Asklemmy

In a way this might be explained away with changing expectations by the audience or it's a way to grab audience attention. I think it also depends which media you consume and how that's funded. I think public broadcasters like the BBC are less likely to add music to their proper news segments than CBS because they don't need to sell commercials for pharmaceuticals with an unending list of side effects. In my European view, American news at least since CNN became a thing has always had an emphasis on form over function with more pretty people reading the news, sound effects, animated graphics, breaking news alerts, etc. Unfortunately, a lot of that has filtered through elsewhere as well.

Music on news is nothing new though. I remember Enya infused VTs of collapsing World Trade Centers and videos of the tsunami and exploding nuclear reactors in line with some trip hop beat. And I remember people getting mad about that back then as well.