# I'm worried about CNN **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 5, 2018, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800 "2018-09-05T13:48:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800/21 "2018-09-05T21:34:31Z")
I miss ol’ Larry King. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800/22 "2018-09-05T22:10:30Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Like I’ve said in the past, the news media loves Trump. They love every inch of him. Sure they hate him, but they hate him like wrestling audiences hated the Iron Sheik. If he somehow manages to pull off a face turn I will genuinely applaud. That’s gonna take a ton of finesse. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800/23 "2018-09-05T22:21:53Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > But jeezus christ, isn’t there a hurricane that needs covering? Some political news out of the EU? You can’t run a network with nothing but panels bashing Trump all day…can you? What will they do when he’s gone (may God speed that day)? This has got to be tarnishing the brand, as they say. Well, if there’s a disaster or school shooting or something, they revert to the old CNN for a bit. That’s typically when I tune in when at home - when there’s breaking news. At work CNN plays on a monitor in the break room and yesterday was hilarious. Before my 10-hour shift, they were talking about the new Woodward book bashing Trump. Five hours later during lunch - a different panel, still bashing Trump using the book. When I get off work - Don Lemon, wrapping up a segment on the same book. I don’t like the guy either, but I don’t grind on it constantly… ---
**Author:** ![poweroftheglory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@poweroftheglory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poweroftheglory)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800/24 "2018-09-05T23:55:48Z")
The problem is that fundamentally our news media is owned by the very people they should be investigating. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800/25 "2018-09-06T00:23:47Z")
I’ll take this over 24/7 OJ Simpson coverage, which we had to endure in the mid 1990s. I’d hate to think what things would have been like if the Internet was the ubiquitous thing it is now; when the Oklahoma City bombing happened, my first thought when I heard about it was, “So, how long will this bump OJ off the top of the news?” The answer: Two days. :smack: Around the same time, Newsweek did a story about how the sequestered jurors’ media was censored to remove OJ references, and someone wrote a letter asking where he could subscribe to this service. And none of THIS was as bad as the summer of 2010 (why I remember the time frame is irrelevant to the discussion) where CNN’s nonstop story was that you shouldn’t bully gay teenagers, because it might make them commit suicide. They’re right, you shouldn’t do that, but round-the-clock coverage of something like that belongs on the LOGO Network, which is all LGBT-oriented programming. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800/26 "2018-09-06T03:35:16Z")
So, based on the claims in this thread, the news is accurate, and when there is a breaking story, they will cover that. Seems to me that what you’re complaining about is that the filler is about Trump. I’d argue that that filler is more important to the world of news than any previous filler. Trump himself is attacking CNN because they dare fight him. I see no reason to aid him by pretending like fighting Trump is a bad thing. Unless there are allegations that they aren’t actually doing their job, then I don’t see a problem. The last thing we need right now is the distrust of news media that Trump and his supporters are sowing to find a liberal way to make that message palatable. I already saw how “SJW,” an alt-right term had leaked everywhere. Trump is just in the news in general, and I wonder how much of that is being pushed into a narrative about how CNN can’t stop talking about Trump. Is CNN really all that overboard? I go to [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) and I see a lot of Trump, but a lot of other stuff. I checked in with the live feed, and they’re talking Kavinaugh’s confirmation, which is basically the top political news story for today, and arguably the top US news story. I am extremely wary of the attack on our news outlets, rather than just consuming news. If CNN talks about Trump too much, then why keep watching? Those news networks aren’t made for that, anyways. They’re made so you can check in on news at any time. They never have enough content to fill a 24 hour day. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800/27 "2018-09-06T16:46:08Z")
I think the issue can be summarized thusly: A 24 hour news network is probably a good idea. A 24 hour punditry-panel network is a waste of space. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800/28 "2018-09-06T17:39:27Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I think the issue can be summarized thusly: A 24 hour news network is probably a good idea. A 24 hour punditry-panel network is a waste of space. This right here is my problem with CNN. I am stuck two hours a week in a hospital lounge while my daughter is in speech therapy. CNN is playing and it’s the same thing over and over for that two hour span. It’s nothing but “Breaking news!” then thirty minutes of commentary, then the same “Breaking news!” and more commentary, and every time there’s a commercial they have to update you on the “Breaking news!” and who they have joining them and more commentary. It’s not NEWS. It’s nothing but commentary for that 4-6 pm Monday afternoon period. At one time I had another hour of therapy on Wednesday at 3 and it was exactly the same. Does it EVER change? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800/29 "2018-09-06T17:49:19Z")
