CNN - A Search for Ratings

Being a news junkie, the one thing I like to do is watch the news reported on one channel and then I switch to another to see what angle they choose to take the same story. It is quite an enlightening exercise because you will see firsthand the bias on every news “entertainment” channel. CNN their entertainment news cannot be any softer. I mean, they are the soft, whipped vanilla ice cream in a waffle cone that disintegrates while eating and what you’re left with is a sticky mess. FOX is tutti-frutti in a Styrofoam cup that will never bio-degrade and we will be stuck with forever and then my favorite, MSNBC, hard quadruple chocolate in a sugar cone with sprinkles! YUMMY MSNBC!

As Jon Stewart continues to attack CNBC, and every night there is a FOX/MSNBC slug fest, poor CNN is left with no one to dance. They are the ugly girl at that dance who stands by the wall alone and perhaps at times they lift their skirt to get attention. CNN’s latest tactics is taking their show on the road to show American economic woes and unemployment misery; however they still somehow seemed to miss their mark completely. Having Anderson Cooper stand outside the Staple Center in LA, is not news it’s entertainment and the show honestly was less illuminating of the American unemployment plight. They might as well stayed home, and saved money by not sending off their star personality and camera crews of on a cross country reporting festival. They all probably flew first class, had an expensive dinner to celebrate their new grand rating agenda, while the people standing in unemployment lines struggled to put food on the table. Perhaps Anderson Cooper could have sprinkled scraps of food from his pockets for the people standing in line. Now that would have been news.

But my other disappointing comment on CNN came from Keith Olbermann on MSNBC when he reported on John King’s interview with Dick Cheney. I had such high hopes for John King. He was the guy to give us the “State of our Nation,” but as far as I know Dick Cheney is no longer in office so how can he really have any clue as to the State of our Nation. Dick Cheney lacked intelligence when Vice President, now CNN is interviewing him for foreign affairs. Yikes! But what is even worse is the growing news about indictments for War Crimes in regards to the treatment of prisoners. Under Canadian Law, George Bush committed war crimes and he will most likely be welcomed with massive protests when he goes for a visit. But in his “State of the Nation” interview with Cheney, John King didn’t bring up anything about these allocations, true or not. He just sat there and let Cheney do his mumbling. How can you call this a news interview when you don’t challenge a guy on potential war crimes allegations? Is CNN that numb to the truth?

Now, many would probably say-this is cable news. Yes, and it is mostly for entertainment, but the problem is they promote themselves as a viable, honest, unbiased, raw, intelligent reporting. This is false advertising and many people are taken in thinking what CNN is broadcasting is worthwhile and informative, when it is a joke. I understand they need to compete with FOX, MSNBC and now even the Daily Show and Bill Maher for viewers, but the FOX Network has their conservative audience, MSNBC as their liberal audience and well the Daily Show and Bill Maher are comedians. It is really a sad commentary of the reporting at CNN when Jon Stewart goes on Crossfire and gives them a lesson on journalism. So CNN boasts unbiased news. Good call CNN, but the problem is the great pains they are taking to be unbiased, they are missing out of the truth and the hard line stories and that’s okay, just don’t call yourselves news. Hard, balanced, fair, raw reporting doesn’t need lightening effects, dancing girls, juggling bears and a chorus of Hello Dolly, we just need the facts please. And if you honestly need America to decide on the facts of the story, then perhaps you are in the wrong career.