Well, it's about 100 days until we elect the successor to Dubya. But that's not really the countdown this post is about.
I have to admit that during the primary season I got caught up in Keith Olberman's program on MSNBC, Countdown. I thought it a refreshingly liberally biased take on the primaries and political reporting. I watch BBC America World News to get my facts so Keith was an intellectually affordable luxury. After the presumptive nominees were chosen the show lost some of its appeal. Some of the segments have become downright aggravating. The last segment with some VH-1 comic commenting on a political issue is getting repetitive and boring. This segment is neither news nor entertainment but rather a sop to the "low information voter" who, quite honestly, is not what I perceive to be the target audiece of Keith's show.
The final straw for me was the week after July 4 when Rachel Maddow subbed for Keith. The show reverted back to what had intrigued me during the primaries. A liberal take on issues and some reasonably intelligent commentary. And something was missing----The Worst Persons in the World segment. Rachel did not do this regular segment. And it vastly improved the show!!
I first saw Keith do this schtick on NBC's Sunday Football Night in America and found it amusing. But on Countdown, it has become tedious. Not that someone should not point out the follies and foibles of humanity, especially the dastardly actions of some citizens. But Bill O'Reilly and Rupert Murdoch really don't compare to Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe or Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan. And is FoxNews (FoxNoise to Keith) really as bad as the Jangaweed in Darfur?
So I guess I'll keep up with BBC and increase the number of DVDs I get from Netflix to fill the hour left in my tv watching formerly occupied by Keith. That is, unless MSNBC brings in Rachel or gets Keith to change his format. Although Olberman may appropriate Edward R. Murrow's sign-off, there's no comparison between the quality of their "newscasts." "Good Night and Good Luck!"
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"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
1 comment:
I too watch countdown daily and consider maddow's changes, when she sits in -- no worst person -- an improvement.
also watch race to the whitehouse, where maddow is frequently included as a panelist.
i wrap this up with an hour of jim lehrer newshour, plus a good hour of reading news on the web in the morning, which makes for about 4 hours per day. (drives my wife bonkers!)
in this scenario, countdown's first moments ranks high, but its later sections i usually turn off, unless special circumstances warrant listening longer.
olbermann is one of the smartest people on tv -- his cornell educ shows up frequently, especially in knowledge of history, and he seems -- like maddow -- to have a photographic memory in his ability to recall historical facts.
unlike maddow, though, his ego intrudes, more and more frequently, seemingly as the popularity of his program grows.
maddow is not yet afflicted by an over-developed ego.
together though, these two have changed tv news. before each, there was nothing like it -- muckraking liberal analysis, something that bodes well for america's future, perhaps an era of downgrading our nation's garrison-state economy-mentality.
as another source, i recommend the web-based real news -- iwt, where you can listen to the likes of pepe escobar.
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