Cable news channel confesses: Yesterday, we urged you to watch three minutes of videotape. It featured an unnamed massive star from a certain "cable news" channel.
To watch that tape, click here.
In our view, it's remarkable that nonsense like that is allowed to go on the air. It's instructive to think that people can watch such ludicrous conduct without thinking something's gone wrong.
That said, "cable news" is largely entertainment product from a tribal perspective. At MSNBC, we're currently being given the thrill of The Chase After Donald J. Trump, pretty much full freaking stop.
Concerning that pitiful videotape, consider this:
This morning, at 5:43 AM, we flipped on MSNBC. A commercial was playing for the channel itself—a commercial featuring footage from that pitiful videotape!
In the freshly-cut ad, the massive star in that videotape bangs a drumroll to herself, then signals for, and receives, a fanfare from her staff. The pitiful footage is accompanied by two messages from the channel:
THIS IS WHO WE ARE.We've long given you the bad news—to all appearances, that actually is who, and what, they are. We've sometimes suggested that's all they are. Today, the channel confesses.
THIS IS WHY YOU WATCH.
Regarding that second message, we'd have to call it a bit of an insult.
"This is why you watch," you're told, as you watch a corporate multimillionaire clowning and pimping herself.
Is that why we liberals watch cable news? In truth, we've wondered about that very question for at least the past several years. But of one thing, there can be no more doubt:
Within the corporate bubble, the massive star is actually praised for conduct of that type. According to her corporate owners, that's who she is. Case closed!
We can't find videotape of the ad. For an overview regarding this ad campaign, you can just click here.
"Is that why we liberals watch cable news? "
ReplyDeleteWhy do *you* watch it, Bob?
I know, I know: "so that we don't have to."
I must be a brain-dead zombie, as Mao so helpfully paraphrases you.
I could tell you my own reasons why I occasionally watch "cable news." But no one cares. Including you, Bob.
Personally, I watch MSNBC for the Maddow crossword puzzle anecdotes.
ReplyDeleteWhere does Bob get his news?
ReplyDeleteHe only tells us about the Times, the Post, MSNBC, and CNN.
But when he is debunking a story from these sources, how does he know what the facts are, in order to refute the erroneous ones in the story? He never mentions other sources of information, so one has to assume that he gets his facts from precisely the news organizations that he denounces as liars.
Just wondering.
Most of us here don't watch Rachel Maddow.
ReplyDeleteMaddow is the left's Glen Beck. She is a total embarrassment. I agree it is interesting that she has any appeal at all. It says a lot about us. I appreciate these posts. I think it's an interesting subject to explore. The answers are there somewhere. Yes, it is that we are dumb but there may be a more deep reason. Or maybe not. It's true that we favor what is easy and feels good. For me it's like Republicans and Ted Cruz - what's matter people? Can't you see this person is a total pretender!?
ReplyDelete"Maddow is the left's Glen Beck."
DeleteWhich is why she has the job. Corporate America has no interest in informing the citizenry. It runs counter to their bottom line.
I've criticized Somerby a lot, often I find him crackpot. But when he's right, and points out Rachel Maddow's flaws- that she clowns around a lot, burns up airtime, talks about herself way too much and what an *inconvenience* breaking news is for her personally- well, you can'y unsee that. I used to admire her to a certain degree. When she's good, she's good. But more likely, she's drearily rote and just fills airtime.
ReplyDeleteNow MSNBC is promoting her with that unbelievably self-congratulatory clip about her doing a NYTimes crossword, and we're all supposed to be charmed to bits. Rather than angry that she's wasting our time with bullshit. MSNBC is replaying this crossword crap clip to promote Rachel, when she is wow, such a lazy moaning complainer lately. I keep MSNBC on in the background all day, and I'll say someone young and hungry like Katy Tur is eating Rachel's lunch in reporting breaking stories, Katy Tur is a trouper filling in on any show that needs filling, she makes Rachel seems like the lazy complacent complaining queen she is. A queen who needs to be overthrown. Rachel really is lazy and fake, tonight she took off for no explained reason, like her five-day weekends. I guess that's a perk, to blow off your actual job all the time.
Yet MSNBC is running ads promoting her with this crossword nonsense. It makes her look dumb and shallow and awful. We don't watch the news to her about Rachel's side hobbies that she is so fake-humble about. No one cares. Rachel Maddow has entered the aging diva stage where she thinks she's invincible, but the ingenue in the wings is waiting to take her place as she gets ever more sloppy and lazy.
Also, Chris Matthews REALLY needs to retire, he is useless, it's been 20 years of his dumb blather like he's a Fred Willard character from a Christopher Guest mockumentary. Chris Mattheews really needs to go, he is stagnant and stuck in the Clinton penis-hunts of the 90s, and I would love to see Joy Reid replace him in the 7 pm slot. Because he's a waste of space. And Rachel shouldn't be so comfortable, someone like Katy Tur is gunning for her. Rachel is really complacent, she thinks she's gold, but she can be so tiresome. She's not must-see: when was the last time anything from her show went viral? Something original or interesting reporting that was all over? It's been a damn long time. Rachel doesn't do journalism or news anymore, she just reacts to what everyone else is saying and complains about doing her incredibly well-compensated multimillion job. What is it, $7 or $12 million a year to show up?
I disagree with Somerby on lots, but I've come to see that his critiques of Maddow are spot-on, and we on the liberal side need to stop acting like she's any great journalist. She's a great careerist first. What a gig!
Down with Maddow!
DeleteAs opposed to the corporate-paid talking heads who don't waste time. I'd give each and every one of them a gold medal, if there was such a person.
Thank you for this wonderful post. It gives me hope that anybody who really looks at her show will see what you see and express so well here.
DeleteNothing against what 9:45 says immediately above, but if it wasn’t already clear, I was referring to 3:43’s post just above that.
ReplyDelete
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