While in Japan for the past year, I missed (well, that’s not the right word) the continued degradation of American broadcast news. I don’t have a television right now, so I haven’t been watching television news since I got home.<\/p>\n
Last night, I caught an episode of CNN.<\/p>\n
How sad.<\/p>\n
It’s not even worth discussing the quality of news on television anymore. What was most shocking was how plastic and unreal it all appeared. They’ve managed to package reality in a way that is not real.<\/p>\n
And even what used to be basic rules of good journalism are now delivered with a wink and a tittering laugh as if to say, “How silly that we have to continue with this facade!”<\/p>\n
The moppet in the anchor chair practically exploded with enthusiasm while waving the latest edition of Time magazine before the camera — synergism at its most desperate in the AOL Time Warner kingdom. She forgot the disclaimer then, but managed to throw it in after the last segment, an in-house stroke job covering the $40 million sale of a penthouse<\/a> atop the new AOL Time Warner Center in New York City. In a perfect Elle Woods<\/a> moment (and I don’t mean that in a good way), she mentioned that the building in question was owned by CNN’s parent company, “but not that any of us here would ever be able to afford that apartment!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While in Japan for the past year, I missed (well, that’s not the right word) the continued degradation of American broadcast news. I don’t have a television right now, so I haven’t been watching television news since I got home. Last night, I caught an episode of CNN. How sad. It’s not even worth discussing… Continue reading Sigh…<\/span>