It’s a stress on the nation and they are responding to it as some kind of therapy that people seek out. But I don’t know if it’s actually therapeutic. Probably not. Ever since Clarence Thomas we have been a divided country with “Liar!” right there in the foreground of life. Ever since OJ we have needed (or the news channels told us we did) large news stories that take up all the oxygen. I’m a sufferer. It is making us feel alive somehow, but dead too. It’s an addiction. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800/30 "2018-09-06T18:43:22Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > CNN started out as “healine news” of breaking events, and was first on the ground for some pretty significant developments in the late ‘Eighties and early ‘Nineties. They always had some less than useful aspects like _Crossfire_, but ever since they discovered the round table talking head format (actually originated by the syndicated _The McLaughin Group_) they’ve focused on that and pundit-oriented talk shows that are essentially consensus driven with manufactured conflict to attract outrage. Their current infatuation with Trump is hardly surprising but it does illustrate the lack of depth in reporting, particularly on issues outside of mainstream national politics and foreign issues. There is plenty of other issues to report on (see Vox or Vice News for covering a lot of important issues that get little general media attention or alternative viewpoints besides the liberal vs. conservative dichotomy) but nothing seems to draw in the viewing public like stirring a pot of preprocessed outrage. Gawd, I find myself mostly agreeing with this. :eek: More than the old CNN, I miss the N.Y. Times editorial pages\* when they weren’t virtually 100% rage-against-the-Trump. \*and a good-sized chunk of the news section. ---
**Author:** ![Huey\_Freeman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/huey_freeman/32/251_2.png) [@Huey\_Freeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huey_Freeman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800/31 "2018-09-07T03:23:27Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > (This is probably not pit-worthy, but it’s Trump-related) > > I’m not a steady regular viewer of CNN – I get most of my news from NPR and PBS – but I do check in on it from time to time. (It’s always on in my work location’s break area, for instance.) And what I’ve noticed: it’s All Trump, All The Time. 24 Hours News Trump. And the Trump news is always bad, from a Trumpian point of view. > > Let me stipulate: I think what CNN is saying is all 100% true – anything Trump does or says is bad. This differentiates them from Fox, for instance. > > But jeezus christ, isn’t there a hurricane that needs covering? Some political news out of the EU? You can’t run a network with nothing but panels bashing Trump all day…can you? What will they do when he’s gone (may God speed that day)? This has got to be tarnishing the brand, as they say. Let’s hope not. In my view, white people need to be bombarded with the fruits of their labor until Jan 20. 2025 and beyond. Also, I think this Trump drama shit is more entertaining than _House of Cards_. It’s also a living reminder that despite all of the MLK-flavored rhetoric white folks like to quote, white folks were never really serious in addressing systemic racism in this country. Not even a little bit. Let’s be clear: people of color told ya’ll not to vote for Trump but ya’ll did it anyway. Clinton told you that he was a Russian puppet but ya’ll voted for him anyway. The Obama administration told ya’ll that Russia was meddling in the election but ya’ll voted for him anyway. Even sweaty-ass Jeb Bush told you that he would be a “chaos president” and ya’ll voted for him anyway. Now, after you’ve deliberately ignored all warnings and unleashed the Apocalypse upon the world, you’d rather the fruits of your labor not be televised because you have bad news fatigue? Well, tough cookies. If you don’t want your white supremacist President in the media 24/7, tell him to stop tweeting ridiculous shit, tell him to read the prepared fucking prepared remarks without ad-libbing, tell him to stop fucking lying and contradicting himself all the god damned time, tell him to stop attacking foreign leaders and long-standing allies like Australia and Canada. If Trump stops his behavior (especially tweeting) the coverage of his behavior will ebb and eventually slow down a trickle. The onus _should be_ on Trump to stop his unprecedented behavior; the onus _should not be_ on news organizations who have an obligation to keep the public informed about said behavior. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800/32 "2018-09-07T13:28:22Z")
The problem with your otherwise admirable rant, Huey, is that your target is the overlap of people who voted for Trump and watch CNN: zero. Those people are watching Fox. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-worried-about-cnn/820800.md?page=1)