Television news outlets need to focus on news, not opinions
After eight days of political rhetoric, hyperbole and lies, our nation should be outraged.
Televisions should be unplugged, discarded or at least labeled “Hazardous to your mental health.”
I’m referring not to the political campaigns, but to less-than-straightforward convention coverage offered by CNN, Fox, MSNBC and to a slightly lesser degree, the networks.
If the spotlight of the conventions was intended to be the platforms of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, news outlets made certain the focus was instead the pronouncements of their anchors, reporters and correspondents. It’s one thing to break away from podium speeches for breaking news; it’s quite another to cut away from a speaker for a panel discussion to interpret proceedings for the masses. No thanks. I can form my own opinions.
Need a cause to pause? Consider this. On the morning before Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech, a reporter looked squarely into the camera and said, “We’ll have her acceptance speech live tonight, and we’ll be on the floor to let you know what she said.”
Sadly, an entire generation considers television as their news source, when in fact cable news outlets are primarily sounding boards for views of the station’s personalities. It’s no secret CNN and MSNBC lean left and Fox leans right; convention ratings reflected that. But all label themselves as news stations. Fox even claims “fair and balanced” when they decidedly are not. For many, it’s difficult to discern when newscasts slide into opinion shows. Indeed, they often intertwine. It’s interesting that while we’re given “fact checks” on candidates, no one reports errors on off-kilter meanderings of commentators.
What each outlet considers to be news is also revealing. At the Democratic Convention, for instance, CNN broadcast nominating speeches for Sanders and Clinton. Fox did not, even though Sanders delegates might well have erupted into protests during those proceedings. Fox also opted out of the speech by Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay. For its part, CNN appeared to go overboard emphasizing protests at the Republican Convention.
Viewers certainly could have switched to C-Span and PBS for uninterrupted convention coverage, but why should anyone have to switch from a news outlet to get the news?
On the other hand, while entertainers are pleasant diversions for convention delegates, their speeches and performances are not necessarily newsworthy events. (Those events are perfect opportunities for panel discussions, provided, of course, they are labeled as commentary or opinion.)
Let’s hope no one is going to vote for a candidate simply because a favorite actor or singer supports them. The appearance of Chachi (Scott Baio) at the Republican Convention and Sarah Silverman at the Democratic Convention launched a multitude of derogatory late-night TV and radio comedy bits which no doubt negated any possible words of wisdom the two personalities might have provided at the podium.
Similarly, there was no need for networks to cover Paul Simon’s performance of “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” at the Democratic Convention. As it occurred during the conflict between Sanders and Clinton supporters, however, there was that fleeting thought that, were Art Garfunkel to make a surprise appearance, it would have symbolically helped to bridge disagreements between Bernie and Hillary supporters.
At one point last week, I half expected one of the “news” outlets to engage in “America’s Got Speakers” competition and have the public pick their favorite speech of the two conventions. Of course, it would be news anchors who determined the finalists.
While CNN, MSNBC and Fox saw Ted Cruz’s “Vote Your Conscience” speech in entirely different lights, I didn’t hear one news person on any channel or network note that Cruz was right, at least in theory. People should always vote their conscience; straight-party voting should be passé.
Whether Cruz should have tried to “enlighten” the public during a prime-time speech, however, is an entirely different matter. That topic is perhaps best left to political pundits in opinion-designated programming or, in a perfect world, to our own dinner table discussions.