That's Infotainment!
That's Infotainment!
Let's be honest about cable news, it's just entertainment.
As you might have heard, on Wednesday night CNN held a town hall with twice impeached/once indicted/liable for sexual abuse/former President Donald Trump. The general consensus, including from people that work at CNN, is that it was a disaster. Which, of course it was, because it had Donald Trump at the center.
There are plenty of places to go for detailed criticism of the event. I’m not going to join that chorus here, although I agree with it. My interest is in evaluating what exactly CNN and cable news is, what it isn’t, and how the public should react.
The stated goal for holding this town hall was to “inform the public” or whatever. In reality, it was to generate ratings. CNN and cable news needs to generate ratings so they can sell ads and make money. I don’t really have a judgement call to make here because it is what it is, they are business and they need to make money to stay in business.
This isn’t to say that they don’t provide a service to the general public. They do inform people. They do employ talented and dogged journalists. They do something things very well. I just don’t think shaking our fists at them does any good
Rather than expect CNN or Fox News or MSNBC or any of the corporate media to change, we as the general public should change our expectations of what they will do and what they won’t do. We might want the corporate media to be a beacon of truth driven by their unwavering commitment to informing the public by holding truth to power, but they won’t do it. I mean, they might do it as a way to make money, but they will prioritize making a buck first, because they are a business. If they can juice ratings over airing footage of a raging dumpster fire they will do that rather than explain why the dumpster is burning in the first place.
We would be better off thinking of them in the same way that we do professional wrestling. Professional wrestlings is full of legitimately impressive athletes playing dictated roles in order to entertain the audience. It’s a world full of “faces” (heroes) and “heels” (villains). Cable news is basically the same thing. For Fox News viewers the “face” might be Sean Hannity and the “heel” is AOC. For MSNBC viewers the “face” is Nicole Wallace and the “heel” is Ted Cruz. You get the idea.
If you happen to enjoy cable news (and I have the anchors I like) I’m not telling you to stop watching cable news. Well, okay, Fox News is lying to their audience and doesn't seem to respect them enough to tell the truth…you got me there. Let me be specific, if you watch CNN or MSNBC then go on and enjoy it. It’s fine to be entertained and if you can be informed along the way, all the better.
I just think it’s important to realize that it’s “infotainment.” When it comes to advocating and making positive change in our country, that will always come down to us. If you don’t like something that is being aired, then turn it off, and find something better.
Okay, so I want to end this post with some examples of really good journalist, interviewers, and rules for how journalists should cover Trump.
Kara Swisher is an exceptionally talented interviewer. Her podcast “On with Kara Swisher” is worth a listen. She has a reputation for being “tough” but I think she is just direct. It’s hard to spin when people sit across from her. Here is how she says she would’ve interviewed Trump (and I believe her):
https://twitter.com/karaswisher/status/1656485981095092225?s=20
Another great interviewer is Jon Stewart. Like Kara Swisher he doesn’t take well to spin. His interview with Senator Nathan Dahm made the rounds for a good reason.
Finally, Jonathan V. Last writing for
had five rules for covering Trump in yesterday's edition of his newsletter The Triad.You can read it here:
