher resolution rates: people and places are presented in clear detail with seemingly little inappropriate color shifting or pixilation,” she said.

“Second, the graphic design framing these images and presenting key information has become much more sophisticated as well. Subtitles that fade into the background or cover the people being filmed are replaced by small but easy-to-read ones that are placed in ways that complement rather than impede the visual narrative, while stock images are replaced by customized ones that match the verbal narrative presented in the story at hand.”