how would you fix 24-hour cable news?

Here's a quick synopsis of what happens when print people (or other journalistically-minded folk) are put in charge of a TV network or program.

-- "We'll go back to doing solid journalism." "We'll do '60 Minutes' type stuff."
-- Enormous money and resources are poured into "journalism."
-- The show doesn't rate. Nobody watches.
-- The project begins to hemorrhage money.
-- The budget is slashed. The show is watered down.
-- Staff becomes demoralized.
-- In a desperate ratings-grab, the show becomes something it was never intended to be.
-- Staff is fired and/or jumps ship agitated and disgruntled.
-- Show is cancelled.

Lather, rinse, repeat. Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

Take out the nighttime talking heads aspect, and this is pretty much the way Financial News Network did business before it was bought out by CNBC in the 80's or early 90's. Like CNN Headline News for money during the day and ESPNews at night and the weekends (or maybe just the weekend, my memory's fading on me). Not a must watch, but especially on Saturday it was the most reliable way to get a game score in the pre-continuous ticker days.

 

Speaking of belly-up cable networks, anyone remember SNN? Basically was ESPNEWS about six or seven years before ESPNEWS. Never got clearance and went out of business right around the same time that The National did.

 

Except CNBC's plan was actually to air live sporting events. I believe all FNN/Score did was sports news and talk, including call-ins. There may have been a few west coast events too though. My memory's also fading on that.

P.S. I'm getting a big kick out of your ever changing CAA related messages. No one else may be paying attention, but I am.

 

After being exposed it for a month during the Olympics last year I'm the BBC World camp.

Barring that,

No campaign coverage, other than candidates announcing they're running, until six months before the primary in presidential year and six months before the election in an off year.

No coverage of pretty white women in peril unless it impacts national security (or it's sportschick. ).

Celebrity news is banished to E! or the equivalent. Any talking head caught mentioning celebrity news will have their hair spray allowance taken away, be forced to do their own make-up and write their own scripts.

Greta Van Botox is deported to Aruba. She can pack all her shit in the bags that were removed from under her eyes a few years ago.

Nancy Grace rides a red hot poker up her ass in hell.

 

I say we blow up cable news.

 

So what killed sane cable news? I say it was the O.J. case.

 

Not to get off topic, but are you sure you were paying attention? He's been on a jihad against child molsters for months.

 

It's an Olbermann talking point. Allegedly, O'Reilly said that the kid who was kidnapped in Missouri deserved it, since he stuck around for four years and never fled, and KO has been hammering away at the dead carcass for weeks.

 

Which is not even close to what O'Reilly said. It's amazing that people believe Olbermann about O'Reilly. Pathetic, actually.

To paraphrase, all O'Reilly has done is call the case fishy. And I agree given some of the stuff that has come out lately.

 

Jack --

He's done more than call it fishy.

He said the kid liked it.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200701170009

Decry the source if you want -- they've got a hard-on for O'Reilly, but I would argue rightfully so -- but the stuff is directly quoted.

 

In that link O'Reilly theorizes the kid may have liked not going to school, not liked being molested.

And certainly not that he "deserved" it.

I'm not a fan of O'Reilly speculating why the kid didn't flee, but his words are definitely being twisted by his detractors.