Has anyone else been less than satisfied with major cable news (I rarely watch broadcast news) coverage of the Democratic National Convention? It seems to me that they spend most of their time with talking head pundits telling you what is going on at the convention rather than letting you watch the proceedings and decide for yourself what is transpiring. They only show the major, primetime speeches and diss the rest of the interesting, if occasionally boring, speeches and goings on. Could it be that they have an agenda to foment or are they just to cheap to spend the money to have actual reporters actually report. I have taken to watching the CSPAN coverage, which simply lets the speakers speak without all the punditry. MSNBC has had the most palatable coverage but they have been pretty much Democrat cheerleaders. CNN and Fox continue to find controversy where there is none, searching the hall far and wide until they find that one Clinton delegate who tearfully admits they still are having a hard time accepting Barack Obama as the nominee, setting them up as a salient exemplar of "massive" dissension in the ranks. Oh well, after all, they wouldn't have jobs unless they were able to create the controversy they hunger for, especially where there is none. Just another indication that the media is no longer about reporting the news and has become mere "infotainment". Maybe I'll go see a movie instead.
3 responses to "An Out of Control Punditocracy"
Major cable news networks have a problem. They are trying to contain, control and make up the story. I've taken to watching CSPAN for coverage, you see every speech without mediocre analysis. I can think for myself.
It will be interesting to see if the coverage is more expansive next week.
Absolutely. I've been complaining about this for some time now. What's most irritating is the way the MSM don't cover what the candidates have said; instead, they cover whether they said what they were supposed to or how effective they were. Maybe they should just let us hear for ourselves.
By the way, welcome! Looking forward to more commentary like this.
They have to report controversy because unity doesn't sell and unity doesn't gain interest. It is unfortunate but it is the reality.