Where is the news?
Click to viewThe above clip is from CNN's "Reliable Sources," and within that segment three commentators and the host discuss the "Stewart-O'Reilly Feud." What I like about it, though, is the commentator at the end who asks why all this cable news airtime doesn't make for more honest and in-depth reporting. He asks why we don't cover ALL of the town halls, instead of just sound bytes, for example. He says he thought this was what cable news would be, but it isn't the case.
I think American citizens are definitely overeager to be entertained instead of informed: I don't know where PBS's newshour sits in the ratings, but I suspect it's very low. And yet it's the least sensational, least partisan, least anything but pure news. It's also free, both in cost, and of ads. Yet of all the networks, it's FOX who is tops for news. Many people will tell you they get their news from O'Reilly, or Olberman, or Maddow, or even Stewart or Colbert. Certainly they have a right to do this. But is it a responsible way to get the majority of your information?
Of course, if you want a clearer, unbiased picture, you're going to have to work for it. Where is journalism? How did we lose it? How can we get it back? I love Stewart, and I do watch him regularly, though he's not my only source for news. Wouldn't it be great if he had to work that much harder for material? Wouldn't it be incredible if he weren't constantly nominated for journalistic awards? Something tells me he'd be the first to applaud.