CNN blows it on sniper news coverage?

[Gen-X-Dad]

CNN is always bragging about how they are the NEWS channel while FOX is just a traveling side show. Article after article of CYA claims they are losing audience share because they take the high road and are true unbiased journalists. Last night (I am a nightowl) as the sniper coverage in VA unfolded, FOX and MSNBC covered it live. About 30 minutes into the coverage I flipped to CNN to see what they had to say. At first I thought I had made a mistake, but then realized that the NEWS channel was covering something much more important. Amazed I monitored CNN for the next 30 minutes. They never broke to the sniper like the other two guys. What was this great NEWS that kept them from going to the sniper? It was a CNN/People puff piece on the life of Hugh Hefner, the creator of Playboy magazine. It struck me as one of those absurd moments based on how CNN constantly jumps on their soapbox about being the NEWS station.

[Gen-X-Dad]

Anybody else catch this?

[texasbluebell]

No, I don't even think to check out cnn anymore when there's breaking news or even just on a normal day. I just can't face them anymore. They seem so dull and boring. I'm not surprised they stuck with the Hefner piece till it was over. They probably couldn't rouse any live body to put on camera for a while!

[Quicksilver]

Did CNN have anything in the crawl (at the bottom of the screen) about the Ashland, VA shooting?

[cpdiii]

CNN has a few new 'NEWS BABES" that are rather pleasing to the eye. If you turn the sound off it is not to bad. However, Fox's Foxes still rule.

[MCFujiTanker]

I was at work Sunday morning at my office in Japan. The Far East Network (FEN) (Marines refer to FEN as the "Forced Entertainment Network") News Channel (on base cable only) had CNN on first, then they switched to Fox, for the live sniper coverage. Fox was much better. Later they switched to PMSNBC...I wished they stuck to FOX. Our base is supposed to get complete stateside cable in a couple of months, then we'll have the FOX News Channel again. When I lived off base I had FOX on my dish...I miss it, I'm held hostage by the FEN now.

[Amelia]

I didn't notice it - as a matter of fact, I watched CNN's coverage for a while, because they actually had people near the scene while Fox still had Geraldo Rivera speculating about it on the telephone from INDONESIA!

I admit to being rather amused when CNN had an "on the scene" report from one of their "affiliates" and the reporter was speaking into a microphone with a large CBS logo on it....

When I checked MSNBC, they were still playing some taped program rather than covering the news at all, so I didn't go back there.

[Tacis]

I click through the cable channels regularly and early on caught the Ashland shooting. I checked more frequently and, while I did notice that CNN wasn't as quick off the mark as the others, I was more amused by the FOX coverage. It seems that when the intial reports came in, FOX was doing a spectacular with someone even more insignificant than Hefner, Geraldo Rivero. Geraldo was in Indonesnia doing his thing. I didn;t stay to check what that was because, nothing (make that NOTHING) Geraldo says or does is worth wasting time on, so I went to MSNBC, which seemed to be shifting into full coverege.

I couldn't help thinking, however, that if they caught the sniper last night, Geraldo was really going to be pissed at him for getting caught while was elsewhere.

I also clicked through O'Reily for a moment, just enough time to note that he was being even ruder than normal. He just won't give a guest an opportunity to finish. There has to be a time when good people simply won't be on his show because of O"Reily's selfish rudeness.

[I still care]

It is not only the liberal bias that makes me dislike in CNN, but I cannot stomach the way they "predigest" the news. Fox and MSNBC will be covering a Bush speech live, and (even important ones) I will turn to CNN and there will be nothing on it. About 10 minutes after the speech ends, a reporter will appear, and quote their version of what Bush said. Often what he said is quite different in emphasis from what they "report" he said.

For instance, I remember the day Bush was speaking on his judicial nominees. A reporter questioned him on Iraq, and he answered it. When CNN reported their blurb, they mentioned nothing but the reporters question, and they implied that was what the news conference was about. After watching that you realize how you are being lied to and that's really why I can't stand CNN.

[Dallas]

All I saw was Larry King brown-nosing Madonna....

[68 grunt]

Wish you could change yo0ur title to just 'cnn blows'!

[Gen-X-Dad]

As a matter of fact they did. Most of it was strange stuff, like a Chinese woman got back her baby. About 45 minutes after I started observing the Hefner piece they popped up a blurb about a possible sniper shooting in Virginia. I also checked Headline News out of curiosity. They too posted something similar for about 5 secs in there little box at the bottom. Meanwhile, FOX and MSNBC where live at the crime scene interviewing the police. I started watching about 1:45 EST and quit about 2:45 EST. The only conclusion I can draw is CNN has a bunch of nitwits on their night shift.

[SamAdams76]

Then when CNN did switch to the shooting, they basically alternated between a graphic of a map of Virginia and the same liveshot of a couple of buses near the restaurant. The camera rarely deviated from that view. Meanwhile, FoxNews had rolling live video from helicopters of the mess on I-95 and the scene of the shooting down below. Not exactly compelling coverage but it was much better than what CNN offered up.

[PokeyJoe]

That's a Laurie Doo(me) call for a picture.

[PA Engineer]

It is obvious that CNN has gone from breaking news to breaking wind.

[Quicksilver]

The worst thing that can happen to a news organization is to be scooped by its competition. This makes no sense, unless they're in cost cutting mode. I rarely watch CNN or MSNBC.

[Gen-X-Dad]

I think CNN is suffering from too many masters. The Hefner piece was a CNN/People collaboration. It was constantly showing the old guy surrounded by buxom babes in very little clothing. The perfect show for 1:00 in the morning. Now Hef is a die hard liberal/swinger, the show kept glorifying him for being a great sexual revolution crusader against the crushing close-mindedness of the conservatives of that time. The fact CNN was even running this tripe was amusing to me. The fact CNN acts like they are the only people who deserve to dole out the news is the irony. Either CNN executives are asleep at the wheel, or they are forced to run this stuff because of the parent AOL/Time Warner. Either way, it is a joke. Maybe if Disney buys them, their news can rise to ABC's level (heavy sarcasm).

[Shooter 2.5]

You missed the best part of the CNN coverage. The guy on the scene walking fast toward the front of the camera, tossing out his chewing gum, scratching his butt and then standing on his mark. I couldn't believe they left the camera on to film that. It was hilarious.
The blond female at the scene looked like they had called her in from a cheap Satutday night date. She had enough make-up on to qualify her for a two-bit whore.

[Gen-X-Dad]

I signed off before Geraldo showed up (lucky me). The live coverage I watched was in the original O'Reilly repeat time slot. I do agree that O'Reilly has become almost unwatchable. I prefer Kudlow & Cramer on CNBC. They are always respectful and knowledgable. They must have put O'Reilly back on after the initial frenzy.

[Gen-X-Dad]

I would have loved to see that! Could it be that CNN is having a silent coup of old school CNN types? This late night fumbling points to them not having the resources in place to do the job. A previous poster also noted how they have begun using their own news babes ... just like FOX. Nothing will change there until they sweep out the top. They are just rearranging chairs on the titantic.

[Shooter 2.5]

Only a CNN reporter would have to scratch his butt in order to report.

I'm only guessing it was chewing gum. Whatever it was, it was fairly large.