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Recently, Jack Cafferty refused to report on the Lindsay Lohan DUI. Cafferty is known for being one of the few people left on the news who is against reporting stories like this, that have no real relevance to the American public.
How has American news, and news in general for that matter (anyone who thinks the BBC is free of these idiotic stories is very much mistaken), gotten to this point? I understand that the ratings game is huge, but how can there not be at the very least one last remaining bastion of sensible reporting? I suppose there's C-Span, but while Washington Journal is a great show it can only take the channel so far.
How has American news, and news in general for that matter (anyone who thinks the BBC is free of these idiotic stories is very much mistaken), gotten to this point?
The free market. This really isn't a recent thing.
I'm actually impressed that he did that live. However, I wouldn't say every single news reporter doesn't feel the same way; some of them may not just be as gutsy to do it in public.
Then again, I don't actually watch TV at all, so I'm technically oblivious and uneducated in these matters, so I may be wrong.
Go CBC woo! Government sponsored and payed for TV, no need to pander to the consumers.
I honestly dont watch enough CBC news to make that claim, I generally stick to the http://www.CBC.ca/news/ website, and there is a noticable lack of that type of coverage there.
In the US we do have C-Span, which is government sponsored and unbiased and reports on the political issues at hand, but the problem is that it devotes itself solely to those issues, and in the most uninteresting way possible, with constant broadcasts of Congressional hearings and various meetings. They rarely sit back and discuss the issues, except for on Washington Journal, which has call-ins and guest speakers. Also, they don't discuss anything outside of US politics and US international relations. As a result, they rarely talk about international news and economics in general.
FirstComradeStalin on
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratorMod Emeritus
In the US we do have C-Span, which is government sponsored and unbiased and reports on the political issues at hand, but the problem is that it devotes itself solely to those issues, and in the most uninteresting way possible, with constant broadcasts of Congressional hearings and various meetings. They rarely sit back and discuss the issues, except for on Washington Journal, which has call-ins and guest speakers. Also, they don't discuss anything outside of US politics and US international relations. As a result, they rarely talk about international news and economics in general.
It also doesn't report so much as it transcribes, which is a pretty important distinction.
Also, the C-Span call-ins are probably the stupidest people on the planet.
These kind of stories are good for the "feel good" item at the end of the show i.e. some dumbfuck celebrity finds out that the law doesn't give a shit what company your daddy owns or who he plays golf with.
When this is the third or fourth item it's pretty lame.
These kind of stories are good for the "feel good" item at the end of the show i.e. some dumbfuck celebrity finds out that the law doesn't give a shit what company your daddy owns or who he plays golf with.
When this is the third or fourth item it's pretty lame.
If only it actually worked that way. The popular celebrities always recieve much less than the minimum reasonable sentence, and the unpopular ones always will recieve much harsher than required treatment.
I wonder what would happen to me if I was found driving under the influence with a suspended license while having narcotics in my posession. I dont think I would be out of jail for a long time.
I wonder what would have happened had OJ Simpson's wife been black, and if he had been a star player when she died. Would that media circus ever have happened / would he even have been charged? Sure he was found innocent, but he's also a periah now.
In the US we do have C-Span, which is government sponsored and unbiased and reports on the political issues at hand, but the problem is that it devotes itself solely to those issues, and in the most uninteresting way possible, with constant broadcasts of Congressional hearings and various meetings. They rarely sit back and discuss the issues, except for on Washington Journal, which has call-ins and guest speakers. Also, they don't discuss anything outside of US politics and US international relations. As a result, they rarely talk about international news and economics in general.
It also doesn't report so much as it transcribes, which is a pretty important distinction.
Also, the C-Span call-ins are probably the stupidest people on the planet.
The News Hour with Jim Lehrer Or does PBS not count as government sponsored programing now?
moniker on
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratorMod Emeritus
edited July 2007
PBS is pretty good, but it and NPR have been hitting a lot of patches of political meddling over the past, oh, seven years or so.
I detest NPR with a furious furious passion. The only consistently worthwhile program is the news. The rest of it is largely self important masturbatory bullshit. God I hate NPR.
