Tony P. <kd1s@nospamplease.cox.reallynospam.net> writes:
>> I don't think much of cable news networks because they spew out raw
>> facts that are _out of context_ and thus not newsworthy. Good news
>> reporting is more than just reporting isolated facts -- it is putting
>> them together in a logical fashion, eliminating contradictions, and
>> putting in a wider context. Despite all the time they have they still
>> put everything in brief sound bites.
> But that costs money. It's the same thing that ruined prime time
> television. Reality television is so much cheaper to produce but you
> get absolute lowest common denominator television. The only reason I
> watch the local evening news is to if anyone I know has gotten
> ambushed which has happened a couple of times. :)
When CNN first started Headline News, back before Gulf War One, they
were still a bootstrap operation and very short of money. HLN used a
single anchor and no remote correspondents. Video was bought from
local stations and presented with the anchor's voice-over. That was
much less expensive than the present programming.
And not only was it less costly to produce, it was a better product as
well. The original HLN presented two or three times as many stories in
a half-hour as they do today, and didn't use "human interest" filler.
They truly presented just the headlines. As their cost has gone up,
their quality has gone down. HLN today is a local newscast in a small
market, without the local coverage.
The best network news today is Univision, though it is necessary to
tolerate Spanish. They actually cover international stories (with a
heavy concentration on Latin America, of course), and squeeze in many
more stories than any of the English language networks. The best part
is that, while understanding Spanish helps, if you have a good idea
what's going on in the world, you can get a lot from their broadcast
without that. And what you don't understand, you can follow-up on
through the Web since, like everyone else, a banner gives you the
location of the story.
Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA +1 714 434 7359
dave@compata.com dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu
"Political campaigns are the graveyard of real ideas and
the birthplace of empty promises." -- Teresa Heinz Kerry
Dave Close, Compata, Costa Mesa CA "Politics is the business of getting
dave@compata.com, +1 714 434 7359 power and privilege without
dhclose@alumni.caltech.edu possessing merit." - P. J. O'Rourke
Dave Close (dave@compata.com)