Anchorman II had some very poignant eye opening statements about the dowfall of real news

[Quixote1818]

Under all the stupid humor were some really hard hitting shots fired at what 24 hour news has done to real news. It also was making some obvious stabs at FOX with all the patriotic BS they started to use. As Burgundy says in a desperate attempt to get ratings, "Lets give them what they want to hear not what they need to hear." I can't help but wonder if there was an actual moment when someone said that line at CNN or one of the other networks. The moment that statement was said for real, was the moment our democracy was struck with a devastating blow and has begun to crumble ever since.

[yuiyoshida]

1. I really think ALL OF TV died

long ago. I don't have one any more.. its probably buried in a landfill, with it, decent programs. RIP

[Egalitarian Thug]

2. So they're going to lay the blame on Ted Turner and his creation.

I'm sure this history will be successfully re-written within the next few months, but it was the networks that killed the news and they did it years before Turner had even inherited WTBS Atlanta. This was the battle that Paley and Cronkite, among many others, fought to save news in general and television news in particular. They told us what would happen and they turned out to be more right than they feared.

Media consolidation didn't start under Clinton or even reagan, it was solidified as the status quo when the Big Three Networks were given protection from the anti-trust laws in addition to free use of our air. When the executives won and the news departments were first, forced to compete with entertainment programming, and eventually perverted into the infotainment (sans info) abominations we have today.

[MisterP]

3. "On Bended Knee" had a lot about the big changes to the media 1979-today

[spanone]

4. k&r...