08/08/2005

"The Situation Room" - CNN's new three-hour advertisement

You may have seen the ads on TV about this new show... "The Situation Room".. supposedly, CNN shows the news as it happens, from around the world, in a way never before done, and with access to stories no one else gets.

Okay. So it's like reinventing breakfast cereal: it's made with grains, is crunchy, and tastes good in milk. Gosh, that sounds new to me as well.

I managed to choke down half an hour of the pilot episode today, and just couldn't take it any longer. Wolf "blitzkrieg" Blitzer was talking with his ever-tense, supercharged tone of voice, while a hand-held camera tilted and moved around him. In the distance were the two blog chicks, who instead of just reading from four blog sources, only read from two, adding little commentary, just as they always do.

And then, banks and banks of full-width television screens littered the walls of the 'Situation Room', flipping from channel to channel, apparently trying to show us that CNN thinks it's a big deal to show several dozen camera views, news feeds, and pictures of people reviewing their teleprompter script in quick succession, as that's what real news is about these days.

I started keeping count of the news:advertising ratio, and I found it less than 1:1, meaning they actually showed more advertising than content during the hour! No sooner would Wolf say, "Welcome back! Now we turn to..." and clip to a talking head with 30 seconds of chitter, than Wolf would again appear and say, "Coming up... when we return..." and then cut to ads. If I wanted this much advertising, I'd just watch the Home Shopping Network.

But what really go to me was the question they asked at the start of the show.. "is broadcast news getting better or worse?", and invited readers to send in emails. So many did. And Jack Cafferty read several emails at the end of the show. One was from a guy named David in Japan. His comments went something like, "I want to see the news, not listen to you talk bad about other networks in a cyncial or childish tone", or something like that.

Good point! Well said, David. So what did Cafferty say? "Oh, he used to always write to me when I had XYZ (sic) show... he's the only person awake in Japan.. I think he must be very lonely there.. so he keeps writing to us, and I'll keep reading his emails". Wolf agreed that David must be 'lonely, indeed'.

Way to go, CNN! Invite your readers to participate, and then give them the finger by talking trash about them on your show! Thanks for reinforcing in me the reasons why I've never bothered to write to you, because deep down, you loathe me. You don't want my feedback. You could care less about what I, the viewer, have to say.

Well, read this. This is a place where my voice can be heard, and the disappointing level you keep sinking to can be aired for all to see. I, for one, welcome readers' input, not loathe it, and this is one reason why I and other bloggers will continue to threaten your control over public opinion through our truly democratic process of communication. Keep it up, CNN. Roll out a bunch of other Situation Rooms, so you can fill your ad space to overflowing levels 24/7. Do what you want, since you obviously don't care what any of us think.

In the end, bloggers will still be here, giving you the ultimate finger: the Delete key.

David

Posted by Dave at 08/08/2005 1:05:25pm
No Comments    Post a Comment    Permanent Link    Subscribe To Blog