Post by Don Quixote on Apr 20, 2010 6:40:16 GMT -5
I'm not sure if this belongs here or in Observers, and I know it's nothing new, but I've found it a bit more pervasive of late.
When did non-news become news? Seriously, when a news network isn't covering some damn celebrity sex scandal, they're talking about some vicious dog attack or a water-skiing squirrel. Last week, I was watching the news, and about TWENTY MINUTES of the news broadcast was devoted to Tiger Woods and his shtupapalooza. Twenty Goddamn minutes. It certainly screams "slow news week", and I would be quick to pass it off as such, if stuff like this didn't happen all the time. Even right now. I'm watching a story about the grounding of Europe's air fleet. That's a decent story. However, the news program decides to instead turn this serious international story into a damn human interest piece. They dragged a mother and father onto the show via satellite to decry the situation. Now, these people are just one of the hundreds, if not thousands of people inconvenienced by this stuff. I'm not trying to be cold to people's needs but, stuff like this is NOT news. It's sad, sure, but it's not something that's important, and it just makes our news media look stupid.
Funnily enough, though, they dragged Elliot Spitzer (Client 9) onto the program to talk about the Goldman Sachs investigation, and the guy actually has relevant experience in this area, since he was cracking down on Wall Street during his tenure in public service. He's not currently involved, though, so his expertise and actual knowledge of the situation could be called into question, but at least it seems like they're trying.
HOLLYWOOD PRODUCER'S WIFE IS MURDERED, AND HE IS THE ONLY SUSPECT! WHY ISN'T HE ARRESTED?!? Well, perhaps because the police don't have enough evidence to make a conviction stick. Or, perhaps because even though he's the only suspect, that doesn't preclude other possibilities. Maybe he has a solid alibi. Will they tell us that? Of course not, because then the story would be over in twenty seconds. Instead, they'll parade the wife's immediate family out to tell us how guilty he is. Why do they do this? It'll keep you intrigued enough to sit through the FIVE GODDAMN MINUTES OF COMMERCIALS that I am currently experiencing. Honestly, I could care less about this story, but watching the news helps me more accurately voice my problems with the news. It turns out, the police are still waiting on DNA results. And, apparently, since she would never leave the children with him, he OBVIOUSLY must be guilty. And he REPORTEDLY was having an affair. The Family has voiced that it must be he who is the guilty party. And they front loaded the Hell out of this story to make it sound like it's a travesty of justice, when in fact it's just a story that happened in another country, and the authorities there are just waiting for evidence to show up.
The other day, I tuned in channel four news (which is the network the Today Show is on, wherever you are). I try to watch different news programs every day, in order to try and see which things get caught in the shuffle (and I can only stand so much of Matt Lauer and Not Willard Scott... don't even get me started on Katie Couric. Yes, I know she's not on there any more.), and you'll never guess what I saw. I saw friggin' Elmo (the bane of Sesame Street) curiously standing behind the couch where THREE OF THE ANCHORS WERE SITTING accompanied by my very favorite anchor, Katie Couric, who apparently brought Elmo with her. What was the story? Katie Couric has lost her mind and thinks puppets are real? Nope, it turns out there's going to be a very Elmo Special Episode of Sesame street, slated to air in prime time, about the loss of a relative. Really, Katie? You had to take time away from the news covering the possible doorman/maintenance/etc. strike in the city to promote a prime-time television show?!? Listen, if you can't fill enough of the broadcast with actual news, just end it an hour early and host a talk show with the newscasters. That, at least would be honest. Of course, then people wouldn't pay as close attention to The Today Talk Show, because then the crap they prop up as "news" wouldn't have as much credibility on a talk show.
It's sad, though, that the news is about ratings. I only watch network news. I don't trust cable news, and I know that distrust is unfounded, since all of the news programs have a bias, but I like to think I'm helping out the little guy. And it doesn't really matter who you watch, since all the news outlets are owned by major corporations anyway. It's just sad to see integrity completely gone from the news media, since that's what it's supposed to be about. Of course, integrity doesn't bring in the viewers. Big boobs and Elmo do.
