We've got a Situation here.
Submitted by Hogfan on November 3, 2005 - 11:08am.
Soapbox
First the good news. CNN has promoted Anderson Cooper to primetime. While, at times, Cooper seems to "act" the news, he does show some semblance of journalistic integrity. Throughtout the Katrina coverage, I watched him call FEMA, Chertoff, Brown and Bush on the carpet. I watched him tear Trent Lott a new one -- and justifiably so -- over the horrific response to the storm. I came away thinking Cooper at least was in search of truth. That commitment is exactly what America needs, especially since we're losing our last ties to the honest, hard-working journalists of our past. Jennings, Brokaw, Rather, Koppel, Moyers are all gone or going. Hopefully, Cooper can be the first of a new generation of good reporters to fill their shoes.
And the bad news. Talk about your bipolar news events. Along with Cooper's promotion comes not only the firing of the network's best anchor, but the ascension of its worst news vehicle and its worst anchor. Yes, Aaron Brown is out. Worse, Wolf Blitzer and his train wreck of a "news" show, The Situation Room, will take over the primetime slot leading into Anderson Cooper's 360.
In my mind, The Situation Room (and Blitzer in particular) represent everything that's wrong with broadcast news today. The Situation Room is not about news at all. It's about spinning the news. It's about making the news look cool, and to hell with information. It's about big screen TVs, Google Earth and a disjointed logo that seems prophetically, pathetically representative of the show's coverage of daily events. It's awful. It's nauseating. It's a disservice to America. And it's just so damn Wolfy.
Wolf: "You're in the Situation Room."
Me: "And damn you, Wolf, we can't get out."
For more on the story, go here.
Here's my thinking about Cooper. I'm holding out hope. Before, his 360 show was not tooled as a primary news vehicle. It was targeted at a younger audience wanting softer news. My hope is, that if it is to be a primetime program, it will get "newsier." Like you noted, he showed competence in his coverage of Katrina, which is more than I can say for most reporters these days. if the network lets him channel ability working on real news, we might have something.
Or not.
360 wasn't just fluff, it was lazy fluff. Crytal meth and eating disorders are the old standbys that you cover when you can't think of anything else. (BTW does anyone else see the irony in Paula Zahn covering America's obsession with thinness?)
That's a great point. The "special reports" on 360 always seemed like reruns of MTV specials.
And a perfect segway to Paula Zahn -- what a waste of valuable airtime, she is.
Now, let's throw Darren Kagan under the bus. She's dating Rush Limbaugh, for God's sake. How can sane America trust her?
Miles O'Brien trying to explain to Darren Kagen why windshields fog up when it's cold out, and how if you open your window a bit it doesn't do that. No matter how many times he explained it, she just looked at him, eyes glazed over and said, "I don't understand." It went on like that for at least 5 minutes.
We're so obsessed with being thin because we're so damn fat.
And we love our bacon cheeseburgers and deep-fried cheesecake washed down with a Big Gulp® of high fructose corn syrup.
that conundrum is reflective of our society as a whole. We want low taxes, but lots of services. So just like we do with consumer goods, where we throw it on the credit card, we throw it on the national credit card and run up a deficit.
In the same way that we want to be thin but won't exercise the discipline needed to do it, we want a balanced budget but won't exercise the fiscal discipline needed to have it.
I know. People frustrate me. I suppose that's because I'm opposite on most issues. I eat healthy and I work out but I don't obsess over being in shape, I like services AND I don't mind paying taxes, I believe in pay-go and I carry no credit card debt.
Too much discipline, perhaps.
French Women Don't Get Fat?
They don't obsess over calories, they don't do all the stuff we do, but I tell you what. On the Paris Metro, the only fat people I saw were Americans.
there's plenty of room. And BBQ. And Mexican food. And pork rinds.
True about Manhattan. Last time we were in NY, we couldn't help but notice the size of people, compared to here. Not only their weight, but their height as well. For some reason, the average man in the South is taller.
I know that's true throughout Europe. Lots of reasons, I suppose. More walking, less decadent desserts, more vegetables, less processed foods, no high fructose corn syrup and on and on.
actually enjoy their food, instead of gulping it down. When you savor the food, enjoy it, and don't shove it down your throat and wash it down with a Big Gulp, you don't eat as much but you enjoy it more.
And eating less food but enjoying it more, folks, yields what?
Less total calories which means what?
Less blubber on your body!
First of all, I can't stand the man. His lips are securely super glued to the RW a$$.
Secondly, 3 freakin' hours!!!
