Sandra Cisneros' books such as 'The House on Mango Street' were packed with rich colors because "color is a language, and either you are bilingual or not. Either you understand the color, or the color needs translation." According to one Du Pont Automotive color specialist in 1994, "All that neon fluorescent ski wear in the mid to late 1980s created a revolution in perception and comfort with color. The normal banker wouldn’t wear that to work then, but today (in 1994) the corporate guy wears a purple tie. Now color is something that suggests luxury." It was explained, "In the mid-1960s purple appeared on muscle cars like the 'plum crazy' Dodge Charger. And Cadillac has long offered purple. Avocado green was huge in the late 1960s to early 1970s, eventually withering as lime green. But experts say that green has become a new neutral. And never have so many auto makers gambled on purple."
On television in the 1990s, each newsmagazine came in different colors. In covering the world, each newsmagazine offered its own perspective. Andrew Heyward of '48 Hours' recounted in 1993, "When the networks began putting on a number of new newsmagazines several years ago, the economics of the shows was a key force in their gaining slots in the prime-time schedules." An ABC News representative maintained, "Entertainment shows usually have a finite life span and, with some exceptions, they tend to be either hits or they're canceled. What we've learned with newsmagazines is that they take time to build and grow. It's possible that this trend will peak. But if the talent, format and stories are right, a newsmagazine can renew itself because reality is compelling and, at least in theory, you can never run out of stories."
It was noted, "Many network newsmagazines promote themselves as an in-depth look at topical subjects and breaking news stories." Neal Shapiro of 'Dateline NBC' insisted, "We define our show differently, so that news is not just what appears on the front page." Andrew observed, "The 10 o'clock strip is a huge thing, an amazing phenomenon. The affiliates love it because it feeds a news-oriented audience into local news."
Ed Turner of CNN believed, "Newsmagazines have taken the place of serious news gathering...In hard news, you go and stake out Somalia, go and live in Bosnia, plop down in Haiti with a crew, producers and reporters and follow the story as long as it takes. Let's not forget here what serious newsgathering is all about. It's going to unscripted events where you don't have control and seeing them play through to some kind of end. It's not easy. It's not cheap. It's not a lot of giggles." Andrew acknowledged, "When you think about it, newsgathering for newscasts is inherently inefficient. But at newsmagazines, we only go out and shoot stuff that's going to be on our show. Then we put it on and sell commercials to pay for it...Newsmagazines are a highly efficient way to amortize and maximize resources."
Hugh Downs of '20/20' made the remark in 1994, "Two generations ago (the 1970s), stories didn't make the evening news unless they involved geopolitics or the military. As a result, an awful lot of important information went unreported, especially stories about family issues, consumer scams, and health. Lowell Thomas just wouldn't do those types of stories. But now Peter Jennings does, and so do we on '20/20.'" Britt Hume added, "There's no use wringing your hands. News used to be coverage of things that were momentous. Now (1994) people are interested in things that are gripping but less momentous. As the world changes, the news will change with it."
