Better cable news, please

[babylonsister]

http://mediamatters.org/blog/200908070030

Better cable news, please

August 07, 2009 2:49 pm ET by Jamison Foser


For the past several hours, the journalists -- anchors and guests -- on MSNBC have been talking about health care town halls, and protests, and angry people, without ever once, as far as I've noticed, actually discussing a single fact about health care, or proposed reforms.

At one point, anchor Savannah Guthrie said criticism of the staged protests ignores the fact that people have legitimate concerns about health care reforms. What are those concerns? Guthrie didn't say. Why are they legitimate? Guthrie didn't say.

At another, an MSNBC anchor interviewed New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny; the entire conversation was about the White House's preferred messaging about the town halls -- not a word of substance about health care.

Another segment featured two guests: former Democratic Congressman David Bonior, and a Republican strategist -- I think it was Todd Harris. The entire conversation was about town hall meetings, and who is yelling louder, and what can be done to keep people from yelling, and who has yelled at what events in the past -- literally not a word about, you know, health care. (The guests didn't cover themselves in glory, either, playing along with the inside-baseball lets-focus-on-process-rather-than-policy nonsense.)

This is madness. Madness.

There is absolutely no value in spending hour after hour saying "So, people are angry, aren't they?" "Yep, they sure are." "But the protests are being organized by interest groups." "But they have valid concerns! And they're angry!"

Nothing good comes of this. Tell us what the concerns are. Tells us if they are based in fact. Tell us the truth about health care, and about proposed reforms.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. +1

[izquierdista]

2. Not necessary

Who needs it? Next you'll be telling me I need a better Betamax and a better telegraph service.

[babylonsister]

3. I think it's necessary that cable should concentrate on the facts

surrounding why people are fighting vs. the arguments. Screw the salaciousness of this and give us some facts. That'd be refreshing.

[spin]

4. The media can't tell you the truth...

if they honestly reported the facts, people would support single payer health care.

But they can lie and they do.

Remember the average working man or woman in this country is a mere feudal serf slaving away for the big, all controlling lords and masters of the big corporations.

The corporations own us and they also own the politicians we elect and the news media we listen to.

We will get health care reform and it will suck and cost more and provide less than what we already have.

The fix is in.

[babylonsister]

8. Good point-then they'd have to be part of selling something good

for Americans. What a shame that wouldn't be their primary goal.

[Jkid]

5. That's the problem with cable tv news today.

They do not focus on the actual issues. When they do focus on the issues at hand, they mostly focus on the gossip behind it.

[LunaSea]

6. Can't improve it, it only adds more channels...

Sort of......

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

7. TV news departments now focus around entertaininment and drama

Drama is conflict, as they say, and TV news is now run like film studio story departments. Development executives want to show struggle, adversity, and conflict. The actual facts behind the story don't matter, as long as they can keep people watching the drama. TV in general has degenerated. The History Channel shows UFOs (I like the idea of UFOs but can they be classified as actual history?), monsters, ghosts, ice road truckers, guys cutting down trees and occasionally a Hitler rally. The Science Channel has almost no hard science and would rather show how jelly beans or golf balls are made. Even most of the new films shown on the cable movie channels suck. If it weren't for boxing, of which I am a big fan, or Turner Classic Movies, I don't think I'd have a TV set in my house.

[waiting for hope]

9. Maddow is the only one I trust

these days to get to the real bones of an issue. I just hope she can stay on with the current format she has and isn't forced to censor.

[Brigid]

10. Excellent point.

Too bad the kooks are grabbing all the attention while the actual nuts and bolts of the proposals that are out there get nothing. No wonder this country is in the shape it's in. :(

[Tulio]

11. +1

~Tulio