Yesterday Was TV News’ Most Humiliating Day
Yesterday was indeed TV news’ most humiliating day. In no way, shape or form could it have been compared with a day 10 years ago, since the TV culture and news cultures have evolved. Or is that the word? Yesterday television lived up to the late Fred Allen’s famous quote: “Television is a new medium. It’s called a medium because nothing is well-done.” On several fronts, it was like watching a car wreck — and here’s why.
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CNN and Fox were each too quick to broadcast the Supreme Court healthcare decision without digesting it properly.
I didn’t see anything wrong re: Ann Curry. Although very well compensated, by reports, being given four minutes to announce that you’re being dumped, let her say what she wants without over-scrutinizing it.
Such and easy thing to get right too. Considering CNN’s faltering ratings it would have been nice for them to remind everyone they are, or were, an actual news outlet while FOX is a GOP megaphone. Had CNN reported correctly while FOX blew it people might have remembered that fact. Instead, we got the reality check that CNN has in fact been abandoning its actual news format for years in an attempt to mimick FOX News in style and format, and apparently now in fact checking. Gotta wonder if the boys over at CNN will learn a lesson here before its too late and go back to what they used to be. I seriously doubt FOX has any intention of becoming a serious news outlet anytime soon.
Both events were shameful and both would have been handled better with professionals in charge. A minor quibble: the Allen quote is “It’s called a medium because nothing is rare and nothing is well-done.” Or have I been mis-lead all of these years.
It could now not be clearer that CNN is just as biased a cable news political tool of the Right as FOX. They were salivating at the prospect of the healthcare law being overturned, and were listening for it. They heard what they wanted to hear and announced it with glee, quickly spewing well-rehearsed lines to proclaim President Obama’s defeat along with it. They have been exposed now and we can only hope that other more professional media outlets overtake them in market share.
I have compassion for Ann Curry… that was fully human…
I confess to a little ‘schadenfreude’ when it comes to Fox’s hubris…
What is interesting — perhaps telling — is that CNN issued an apology for the error, while Fox predictably did not. Rather, a Fox executive stubbornly and arrogantly said: “Fox reported the facts as they came in.”
What facts? Fox’s “fair and balanced” facts?