The MSM reminds me of an episode right out of Star Trek, Patterns of Force – Episode 52
Posted on 12/09/2005 11:39:02 AM PST by 68skylark
Mike Wallace has bemoaned the state of television news in general and of 60 Minutes in particular. In an interview with the Boston Globe, Wallace remarked, "The days of Walter Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley are gone. People still do watch, but it doesn't have the clout that it used to have. I don't know what's going to happen or if there will be an evening news 10 years from now. It's a very expensive operation to keep up." Wallace also lamented the falling ratings of his own 60 Minutes, where he has had the title of co-editor since 1968. "In the '70s, '80s, and '90s, we were always in the top 10," he said. "Now, it's different. But I think we've held onto our standards remarkably well, no thanks to me because I don't do the kinds of stuff I used to." Wallace, whose son Chris quit ABC to join Fox News Channel, also had words of praise for FNC's Chairman/CEO Roger Ailes. Ailes, he said, "is a man I admire very much. He understood there was a market that was not being served. He was right."
He's right about the second part of that sentence -- thanks heavens.
No doubt. Who wants to listen to these fossilized 1960's liberal hippies editorialize on 60 minutes.
The network news has tied its destiny to a political agenda, and will succeed or fail with that agenda. Fortunately, things aren't looking too good for them right now.
Now why should an objective reporter be concerned with "clout?"
"People still do watch, but it doesn't have the clout that it used to have."
There is no real clout any more. Below is a great mental game/exercise to have fun with during the upcoming party season.
1. Ask people of all political backgrounds to name the major talking heads on the current evening news programs on ABCNNBCBS?
I have been doing this since mid November. No one knows any major talking heads. Most will say Blather, Jennings and Brokaw. Jennings died this year, Brokaw resigned and Blather was fired.
Then for the icing on the cake ask them who is the talking head on Nightline.
It's cable availability. CNNs/Fox/MSNBC 24 hours. Nothing to do with politics.
If Fox had started an evening national news via its broadcasting stations it would be declining too.
The evidence of this, as I suspect Mike is surely rolling around in his mind, is that the House, Senate, and Presidency are in Republican hands. If the networks still had "clout", this would likely not be the case.
Die, MSM, die!
GM did it and look where they are.
Well the news and analysis at the imdb.com doesn't really purport to be objective -- it's lives in a gray area of "news analysis" and celebrity gossip.
Less clout? Thats because shows like "60 Minutes" are caught in overt acts of fraud like the Bush fake national guard memo case.
Brings a tear to my eye.
That's a great exercise. I couldn't name any of the current crop. But then turn it around and ask:
1. Name a top host of talk radio.
2. Name a popular television host of a political show.
Yes, remarkably well. The show was full of distortions, over simplification and outright falsehoods then and it remains filled with them today. The standards were low and the 70s, 80s and 90s and they are still low today.
Network News has not existed in my house for 20 years. Hell network television has not existed in my house for over 10.
Well, there is NFL and NASCAR.
"...it doesn't have the clout that it used to have"
In other words, Wallace, Rather, Brokaw, Jennings, Cronkite, et al., ad nauseum, thought that they were demi-gods and could preach to the peons from their lofty perches in the network newsrooms. BUT, with the advent of the internet, cable, etc. the eyes of the multitudes have been opened to other points of view. Thank God!
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