Turned on the so-called "News"

[Doreen Peri]

Bombarded with Tiger Woods infidelity stories. This is bullshit. This isn't NEWS! Even reputable news stations have turned into supermarket tabloid crap. Leave the man alone, for crissake! His life, just like YOUR life, should be personal and private.

[stilltrucking]

the switch to digital TV
the best thing that happend to me
I got one of those converter boxes
but I live 100 yards from the railroad tracks
the main line of the southern pacific railroad
trains blowing by on the hour
half hour
and sometimes every quater hour
every train knocks out my TV signal for a couple of minutes
I got rabbit ears and a converter box.
My tv has two inches of dust on it.

I am so out of touch
But sometimes at night
late at night I turn it on
hoping to find what is new
with the Lindbergh kidnapping
or the Scopes monkey trial
or the latest war news from Luxembourg
I like to keep in touch
so I know whats what.
I haven't heard one tiger woods joke
yet
I keep a close watch on these ears of mine.

[Barry]

I agree, Doreen, and I've written on this before. It's gotten worse and worse since news departments became ratings driven. Broadcasting the news used to be a public service broadcasters were required to do as a condition of their liscencing agreement with the FCC. News departments of networks and individual stations were never expected or required to generate profit. It was a given they would lose money. That's all been practically reversed now. News departments today are some of the big money-makers. The result is the "so-called news" you lament, which is a statement, I suppose, more on the audience than the broadcasters unfortunately. An example is what happened on night when my wife and I were coming home from a night out. This was about ten o'clock. About forty blocks below our street there was a large area of suburban neighborhood closed off, fire, police and other emergency vehicles and personell at every intersection blocking access to a square ten blocks on a side. You would think whatever was going on there, a large fire, maybe gang activity, a murderer at large, would be big news. That night on the eleven o'clock news, on all four networks, there was no mention of this at all. Nothing. This is about ten years ago and I still have no idea what happened that night. But the top story on all four networks was a women busted with two hundred cats she wasn't properly taking care of. Apparently the audience cares more about that than whatever closed off a section of the city ten blocks on a side. Cat hoarders are news. Big emergencies are not. It's a shame.

Peace,
Barry

[hester_prynne]

I hear you both.
I saw a story tonight, about how military strategists are working on "new war issues" on the horizon. Such as in areas struck by natural disasters, they are projecting there will be resource wars, you know, water wars etc.
I don't know which is more alarming. The Tiger Woods headlines taking precedence over this story, or the story itself.

H

[Barry]

Upon rethinking this after posting the other night, it occured to me that Reed College is about in the center of the area that was closed off, and that Reed College has a nuclear reactor on campus. After reflecting on that fact, it was suddenly much less mysterious that there might be a news blackout on an emergent situation on campus if it had to do with the reactor. Too bad no one will ever know.

That's the news.

Peace,
Barry

[mnaz]

the "News" is for the most part a joke in this country. and it's been freezing weather for two weeks straight. maybe that's why I'm so sour lately. could we at least get a little snow out of it?