Is there ANY worthwhile mainstream TV News? I haven't seen anything

[old mark]

to show me there is...After 8 years of sucking up to the Bush regime, Teri Schaivo, Baloon Boy and now the Fabulous Florida book burning asshole, there is not much lower they could sink. It is all about the numbers and no substance. They look great, have great hair and teeth, but there is no information, just sensationalism...or am I too cynical?

:shrug:

mark

[Fumesucker]

1. "No matter how cynical you get, it's impossible to keep up"

-Lily Tomlin

Keep in mind that things have deteriorated far more since Lily made that utterly cogent remark.

You might appreciate this rant from former wingnut turned dirty fucking hippie, John Cole at Balloon-Juice dot com.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2010/09/09/and-now-the-navel-gazing-wankery/#comments

A short sample: "Fuck these assholes. I’m seriously convinced that the last words uttered before the Republic will explode will be “for a different viewpoint on whether this armageddon device could actually destroy the whole continent…”"

[Hannah Bell]

2. no. it's all propaganda & celebrity bullshit. seriously. they tell you nothing important except

the weather. all their output is manipulated to gull & stupefy the public.

[SpiralHawk]

3. "Smirk." - RepubliCorporate Media Moguls

[RandomThoughts]

4. Some of it is good.

And many of the Journalist actually really care about getting information out. I won't mention them by name, since I try not to judge.



Then again some flood the zone with red hearings also, so :shrug:

[MedicalAdmin]

31. You better name names.

Because in my opinion there is not a single good news outlet in the US that isn't piped in from somewhere else where journalists and the 4th estate actually still exist.

News has been DOA since Raygun killed the fairness doctrine.

[EFerrari]

5. I don't know about "worthwhile" but I stopped watching about two years ago

because just the production values give me a headache. All those bells and whistles and swirls and crescendos and so little good information, it just became impossible.

To be honest, I have to watch a lot of little shows to keep up but, never going back. I'd much rather listen to real journalists and educated analysts read the news on their quiet sets than watch the Washington press corpse or even the anchors of the least awful "mainstream" shows. There are so many interesting people that are on those indy shows and they all seem to know too much to get onto Hardball or AC360 let alone Morning Ho or what passes for a straight newscast any more.

[JonLP24]

6. I know what you mean by bells and whistles

Ever since I stopped paying for cable, (therefore unable to watch Maddow) I became a fan of the PBS show Need to Know. Very informative show and almost always learn something I didn't know before.

I recall the host, Alison Stewart, subbed for Rachel Maddow months ago and did a very fine job IMO. The fact that I recognized her is the reason I stayed tuned and so far is my favorite news show on regular TV.

On edit-My post was in reference to the comment about reading the news from a quiet set. Need to Know strikes me as one of those shows that are quiet and not very loud production values.

[EFerrari]

7. She does that show with Andy Borowitz, doesn't she?

I remember seeing Alison first on Countdown. She used to sub for Keith a little and do small segments when he was there, too.

Maybe the Bush years just burned me out on all the loudness and bright lighting effects but boy, I do not miss them. It's so nice to just watch people talking again. lol :)

ETA: You probably already know this but most of the indy shows can be streamed. Laura's, Thom's, Amy's, GayUSA, Mosaic (news from the Middle East), even the anarchist that Free Speech TeeVee used to have on in the middle of the night can be streamed.

/oops

[pinboy3niner]

8. You beat me to it, but here it is anyway...

Alison Stewart used to sub for Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. Her bio's on the NPR site and there's more at wiki:

2003-2007: MSNBC & Olbermann

In 2003, Stewart switched networks once again, this time from ABC News to MSNBC where she was a daytime anchor and primary substitute host for Countdown with Keith Olbermann. She occasionally filled in as newsreader on NBC's Weekend Today. From May 2006 to April 2007, she hosted a daytime news program The Most with Alison Stewart on MSNBC. Stewart married MSNBC Vice President of Programming Bill Wolff <1> in November 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Stewart#2003-2007:_MSNBC_.26_Olbermann

[EFerrari]

11. She married the Veep! That can't hurt.

:)

[madokie]

16. But she is so pleasant to listen too

looks good too but what I like about her more than anything else is her snark, she has it.

[JonLP24]

9. Yes

I believe he is in the last segment which he does a humorist take on the news. The other host on the show is Jon Meachem.

[EFerrari]

10. Joh Meacham left his editing gig at Newsweek.

I don't agree with his politics but appreciate his skillfulness, wit and scholarship. Hope that show does well because those are three really talented people.

[GoCubsGo]

20. PBS News Hour is also very good

And, if you are interested in business news, their "Nightly Business News" is also worthwhile. It's all straight news, no fluff stories.

