Cable news is destroying America…I know because I watch it 24/7

So after four years of living with super-basic cable, Dan and I finally broke down and got satellite TV. Now instead of flipping through just seven stations of absolutely nothing, we can flip through 100 stations of absolutely nothing. We’re so excited!
   
Ironically, the dish arrived just a few weeks after I indulged in a 30-minute rant with my friends about the evils of cable news. With so much air-time to fill, pundits and commentators on networks like Fox News and MSNBC spend hours hashing and re-hashing the day’s political news to the point that the lines between opinion and objective reporting are blurred, if not unabashedly ignored. As a result, there’s a lot of preaching to the choir going on over the airwaves these days. When you can simply tune in to whichever “reporter” best reflects your political views, you only sink deeper and deeper into your already held beliefs, which is never good for productive and enlightening dialog.

And yet I feel inexplicably drawn to the 24/7 coverage of the 2008 election. I rationalize my habit by telling myself that, as a responsible citizen, I should make sure I am an informed voter. (Too bad I’ve already made up my mind!) Maybe it’s the excitement of the sharp point-counterpoint debates of the commentators, or perhaps the flashing “breaking news” graphics that pop up with every little dip in Obama’s poll numbers or every slip of the stock market, or perhaps it’s the crawling news scroll that announces everything from Lindsey Lohan’s most recent relapse to the report of another soldier’s death in Iraq. I feel like I’m getting addicted to fast food for the brain.

However, today I had a moment of hope...a small serving of veggies among a day of trans-fatty analysis and partially hydroginated opinion polls. Flipping through my myriad of stations, I landed on good ole’ Georgia Public Broadcasting, where Jim Lehr was reporting the evening  news. The reports were long and somewhat academic. No bright graphics, no sound effects, and no spin. Lehr’s guests, who were experts on foreign relations and the economy, were actually  allowed to finish their sentences. It was refreshing. It was peaceful. It was a bit boring.

So while it’s nice to know that I can check the day’s headlines whenever I want with the click of a remote control, it’s also nice to know that there’s still some actual reporting going on out there…even though it’s on a station we already had.


Julie Goggans
Comment
What a good point!
Reply #1 on : Thu April 24, 2008, 21:33:58
I on the other hand I have such a hard time watching the news. Somehow the "doom and gloom" of the economy and policies that I have no real way of influencing just stresses me. I often find my self becoming a news "anorexic." My mother will mention something current and then look at me like I'm crazy when I have no idea what she is talking about.

So, lately I have been forcing myself to listen to the radio. Since I hate one or two minute stories that never actual tell me anything I have chosen to listen to NPR. They typically wait long enough for a story to happen before thier reporters start jabbering about things that haven't happened yet. Since it is radio they don't have those annoying news bits that flash continually at the bottom of the screen making my poor brain completely unable to concentrate on either the reporter or the bits. Unfortunately, for my recently turned over leaf NPR has been fund raising for about week or two and I have been once again forced to "fast" but at least now I am trying.
Micah
Comment
Re: Cable news is destroying America…I know because I watch it 24/7
Reply #2 on : Thu April 24, 2008, 23:39:31
Love the subject line.

Judi and I went the other way this week... cable is completely canceled, with nothing left but our broadband connection. If I want the news I'll read it. But I think there's a more basic problem that you're not addressing.

FoxNews and MSNBC (and even CNN) aren't about _news_. They're about _people_. It's all just more celebrity gossip, except in this case the celebrities are Obama and Clinton and McCain and whoever. Network news has long since stopped being about issues (don't believe me? Try catching a recent 60 minutes) and become just about personalities... the personalities of the anchor, of the reporter, of the special guest experts, and of the personalities of the people being reported on.

And frankly, I don't care about them enough to watch them, and certainly not when I get 20 minutes of commercials every hour.

Turn the news off. You won't miss it.
Mandy
Comment
so right
Reply #3 on : Fri April 25, 2008, 08:52:08
You have brought up a topic near and dear to me….
After having earned a b.a. in Communications, being editor of my college newspaper and working for about a year in TV news (WTVC channel 9, still the best around! despite the position I am about to take), I can unequivocally say that television news is more engaging, exciting and stimulating than it “used to be,” but it is less like *news,* at an extreme intellectual expense.
For example, it was very common for us newsy folks to decide which story would be at the top of the hour by using the adage, “if it bleeds, it leads.” Meaning, violence always won. Small-scale violence worked—a 10-car pile up on 75, for example, but large-scale violence (Iraq, terrorism, etc.) worked too.
To me…its like Fox News is far-right, CNN “tries” to be neutral, and MSNBC is pretty liberal…But none are really objective gatekeepers.
And honestly, I think most people want to watch news that is completely biased, opinionated and presented with lots of “spin”….. Bill O’Reilly’s No-Spin Zone is perhaps the best example of biased, entirely editorial reporting.
Honestly, I agree with you Rachel that GPB is the way to go, or with Julie listening to NPR…since they are not basing their income on ad revenue…those stations don’t have to pander to the lowest common denominator and report constantly on scandal, conflict, violence, sex and mayhem…
Mitch
Comment
Re: Cable news is destroying America…I know because I watch it 24/7
Reply #4 on : Fri April 25, 2008, 08:59:20
Well said Micah. I can't watch cable news here in PNG anyway, but don't miss it. Jim Lehr is great! He gives my brain time to process. Excellent post Rachel.
Rachel H. Evans
Comment
Bloggers helping or hurting?
Reply #5 on : Fri April 25, 2008, 09:28:55
Great comments. Do you guys think that the myriad of news bloggers our there are helping by keeping the press in check or are they hurting by putting more of the sensationalism out there?

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