A Black Eye for CNN

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I normally don't give much currency to lightweight columnist Karen Heller at the Philly Inkwaster, but this week's column got my attention:


Local news or CNN? We can't tell

Despite its global reach and talent pool, the network delivers little more than mush.

By Karen Heller
Inquirer Columnist

(snip)

It's become blood sport to knock Fox News, political shoutfests, and the pancaked heads of local broadcasts. And, honestly, without them, where would Jon Stewart or any other comedian be?

(snip)

CNN, though, is the cosmic joke, so large no one takes notice. Despite vast resources, global domination and no reality shows eating precious airtime, the network has imported the worst aspects of existing blather.

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Early-morning anchor Carol Costello sighs over tragedies as though they were puppies, her face collapsed in a continuous hanky of concern. The American Morning team is a Christopher Guest parody, specializing in flat banter, with Jack Cafferty as an aging dollar-store curmudgeon.

(snip)

All that talent, that neverending airtime, and 25 years later, the network hasn't a clue.

Now,..Miss Heller doesn't quite get away from me without a quick rap on the knuckles. Her MSM/neo-Soc side shows in these comments:

This was never so obvious as with the death of John Paul II, which received continuous coverage even though the visuals were sorely lacking and developments, nonexistent. Hours, then days later, he was still dead and virtually all of CNN was there, showing hours of the faithful lined up in St. Peter's Square. It was like Chevy Chase's old comment about Generalísimo Francisco Franco being still dead.

It was a big story, but not the only one. There was surely news elsewhere - if memory serves, there is a war - but CNN harnessed its global squadron to air continuous live coverage of the dead 84-year-old pontiff, importing heavyweights Larry King and the nonpareil Christiane Amanpour, whose expertise lies elsewhere.


Makes you wonder,....doesn't it?