Sad News

Ok, I'm not talking about the news per se, but rather about news reporting. The problem is that there is a huge lack of good news reporting in this country. Partly this is because news has become so ratings-driven and therefore, sensationalized. For example, the whole world must spend countless hours looking at Britney's latest trip to the hospital rather than the local and national news that really affects us and our collective future most.

I even hate the "a big truck over turned on I-whatever in east bumblefuck this morning spilling milk and eggs and stopping traffic for miles," kind of story. This is only news if you live in east bumblefuck. For the 99.9% of us that don't live there, the anecdotal story is irrelevant. A much more meaningful story would have been to show us how the nation's roadways are becoming more or less safe to trucks in general. Spending hours focused on a single story like this tends to (a) make people believe that there might be national problem when their isn't and (b) waste valuable airtime that could have been used covering stories that really do matter.

I also don't like the political "talking heads" shows. I'm sure you've seen the shows where the democratic and republican automatrons square off and argue how their respective parties can do no harm, yet the opposing party can do no good (except of course to capitulate). The problem is that the very format of these shows ensures that the viewers don't get any useful information at all. Spin and half-truths are elevated such that it becomes more about the verbal game and less about political discourse. As an aside, I guess this is one of the reasons that Tim Russert will be sorely missed.

Shows that irk me the most are:

• 24hr news channels channels that contain so little news such as CNN. Although I try to avoid it, sometimes I end up watching it anyway.


• Shows that purport to be news but are in actuality just video editorials such as most of Fox News as well as Lou Dobbs (ARGH!!!)


• "Talking heads" shows such as McLaughlin group and Hardball. Of course I watch these too though.

So why are these damned shows still on the air? Why aren't they replaced by shows that are meaningful? Since I watch some of them, perhaps I too am to blame. Sigh.

Postscript: I must say what drove me to write this post. It was Lou Dobbs. I just read a story about how he believes that Bush should be impeached over the recent salmonella outbreak in tomatoes. GIVE ME A BREAK! Now to be clear, I really hate Bush, but impeach a president over a food poisoning? That's ridiculous! This reminds me why I can't stand to watch his show. Why does he have a show anyway?