Who watches News Programs less now then 5 years ago?

[jzodda]

I find myself watching less and less of CNN, MSNBC, Fox news, and the news shows like 60 minutes, dateline, etc. Five years ago I remember it not being as bad as today and 10 years ago now seems like another universe in they way news is presented and the content that is distributed over the airwaves.

I remember a time when you could turn on CNN and get a good idea of whats going on in the world. You could at any given time catch a good discussion of national and foreign events. This used to be true even at biased Fox News years back. As of this Saturday say goodbye to CNN's Capital Gang, one the last vestiges of good political talk left on the air outside of Sunday mourning.

Now its Michael Jackson all news all the time. Even headline news is filled with tabloid crap filling a good chunk of a 30 minute broadcast. What is happening to this country? I have read about the "dumbing down" of America but is it as bad as I think it is? I find the tabloid reporting bad enough. I mean how many times do we need to hear about Tom Cruise and his new girlfriend on CNN, MSNBC or Fox News? But then when they are not reporting about Russel Crowes problems I have to listen to opinionated "anti-journalists" like Bill O'Reilly. His ratings success has been a disaster for credible journalism on TV. Now all the networks are rushing to get opinionated copies on the air as fast as they can. These people and their producers are not interested in facts, and "getting it right" only giving their sometimes emotional (Nancy Grace anyone?) takes on any given issue.

I find myself watching obscure broadcasts these days like Cspan when they are not running live video at Congress or seeking out the BBC broadcasts.

The only news broadcast that to my eyes seems the same as it always was is the Newshour on PBS. Its really a primer on how to do things right in broadcasting. To my dismay the republicans want to change the way PBS does business so who knows how long that will last?

Does anybody else feel as I do or am I just out of my mind?

[WhollyHeretic]

1. I pretty much stopped watching any cable news

after the election. They don't have the right to even call themselves news organizations anymore. The only time I turn one on is to check and see if they are covering a big news story. I checked the other day during the DSM hearing and they all had some police chase on. Faux news was actually replaying taped parts of the car driving down the highway. The media in this country is nearly as culpable as the repugs for the mess we're in.

[ObaMania]

2. This guy!

I used to crank on the M$M the second I got home from work, but not any more. Now it's the radio and either classic rock or classical - depending on what type of day I had.

The radio does not go off until like, 8:00 p.m. when I crank on HGTV or FoodTV.

I just couldn't take it any more.

On Sundays though, I'll sometimes turn on Tweety, Russert and McLaughlin, but really not give it my full attention.

I'm done with it. Even in the runup to the next elections I may not be so engrossed in it. I'm definitely feeling a little better now by not watching - A little less angry.

[madrchsod]

3. i used to watch cnn headlines during breaks at work

but now it`s so bad i don`t bother. i haven`t watched any tv news for 4 years

[Javaman]

4. News only from the net now. Burn your TV.

[silverweb]

5. I don't watch TV news at all anymore.

I can't bear the garbage the networks spew -- news and so-called "entertainment." There's practically nothing worth watching on at all. I can get everything I want or need from the internet and my books. In fact, if it weren't for my daughter, I'd probably get rid of the TV completely.

[Sandpiper]

6. I don't watch TV news at all if I can avoid it

Ever since the way they all collectively rolled over for Bush in the run up to the Iraq invasion.

[Smarmie Doofus]

7. I watch almost none now. The orchestrated media drumbeat ....

leading up to the war in 02-03 turned me off for good.

I'll occasionally tune-in a Sunday morning-type format issues show but invariably my own POV is not represented. (This includes PBS, by the way.) It's necessary, also, to pop in on the "news" shows now and then to see what it is they are allowing us to see... and what it is they are NOT.

But when the bombs actually began to fall in Iraq, I turned the set off and followed the war --- and all other --- news in the newspaper (NY TIMES).

This is still pretty much my pattern. A lot of news I get right here... or on other websites.

Lots of people feel as you do... HERE anyway.

[killbotfactory]

8. I don't watch them at all

the pro-Iraq war shilling was the breaking point. They have been corrupted and can't be trusted.

[Vanje]

9. There is no news on TV anymore.

I get mine online.

[bobbieinok]

10. stopped watching all tv summer of 2000

I was in IA for 3 weeks in June with no access to tv (son's house)

found I was much less tense after this and just stopped....continued internet

only exception was about 2 weeks after 9-11

some of the stuff I had been watching in the spring of 2000 was interesting, but mostly I just wanted to yell and scream at the one-sided presentation of W=good, Gore=bad

[otohara]

11. Been Boycotting Them Since November 2000

and we're canceling our newspaper subscription - It gave me such pleasure to tell the newspaper guy just why.

He phoned and said "we hear your canceling because of editorial content" - I started with their endorsement of Bush in 2000 - Everyone was shocked (Denver Post) then I ranted for about 10 minutes on just how bad the press is and I'd rather get it from the Internet.

[jzodda]

13. I am down to one subscription

The NY Times. I find it to still be the best resource for getting news about whats going on outside our borders...

As to the rest I have given up on them for the most part...I hope only that one day they will see the light because its the young people I worry about. The more informed they are about the big issues the better a country we will have going forward.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

12. My favorite sticker to put on a T.V.

"why do you think they call it programming?"
Sorry, I try very hard not to pay any attention to MSM because I have found it all to be lies.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. We stopped having news programs in 1992, the year Clinton was....

...elected president the first time.

And I stopped watching the news about 1996.

[anitar1]

15. the current murder,celebrities, shouting heads, trashy ,

so called journalists. 19 minutes of "news" on the big 3--soap operas. many forensic shows. I watch very little and that is HGTV and the Cooking shows. Some PBS but that is slowly dying. Get my news from the net. oops--I do watch C-span sometimes.

[meg]

16. All propaganda all the time

I am so sick of the whores. I do not watch them anymore. If my sweetie has CNN on, I leave the room.