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What's Wrong With the TV News

Posted by samzenpus on from the not-enough-capes-spaceships-and-pie dept.

MBCook writes "Technology Review has a fantastic seven page piece titled "You Don't Understand Our Audience" by former Dateline correspondent John Hockenberry. In it he discusses how NBC (and the networks at large) has missed and wasted opportunities brought by the Internet; and how they work to hard to get viewers at the expense of actual news. The story describes various events such as turning down a report on who al-Qaeda is for a reality show about firefighters, having to tie a story about a radical student group into American Dreams, and the failure to cover events like Kurt Cobain suicide (except as an Andy Rooney complaint piece)."

9 of 536 comments (clear)

  1. In other words, TV News... by Skevin · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...is becoming more and more like Slashdot?

    Misleading Headlines, Irrelevant Stories, Flamebaiting Comments: you heard it here first!

    Solomon Chang

    --
    "Twice half-assed makes an ass whole." --Solomon K. Chang
  2. Who the hell is by pigiron · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...Kurt Cobain?

    1. Re:Who the hell is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      90's flannel wearing emo (back when that sort of thing was cool)

    2. Re:Who the hell is by GaryPatterson · · Score: 5, Funny

      ...Kurt Cobain?

      He's the guy that sang the line "I don't have a gun," and then showed us he was being ironic.

    3. Re:Who the hell is by dbIII · · Score: 4, Funny

      Who the hell is Kurt Cobain?

      Nevermind.

  3. Kurt Cobain on the TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Did you hear Kurt Cobain was on the TV? ...and on the carpet, the walls, the furniture...

  4. But at least by Smordnys+s'regrepsA · · Score: 5, Funny

    the comments are fair and balanced!

    --
    Just -1, Troll talking to another.
  5. Re:What's wrong with TV news? by ravenspear · · Score: 5, Funny

    which I believe the best most unbiased one is with Brit Hume

    I had to quote that just so I could isolated it from the rest of your post and make sure I had read it correctly.

  6. Re:Call Jon Stewart by Mesa+MIke · · Score: 4, Funny

    What? No... Who's familiar with subject matter? Not me.
    I only "get the joke" because the studio audience is laughing.
    So, it MUST be funny. Therefore I laugh.

    I've noticed it's like that with a lot of "comedy" type shows. Has been ever since the days of black and white TV.