MSNBC is one of my favorite shows, typically watch it for hours daily. What I do not care for is their annoying habit of fabricating BREAKING NEWS, emboldened in red at the screen bottom, for ordinary daily events, dated stories, continuances of a status quo, or for what the guest of the hour has to say about something. This is simply ‘fake’ breaking news.
BREAKING NEWS, properly, is a newsworthy event which is breaking during the day, or broke during the overnight, with leeway for further new developments during the following days. A mass shooting in progress, a notable death, a notable court decision, a bombing these days, a natural disaster, something truly newsworthy and just happening often in the moment, or a continuance of something important which is ongoing, such as taliban takeover in Afghanistan. Usually after a day or two ‘breaking news’ should be substituted with ‘updates’.
BREAKING NEWS is NOT what about half MSNBC news hour hosts generally put up as BREAKING NEWS. Here are some examples I’ve seen the past year., in their totality:
1. BREAKING NEWS; Gymnasts go maskless in Miami. Then a short video of ~50 gymnasts riding exercise bikes, most all maskless. This is insulting. No more breaking news than a parking lot fender bender.
2. BREAKING NEWS: Republicans divided on vaccine push. Whee. On Trump as well, but this was well known for months, not BREAKING NEWS.
3. BREAKING NEWS: {Capitol riot] Jan 06 committee may subpoena GOP members. It becomes breaking news when actually subpoenaed, not just that some might be. This gem was on Nicole Wallaces show august 2, as if it wasn’t known subpoenas were possible for a couple months.
4. BREAKING NEWS: One on one with state dept spokesperson.. A dozen issues breaking NOW! On our show! From a govt official whose name you would not recognize!
I have seen simply the names of guests as BREAKING NEWS, as in BREAKING NEWS: Bernie Sanders. I waited 30 seconds to see what the breaking news from good man Bernie was, when they cut to commercial. Came back on, did not change for 10 seconds when they dropped it. This is sensationalism. It is annoying, deceptive, and MSNBC is doing it for self serving reasons. Maybe MSNBC saw a nielson or gallup survey which noted that when BREAKING NEWS appeared on screen, it attracted viewers and retained viewers and made ratings spike. So some genius said ‘why don’t we put up BREAKING NEWS, ALL THE TIME? We will attract viewers, retain viewers, and our ratings will spike!“ Sorry chaps, not supposed to work that way.
Some hosts, or their producers, evidently forbid fake breaking news. I rarely see it on Morning Joe/Mika or Rachel Maddow, tho on occasion is not a stigma. I have seen it to varying annoying degrees from 9am Stephanie to 11pm Brian Wms, including Todd, Melber, Mohedin, Joy, O’Donnell, plus Nicole Wallace who seems to be the biggest offender. A typical Nicole show, not counting commercials or actual breaking news, is 75% or more fake breaking news. She’s a fine lady and announcer, but she really should stop and apologize. Whoever thought up this fake policy should be fired or demoted. Hosts must condone and know this is ongoing, how could they not? Nicole Wallace substituted for Rachel Maddow august 3rd & 5th, and not a fake breaking news did I see on Rachel’s 9pm hour, tho it abounds on Nicole’s 4 - 6 pm show.
One way to determine if a headline is truly BREAKING NEWS is to corroborate it with another major reputable TV station, my favorite is CNN. CNN is good with it, generally reserves BREAKING NEWS for truly breaking news. Often MSNBC calls it BREAKING NEWS while CNN calls it a New Development, or Update etc. This does not corroborate BREAKING NEWS, at least two reputable stations must specifically call it breaking news. Even FOX would do (tho FOX too often stands for Full Of X-crement). CNN does not employ fake breaking news, tho sometimes it inadvertently lists some I would call fake, but that is understandable and excusable if not done on a regular basis. If I see fake breaking news on MSNBC I will change the channel quickly, unless the issue is of particular interest.
A continuance of status quo is generally not breaking news. A common MSNBC ploy is to refer to old dated stories and use the word ‘continue’ in some form, to segue into their next discussion topic and to present to viewers a constant barrage of ‘new’ breaking news. Such as:
1. BREAKING NEWS: Arizona GOP vote audit continues. (tweaking a 4 month old story, yawn)
2. BREAKING NEWS: McConnell continues to oppose Jan 06 committee.
3. BREAKING NEWS: The fight to protect voting rights continues.
4. BREAKING NEWS: Jan 06 defendants continue to appear in court.
5. BREAKING NEWS: Trump and allies continue push to…..
Some others:
BREAKING NEWS: Congress has yet to make headway on other major issues - ‘No News’ can be ‘good news’, but is rarely ‘breaking news’.
BREAKING NEWS: Republicans refuse to listen to hearings. - DItto. Exploitation of the hearings.
BREAKING NEWS: Cohen says he {weisselburg] will flip. - Conjecture, is Cohen psychic? You could win the lottery, but it's not breaking news. PS- so far cohen is wrong.
BREAKING NEWS: Millions of Americans refusing to be vaccinated - aug 05. Duh, we know, Joy.
BREAKING NEWS: aug 05: Only 4.1% of Jamacains are vaccinated - Now do Borneo. Joy had a Jamaican guest on.
BREAKING NEWS: Tokyo Olympics to hold closing ceremonies sunday - Nicole. Oooh, you mean they’re not going to last forever?
The half hour evening news shows 6:30 pm, CBS, ABC, and NBC, all engage fake breaking news but to a smaller extent and usually constrained to the first 15 minutes. They thereby corroborate 'fake breaking news' frequently. This does not qualify to make it truly breaking news. Recent example august 2021:
1 NBC: BREAKING NEWS: What's next for US women superstars? - you asking us or telling us, Lester? Obvious this is not breaking news, but just a story line with flashing red lights ‘Look here! Look here!’
Ordinary events, tweaked stale news, mundane quotes from interviewed guests, even concoctions, just about anything to break up a boring news day by sensationalizing, is all par for the course on a typical day on MSNBC.
Please stop it.
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