Teaser
Here’s an idea for a drinking game. You and your friends gather around the TV to watch CNN. Every time they further debase their once-proud heritage as a real news organization, slam a tequila shot. By evening’s end, you’ll all be legless.
I almost never look at the channel anymore but last month I alighted on them by mistake while channel flipping. This was the day of the Senate hearings where they grilled Rumsfeld over his handling of the war. Wolf Blitzer throws to a commercial by saying something like this:
“Senator Hillary Clinton comes out swinging against a prominent member of the Bush cabinet. More after the break.”
Yes, you heard him. He teased a hard news story. Now this is a standard practice with fluff stories, especially the exploitatively hyped consumer safety genre:
“A seemingly innocuous product you have in your house is scheming to kill your children! We’ll tell you which one after these messages.”
But real news? Yegads! What’s next?
“The President declares war against a Middle Eastern nation. Which one? The answer might surprise you!”