The Old Coot is newsed out.
By Merlin Lessler
It was a single moment in time, 5pm, August 1st,
1980. But oh, what a moment! A frontal attack on American culture with a
catastrophic outcome. It came with a whimper, hardly noticed by an unsuspecting
population. Pundits laughed. Major TV network executives scoffed. Yet, the fuse
was lit and we now live with the bomb that exploded across the airwaves.
Because on that moment, 36 years ago, CNN launched their 24 hour-a-day news
channel.
It’s turned out to be one of the worst disasters in American
history. That’s a bit of a stretch. What happened at that moment in time isn’t
on a par with the invasion of Pearl Harbor, D-day, 9/11 or other disasters of
that ilk, but those aside, it was a significant attack on our way of life that
grew from an innocent beginning into a festering thorn in our side. Well, my
side anyway. .
When CNN launched its’ all day news format, it was met with
laughter. “Who would watch a channel that has news on all day?” – “How can they
ever find enough fodder to keep people interested?” – “What a joke!”
Well, we were wrong, and now are living with the disaster
that took root and blossomed after that fateful day in history. We live in a
world where we’re barraged with all day, every day news coverage, Not just on
CNN, but on every major TV network, plus way too many specialty focused
“news-like” channels, such as the Weather channel and the Money Channel. We’re
awash in minutia, with only a little news mixed in. We’re drunk on the
underbelly of societal misbehavior. And, it is even worse in an election year
(which in reality isn’t a year anymore; it’s a constant). We get endless garble
from political pundits, analyzing every tick of activity, not just reporting
it, but endlessly speculating on how it will affect the outcome. I misstated
that point; the pundits aren’t just reporting and speculating; they are arguing
about it, and constantly talking over each other creating a mishmash of
noise.
True facts are often lacking as news outlets race to be
first with a new twist on the hot topic of the day. Everything and everyone is
fair game: the family of the victim of a brutal murder gets a knock on the door
and a mic in the face. The wife of a disgraced senator is rushed at a church
service with none-of-your business questions on how she feels about her
husband’s misbehavior. The victim, and the victim’s family are victimized all
over again, just so the insatiable 24-hour news media can feed.
It’s an agonizing process as they repeat, again and again,
the alleged facts. With an endless stream of repeated video running in the
background, slicing and dicing the story into minute components and delving in
depth into every morsel ad nauseum. And, we get hooked! We listen and watch,
and to join the reporting staff by rushing to tell each other the latest tidbit
we just heard on TV. Oh yes, August 1, 1980 was truly a day in infamy. (Written in the Owego kitchen)
Comments. Complaints. send to mlessler7@gmail.om
No comments:
Post a Comment