24 Hour News Cycle Killed Real News

Image by West Point Public Affairs via Flickr

I am sick of CNN, MSNBC, Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC. I want news and real to goodness, gut wrenching, dig for the facts reporting. I’m tired of fluff, fillers and redundancy of stories that have long outlived their newsworthy cycle.  I want to scream, “Knock it off!”

Graveyards are full of journalists and, “in your face” news reporters who have now been replaced by news readers. Then there are the pundits who spew their own views of the political world. We all know who they are. These opinionated people suck up the airwaves with an eruption of vitriol that covers our nation in divisiveness. Mega corporations own the news media and it is clearly reflected in the lack of depth regarding most events. The media is now all about the “bottom line.” How many viewers, how many sponsors, how much of a dividend to the shareholders? Actually, what I’m writing here is a news story, in and of itself. It’s a story of how the media is failing us and how it appears to be getting worse.

People have been elevated to stardom, when in fact, they possess absolutely no star qualities. We’ve been inundated with reports of Joe the plumber, Lindsey Lohen, Marley Cyrus, Christine O’Donnell, Tiger Woods’ extramarital affairs, Charlie Sheen’s drunken antics and of course, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin and even more Sarah Palin. Make it stop!

Let’s take Sarah Palin for instance. Sarah quit as governor of Alaska, she lost in the presidential election as the vice presidential candidate and she has a reality TV show, period and end of discussion, right? Oh no, we have to be bombarded with everything she says on an almost daily basis. If Mrs. Palin said she stubbed her toe on a caribou hoof, rest assured, every single media outlet would report it. Why? Who cares?

Christine O’Donnell is another example of laziness with the networks. She too lost the election in November and yet, she is continually being covered on discussion panels and TV shows. Why is the coach of the NY Jets foot fetish worthy of prime time news coverage? The man loves his wife and apparently, that includes her toes. So what? I could care less.

There are real faces behind the war, natural disasters, philanthropy, education, politicians who were actually elected to office, finance, banking, health care, foreclosures,  religious leaders, etc. and with each of these faces are news stories. A journalist or reporter with any gumption might actually find their viewers, listeners or readers drawn into a detailed, complex piece of information which exhibits some curiosity on their part and a desire to delve as far as possible into a real news story.

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