What happened to the liberal media elite . . .and how can we get them to come back?
Hell, at this point, I'll even take a conservative media elite. I'd just like the word "elite" to come back to the news.
Remember when news shows and newspapers were informative and the talking heads were kinda boring? Remember when they used fact checkers and didn't just insult each other?
It's a vague memory for me too, actually. But at least a few years ago I didn't have to hear the Headline News anchor repeat what Clark in Louisiana thinks. And then beg me to send in my own comments.
Look, if I want to know what the "average" person is thinking I'm sure I can find out through the magical powers of the blogosophere. Or Facebook. Not that I'm sure WHY I care what some person I don't know, whose credentials are not checked and could in fact be one really bored 13 year old boy.
But even if I was interested. . .does that mean it has to be on the NEWS?
Opinions are not news - that's why they're not on the front page of the newspaper. And while I understand that it may be challenging to air the news 24-7, do we really have to resort to sharing the texts of people bored in the drive-thru line at McDonald's? There are lots of wars going on, you know. There's this continent called Africa where people are actually being slaughtered. There's a scary flu virus. There's yet another "family values" congressman caught cheating. There's a new season of Friday Night Lights, for God's sake.
Good-bye CNN. . .now that you've lowered yourself to my standards, I don't want you anymore.
4 comments:
I often long for the good old days of investigative journalism, all the news that's fit to print, and so on. I'm not sure that they ever existed outside of old movies, but what they show today certainly isn't news in my opinion. The few times the media actually focuses on something that's newsworthy, the hound it to death- literally. The second they run out of real information they start calling in "experts" to speculate and interview "witnesses" who may or may not have actually be present at any point before, during, or after the actual news event took place. Blech. I don't watch the news. I wait until something important happens (which you find out very quickly on Twitter and Facebook) and then go straight to the AP articles. That's where all the news stations get their info from anyway, and I'm blessedly spared from Anna Anchorwoman's opinion on the whole matter.
I relate to this because in my former (childless) life, I worked in the news business. The problem is two fold. First, news used to be a loss leader for TV. Networks didn't expect to make money on it. Because of this, they didn't expect high ratings and could just report facts with no spin. As soon as it started turning profits, suddenly the genius programming execs started putting pressure on the news guys to deliver ratings. That meant sensational stories and good looking journalists. Secondly, people want to hear things that validate what they feel. That's why conservatives watch Fox News, and liberals watch MSNBC. It "speaks" to them. Until either of these two things change, news will never be news.
I am embarassed to admit that I was actually a broadcast journalism major in college. One of the biggest rules they taught us was write and speak to an 8th grade level. Sadly, that is most of this country in those "fly-over" states there in the middle. What really makes me insane is how they put on more news shows (i.e. a 4, yes 4 hour Today show) and only have 2 1/2 - 3 minutes per half hour actually devoted to somewhat real news. Mostly it's about fashion, gossip, and whatever is going to premiere tonight in their 9 o'clock time slot. It's not even worth watching...Alex
@Alex Fitzpatrick.They taught you to write and speak to an 8th grade level, huh? I think they were overly optimistic. I actually love to read comments after stories, it's a great way to gauge the "true feelings" of it's readership. Unfortunately, however, most of the time I find myself wanting to go back to school for my MofE so I can teach critical thinking and civics to 10 year old's.....gotta catch 'em while they're young and open to ideas ;)I'll still read cnn, but only so I can roll my eyes at The Frisky.
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