Aaron, hope you find a home soon!
George Bush has had his day and he's bollixed it up.
I curse that one evening back in 1991, when Bernard Shaw was cowering under a desk while Wolf was left to broadcast live from Bagdad. That moment now seems appropriate foreshadowing for the state of journalism today.
Concerning Aaron Brown, is Bob Schieffer still considered "interim" at CBS? Might we see Brown's return to ABC?
light at the end of my tunnel as far as CNN went. Nothing against Anderson Cooper--I've always liked him though I did not like the content of his show 360--too much fluff. But he and Aaron Brown were the only two I did like there--the rests are dregs in the bottom of the cup, in varying degrees down to Kyra Phillips at the bottom. I also resent not having at least one calm, sane person who is intellectually capable and who has also graduated to training pants. If we follow this kind of trajectory to its logical final point we will all be watching MTV. Mainly I just really really liked Aaron Brown ever since he got there and yet have always been afraid he was doomed for his non-jazzy quiet approach, which I like very much.
Well. I can understand why you would want to give AC a two hour show. That was a good move, imho. He is young and fresh and brings a sharper perspective, an edginess that is refreshing and sometimes even, dare I say it, fun. But to do so at the expense of AB is assinine, to say the least. There are so many things you could do besides that! How about shaving an hour off Wolf's 'show'. After all, who sounds old and tired and more like fingernails on the blackboard; why, its Wolfie! Or cut out shrill, grating, nervous Paula. She seems to be one who needs to spend more time with her family, I mean, take a pill, Paula. The simplest solution would have been to give AB the evening news, the dinner hour, the supper hour, the family hour; as in AC's old spot. He is the most likely candidate to attract the Dan Rather evening news crowd, you know, the Walter Cronkite bunch, the thoughtful Americans, the ones with dignity, who tuned out years ago. Maybe they would tune back in. But nooo! Just throw that baby out with the bathwater, will ya!!!
Haven't sent it yet, will later, hoping others ill do the same.
...but he turned it down.
Read it somewhere or maybe heard it on Ed Schultz
George Bush has had his day and he's bollixed it up.
I am giving you a 10 for this Hogfan because I think this is very worthy of an email campaign and I hope others will rate it up as well and send a letter too.
The loss of AB is a loss of dignity and seriousness that CNN can't afford to lose. All the other networks are full of shrill and fearful voices and the US needs AB's calm, reassuring presence every nite, I believe.
email campaign alright Blackie! Your letter is perfect! Much better than the one I sent yesterday when I first heard this disappointing news...
Thanks to Sharon here's Klein's email addy:
Jon.Klein at turner.com
how strange that when Sharon posted this yesterday it was as an email addy - when I just previewed it had all the gobbeldy good and I had to change the @ with an "at"...
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places if you look at it right. - Hunter/Garcia
Let's just hope AB ends up on ABC or CBS so he can get greater exposure than he ever got on CNN. That would be poetic.
When you took on your 'new' job I congratulated you, and hoped that you would provide more news for thinking-viewers. In dismissing Mr. Brown, you have failed significantly in that endeavor.Mr. Cooper is fine; I have no complaints. But Mr. Blitzer either refuses to or is unable to provide straight and factual news, and simply does not provide decent analysis.There is no longer any reason to watch CNN.
"The Panic Room"??
More apt name for Wolfie's show
...in fact when CNN realigned its afternoon lineup and became "The Situation Room," I hung on every word.
But I had noticed that over the last several months Aaron Brown's "NewsNight" had been shackled, with less discussion of the issues of the day and more maudlin and sensational stories. It was no surprise that his ratings fell.
"Newsnight" provided the best in-depth analysis of important issues, but it stopped shortly after the election, it seems to me.
"Hardball" and Keith Olberman's "Countdown" have become my favorites. Chris Matthews hits hard and repeatedly on the spinning of the administration. Unfortunately it comes on right at my suppertime (5:00 p.m. here in the Mountains), so I record it and watch it during "Larry King Live" if he doens't have anybody good on, which is most of the time. ("A FULL HOUR WITH THE MOTHER OF RAPIST JOHN DOE!") Then I watch "Countdown" in its repeat slot at 10:00 MST.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
BE THE CHANGE you wish to see in the world.
If not us, WHO? If not now, WHEN?
"You're in the Situation Room."
Like I'm the one that's in there.
Aaron Brown was the only one I could stand on CNN.
I liked Anderson Cooper's coverage of Katrina, but if you look at what 360 was covering before that, it doesn't look good.