BTW, there are a bunch of online TV sites where you can watch Rachel and Keith.

I prefer this one: http://www.justin.tv/rockinroosters1

Here's another: http://www.tvpc.com/

[JonLP24]

23. Thanks for the links

Morning Joe is on and they're talking about Qu'ran burning. Don't tell me the media has been focusing on that issue all the time.

[MedicalAdmin]

32. It kills me that folks posting here...

actually seem to think that opinion shows are actually news.

[6000eliot]

12. I've been watching the morning shows lately,

because there's nothing else on but infomercials, and I can't imagine it being much more inane and asinine. Right now it's all anti-Muslim all the time. And this is New York!

[EFerrari]

13. Democracy Now! is on in the morning.

On Link and on FreeSpeechTV and on the net. So is GritTV with Laura Flander on FSTV, followed by Thom. I don't know how you all do it. If I never see a bimbo spouting right wing talking points again, it will be too soon. :)

[Lost4words]

25. Spot On! 100%

[old mark]

17. We get NYC, Philly and local (Allentown, PA and Berks County, PA) News.

We always make fun of some of the local newscasters, but they are really refreshing after watching an hour or so of the extremely stylish big city news with nothing really going on.
We have started watching a half hour of news followed by Tevoed Law and Order reruns...makes for a better day all around.

mark

[leveymg]

14. BBC World

A much wider window on global events, spun a different way.

Try it for comparison sake.

[GoCubsGo]

21. Also...

Many PBS affiliates carry Deutsche Welle Television (DTV) News from Germany. One of the three digital channels of the affiliate here in South Carolina shows DTV programming throughout the day on most days. That is not all strict news, but lots of current events/culture stuff. But, when their actual "news" program is on, no fluff.

[jobycom]

15. Sensationalism over substance, that's all I've seen.

Even "our" journalists, like Maddow and Olbermann, or just opinion-hurlers. You can find some good reporting in some of the big papers now and then, and in some of the small papers now and then. But other than that, we have returned to the era of yellow journalism, complete with the media starting wars.

[ThomWV]

18. Maybe this is a different subject - but just what is "Main stream news" these days?

Now days with news papers folding right and left, radio just one big right-wing network, every cable system with dozens and dozens of channels and little dishes pulling in channels by the hundreds its really hard to say just who is main stream and who is not.

[Lost4words]

27. if it is corporate and commercial its M$M, with very few exceptions

find and listen or watch Democracy Now on web, radio, TV

I guarantee it will change what you call news

[Enthusiast]

19. It's one giant smoke screen.

It is an organized effort to prevent the public from knowing what is actually being done to them.

Why no recommendations for the thread?

[KharmaTrain]

22. We Only Have "Infotaiment"

The "News" divisions at most networks are a part of their entertainment divisions...out to generate ratings and profits and nothing more. There's no obligation on their part to offer "news", just what they consider it to be...which is almost always geared to titilate rather than inform.

You're not cynical, just a "discriminating customer"...one that is seeing through the corporate media games and realizing it's not about informing...only to draw eyeballs and thus revenues. Burning Korans or chasing a dead girl is far sexier than attempting to explain GOOP lies or obstructionism...and the rushpublicans are more than glad for the diversions.

[Lost4words]

24. NO! Try LINK TV! its not mainstream! Democracy Now w/Amy Goodman!

[spanone]

26. the media is broken in this world..scripted news

[Lost4words]

28. DemocracyNow.ORG

watch it 3 times and you will never leave, take it from this old broadcaster.

[lib2DaBone]

29. TV News is repulsive.... one picture says it all....

[MedicalAdmin]

30. You are not cynical enough by half.

The US has had opinion and hyperbole masquerading as news for over 30 years. I moved to the US in the 80's and was a news junky back in Canada. I looked in vain for a newspaper or TV network to satisfy my craving for good meaty news and found only cotton candy.

UNDERSTAND THIS. The USA has no functional news outlets. PERIOD.

If you want news then you need to consult the BBC, CBC, AL Jazera, etc.

[Gold Metal Flake]

33. That's the "liberal media" for you.

If the media had a liberal bias there would be a lot more boring documentaries on it.

[Whisp]

34. Jeffrey Toobin of CNN (one of the only sane ones there) said

of all this mosque/book burning. He said it was 'us', meaning the media, that was as responsible for all the hype and stupidity (of course he didn't use quite those words but you knew he meant it) just as much as the idiot nobody preacher by promoting that garbage and all the news outlets were following suit.

He was commenting as a guest Suzanne Mulveau at the time.

And what was the next story? Yes, it was more Koran, for hours more after his comment.