VishNub on
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratorMod Emeritus
edited July 2007
I like NPR. It's pretty much the only radio I'll listen to.
In the US we do have C-Span, which is government sponsored and unbiased and reports on the political issues at hand, but the problem is that it devotes itself solely to those issues, and in the most uninteresting way possible, with constant broadcasts of Congressional hearings and various meetings. They rarely sit back and discuss the issues, except for on Washington Journal, which has call-ins and guest speakers. Also, they don't discuss anything outside of US politics and US international relations. As a result, they rarely talk about international news and economics in general.
In Canada, we also have something similar. Actually, in B.C. we have two - CPAC for federal stuff (such as Question Period, which is probably the most entertaining thing on TV, and various Commons committees) and another one (which I forget the name of) for provincial stuff. Basically, they're just televised proceedings of Parliament or the Legislature, but sometimes CPAC even airs arguments in the SCC.
As far as actual reporting on politics and the like, CBC/SRC is a fucking god-send. Global, CTV (the two largest private english speaking networks) and TVA (largest private french speaking network) all have really horrible political coverage. My favourite show on CBC Newsworld is Politics with Don Newman - when Parliament is in session, it covers (live) question period every day, and then has a full broadcast a few hours later where it has really great panels and discussions. I'm pretty sure you can watch it online for free, too. Nothing else really comes close on TV up here when it comes to federal political coverage.
"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people."
This is a retarded generalization.
People like discussing celebrities because it's a big common bond that's accessible to everyone. They're people who have money, idleness and thus the inclination to either use or waste it - and everyone loves knowing that some combination of those doesn't necessarily make people happy.
Dude, you're discussing people. Stop being a small mind!
It'd be nice to think that this is a new trend in reporting, that some "journalists" are going to start insisting on doing the news, instead of what passes for news these days.
I mean, it's not, but it would be nice to think that.
"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people."
This is a retarded generalization.
People like discussing celebrities because it's a big common bond that's accessible to everyone. They're people who have money, idleness and thus the inclination to either use or waste it - and everyone loves knowing that some combination of those doesn't necessarily make people happy.
Dude, you're discussing people. Stop being a small mind!
Yeah, you small minded small-minder. Why aren't you discussing ideas like us large-minded people?
Seriously though, I personally don't have any predilection to talking about celebrities. My own life, while small and unimportant is interesting enough to keep me focused on it.
I dunno fellas, I thinks teh peoples that're infatuated with celebrities are almos' as cool as dos guys who spend their time arguing o'er the intrawubs, an' in doin' so take time away from serius discussion by peoples who studys an' write books 'bout stuff. Seruius yo.
I'll admit I love some celebrity gossip every now and then. It's just fun to watch people get millions of dollars so easily and then piss their lives away (or do awesome things with it, like Johnny Depp buying an island).
I HATE it when it's reported on normal news programs, though. HATE IT. Leave that shit for Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, TMZ.com and the like. It doesn't belong on fucking CNN!
If they report on which movie won Best Picture at the Oscars the day after the awards, then fine. Paris Hilton's jail sentence and Lindsay Lohan's DUI? NO.
I dunno. I love NPR. One of the things I looked forward to about coming home from college was driving my car so I could listen to NPR, because driving is the best time to listen to the radio and when I wasn't driving I found it hard to make time/sit still and do nothing else but listen to the radio while at school.
Because they love themselves SO MUCH. Also so much of their stuff is utterly trivial human interest crap that they like to pretend is important. And Garrison Keillor can choke on a dick.
I detest NPR with a furious furious passion. The only consistently worthwhile program is the news. The rest of it is largely self important masturbatory bullshit. God I hate NPR.
It'd be nice to think that this is a new trend in reporting, that some "journalists" are going to start insisting on doing the news, instead of what passes for news these days.
I mean, it's not, but it would be nice to think that.
