Runcible Blog

CNN = garbage

Long ago, I used to watch WHDH every morning before going to school. Then I realized that morning news shows on the networks are mindless filler targeted towards soccer moms and sports fans. Recently I've turned on CNN thinking that their morning show might have more content. I don't know where I got that idea -- CNN's morning news is only slightly better than "Entertainment Tonight".

Just a minute ago, they were talking about the skyrocketting gas prices. Rather than explain why the prices are rising and what should be done about the situation, Soledad spent five minutes interviewing some car guy about how we can conserve fuel (keep it under 50MPH, don't accelerate, inflate your tires, take the ski rack off the roof, etc.). It strikes me as a little condescending that they would implicitly say, "well, our viewers obviously don't care about why gas prices are rising. All they want to know is how to save a few pennies by slowing down their SUV."

There was one redeeming moment, though. Jack Cafferty, normally the non-partisan curmudgeon, almost lost it during his "question of the day" segment asking viewers whether Congress should be dealing with the Terry Schiavo case and steroids hearings when we have record deficits and an ongoing war in Iraq. He was fuming, while his two sparkling cohosts awkwardly tried to calm him down. His overly-handsome sports-reporter-turned-cnn-anchor buddy tried to make the Schiavo case seem important by noting that "10,000 people are vegetables in this country"; to which Jack replied, "300 million people are affected by Social Security and the war!" Right on, brother! I doubt that his corporate masters will appreciate his on-air trashing of their editorial decisions, but somebody had to say it. Of course, it didn't stop Soledad (or was it Bill?) from skippity-skipping to the next segment focusing on the Schiavo case in detail, with a "debate" between the usual two left/right talking heads. And by the way, stay tuned for hour 3 of the important coverage of this critical, national issue.

This is CNN?