When did non-news become news? Seriously, when a news network isn't covering some damn celebrity sex scandal, they're talking about some vicious dog attack or a water-skiing squirrel. Last week, I was watching the news, and about TWENTY MINUTES of the news broadcast was devoted to Tiger Woods and his shtupapalooza. Twenty Goddamn minutes. It certainly screams "slow news week", and I would be quick to pass it off as such, if stuff like this didn't happen all the time. Even right now. I'm watching a story about the grounding of Europe's air fleet. That's a decent story. However, the news program decides to instead turn this serious international story into a damn human interest piece. They dragged a mother and father onto the show via satellite to decry the situation. Now, these people are just one of the hundreds, if not thousands of people inconvenienced by this stuff. I'm not trying to be cold to people's needs but, stuff like this is NOT news. It's sad, sure, but it's not something that's important, and it just makes our news media look stupid.
Funnily enough, though, they dragged Elliot Spitzer (Client 9) onto the program to talk about the Goldman Sachs investigation, and the guy actually has relevant experience in this area, since he was cracking down on Wall Street during his tenure in public service. He's not currently involved, though, so his expertise and actual knowledge of the situation could be called into question, but at least it seems like they're trying.
HOLLYWOOD PRODUCER'S WIFE IS MURDERED, AND HE IS THE ONLY SUSPECT! WHY ISN'T HE ARRESTED?!? Well, perhaps because the police don't have enough evidence to make a conviction stick. Or, perhaps because even though he's the only suspect, that doesn't preclude other possibilities. Maybe he has a solid alibi. Will they tell us that? Of course not, because then the story would be over in twenty seconds. Instead, they'll parade the wife's immediate family out to tell us how guilty he is. Why do they do this? It'll keep you intrigued enough to sit through the FIVE GODDAMN MINUTES OF COMMERCIALS that I am currently experiencing. Honestly, I could care less about this story, but watching the news helps me more accurately voice my problems with the news. It turns out, the police are still waiting on DNA results. And, apparently, since she would never leave the children with him, he OBVIOUSLY must be guilty. And he REPORTEDLY was having an affair. The Family has voiced that it must be he who is the guilty party. And they front loaded the Hell out of this story to make it sound like it's a travesty of justice, when in fact it's just a story that happened in another country, and the authorities there are just waiting for evidence to show up.
The other day, I tuned in channel four news (which is the network the Today Show is on, wherever you are). I try to watch different news programs every day, in order to try and see which things get caught in the shuffle (and I can only stand so much of Matt Lauer and Not Willard Scott... don't even get me started on Katie Couric. Yes, I know she's not on there any more.), and you'll never guess what I saw. I saw friggin' Elmo (the bane of Sesame Street) curiously standing behind the couch where THREE OF THE ANCHORS WERE SITTING accompanied by my very favorite anchor, Katie Couric, who apparently brought Elmo with her. What was the story? Katie Couric has lost her mind and thinks puppets are real? Nope, it turns out there's going to be a very Elmo Special Episode of Sesame street, slated to air in prime time, about the loss of a relative. Really, Katie? You had to take time away from the news covering the possible doorman/maintenance/etc. strike in the city to promote a prime-time television show?!? Listen, if you can't fill enough of the broadcast with actual news, just end it an hour early and host a talk show with the newscasters. That, at least would be honest. Of course, then people wouldn't pay as close attention to The Today Talk Show, because then the crap they prop up as "news" wouldn't have as much credibility on a talk show.
It's sad, though, that the news is about ratings. I only watch network news. I don't trust cable news, and I know that distrust is unfounded, since all of the news programs have a bias, but I like to think I'm helping out the little guy. And it doesn't really matter who you watch, since all the news outlets are owned by major corporations anyway. It's just sad to see integrity completely gone from the news media, since that's what it's supposed to be about. Of course, integrity doesn't bring in the viewers. Big boobs and Elmo do.