There are still a few holdouts (Christiane Amanpour comes to mind), but in the age of essentially monolithic corporate control of media, I can't see much hope that things are going to turn around. I'd like to think that the Internet can serve this role, and there are certainly lots of great sites for actual news, but the proportion of trivia is probably higher than in the traditional news media.
Interesting stories. Excellent music journalism. International outlook.
Extremely liberal. I heard someone on this board actually complain that the stocks trading / business segments were too right-wing. I was like, y'know, economics and business. Just sayin'.
But as long as I have my precious Economist with me the sillier aspects of NPR can do me no harm.
Posts
Honestly I don't know why people care so much. I think they should just drag her out into the street and shoot her in the mouth.
jim jam briskin for president!
Then again, I don't actually watch TV at all, so I'm technically oblivious and uneducated in these matters, so I may be wrong.
Or just do it like Japan and have strippers.
how i wish it were true.
This is what people get for not hanging out with us crazy folk.
I honestly dont watch enough CBC news to make that claim, I generally stick to the http://www.CBC.ca/news/ website, and there is a noticable lack of that type of coverage there.
MWO: Adamski
Also, the C-Span call-ins are probably the stupidest people on the planet.
That's what makes the show so damn entertaining
When this is the third or fourth item it's pretty lame.
If only it actually worked that way. The popular celebrities always recieve much less than the minimum reasonable sentence, and the unpopular ones always will recieve much harsher than required treatment.
I wonder what would happen to me if I was found driving under the influence with a suspended license while having narcotics in my posession. I dont think I would be out of jail for a long time.
I wonder what would have happened had OJ Simpson's wife been black, and if he had been a star player when she died. Would that media circus ever have happened / would he even have been charged? Sure he was found innocent, but he's also a periah now.
MWO: Adamski
The News Hour with Jim Lehrer Or does PBS not count as government sponsored programing now?
In Canada, we also have something similar. Actually, in B.C. we have two - CPAC for federal stuff (such as Question Period, which is probably the most entertaining thing on TV, and various Commons committees) and another one (which I forget the name of) for provincial stuff. Basically, they're just televised proceedings of Parliament or the Legislature, but sometimes CPAC even airs arguments in the SCC.
As far as actual reporting on politics and the like, CBC/SRC is a fucking god-send. Global, CTV (the two largest private english speaking networks) and TVA (largest private french speaking network) all have really horrible political coverage. My favourite show on CBC Newsworld is Politics with Don Newman - when Parliament is in session, it covers (live) question period every day, and then has a full broadcast a few hours later where it has really great panels and discussions. I'm pretty sure you can watch it online for free, too. Nothing else really comes close on TV up here when it comes to federal political coverage.
Dude, you're discussing people. Stop being a small mind!
I mean, it's not, but it would be nice to think that.
Yeah, you small minded small-minder. Why aren't you discussing ideas like us large-minded people?
I HATE it when it's reported on normal news programs, though. HATE IT. Leave that shit for Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, TMZ.com and the like. It doesn't belong on fucking CNN!
If they report on which movie won Best Picture at the Oscars the day after the awards, then fine. Paris Hilton's jail sentence and Lindsay Lohan's DUI? NO.
XBL: QuazarX
I dunno. I love NPR. One of the things I looked forward to about coming home from college was driving my car so I could listen to NPR, because driving is the best time to listen to the radio and when I wasn't driving I found it hard to make time/sit still and do nothing else but listen to the radio while at school.
NPR fucking rules.
Dude...Car Talk!
IOS Game Center ID: Isotope-X
There are still a few holdouts (Christiane Amanpour comes to mind), but in the age of essentially monolithic corporate control of media, I can't see much hope that things are going to turn around. I'd like to think that the Internet can serve this role, and there are certainly lots of great sites for actual news, but the proportion of trivia is probably higher than in the traditional news media.
IOS Game Center ID: Isotope-X
No you don't.
Interesting stories. Excellent music journalism. International outlook.
Extremely liberal. I heard someone on this board actually complain that the stocks trading / business segments were too right-wing. I was like, y'know, economics and business. Just sayin'.
But as long as I have my precious Economist with me the sillier aspects of NPR can do me no harm.