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CNN NEEDS AN OVERHAUL...Bad!

sdwulfdawg

sdwulfdawg

Tonight I turned to the wrong channel to watch CNN's coverage of the Times Square Bomber Arrest and landed on "HLN." Here you had Nancy Grace yelling about some guy who hacked someone up with a machete and they are running a blinking graphic "URGENT BREAKING NEWS" -- as opposed to just "BREAKING NEWS." I guess the next level is going to be "SUPER URGENT BREAKING NEWS" and then "SUPER MEGA URGENT BREAKING NEWS."

I finally turned over to CNN and here they were having an anchor out of London anchoring their "breaking news coverage" -- and then after a bit they turned over to a rather disheveled Don Lemmon who had no tie on and was kind of out of breath. After a while they then returned to the single anchor from London (who was very good and very in control).

What do they need to do?

1. Calm down those blinking graphics and simplify.
2. Bring on some credible REAL journalists...not just news readers with sculptured eyebrows
3. Get back to doing some real television journalism...not fluff...
 
sdwulfdawg said:
Tonight I... landed on "HLN." Here you had Nancy Grace yelling about some guy who hacked someone up with a machete and they are running a blinking graphic "URGENT BREAKING NEWS" -- as opposed to just "BREAKING NEWS." I guess the next level is going to be "SUPER URGENT BREAKING NEWS" and then "SUPER MEGA URGENT BREAKING NEWS..."
Click to expand...

Boy, even ESPNews during the "Breaking News" bullet days weren't even that blatant!
 
sdwulfdawg said:
1. Calm down those blinking graphics and simplify.
2. Bring on some credible REAL journalists...not just news readers with sculptured eyebrows
3. Get back to doing some real television journalism...not fluff...
Click to expand...

4. Cancel Nancy Grace's show -- I've seen some of her programs as part of a "captive" audience; it might as well be called "Breaking News with Nancy Grace", as every time I see her show, it's always "breaking news".

As for the blinking "Urgent Breaking News" -- since the use of the phrase "breaking news" is so common, it is no longer relevant, so they resorted to a tactic specifying that the breaking news was genuine, honest to God "breaking news", not just for show.
 
They all do it. Fox News Channel loves that "Fox News Alert" for every story. Even the ones that have been unfolding for the past several days like the flooding in Nashville. everyone feels like they have to out do the others. I'm about to get tired of cable news.
 
sdwulfdawg said:
Tonight I turned to the wrong channel to watch CNN's coverage of the Times Square Bomber Arrest and landed on "HLN." Here you had Nancy Grace yelling about some guy who hacked someone up with a machete and they are running a blinking graphic "URGENT BREAKING NEWS" -- as opposed to just "BREAKING NEWS." I guess the next level is going to be "SUPER URGENT BREAKING NEWS" and then "SUPER MEGA URGENT BREAKING NEWS."

I finally turned over to CNN and here they were having an anchor out of London anchoring their "breaking news coverage" -- and then after a bit they turned over to a rather disheveled Don Lemmon who had no tie on and was kind of out of breath. After a while they then returned to the single anchor from London (who was very good and very in control).

What do they need to do?

1. Calm down those blinking graphics and simplify.
2. Bring on some credible REAL journalists...not just news readers with sculptured eyebrows
3. Get back to doing some real television journalism...not fluff...
Click to expand...

I urge you, if you haven't already; rent the movie "Network." This picture, which was made back in the mid 1970s, predicted what would happen to news once the entertainment division of a network took over.

CNN's Headline News is an oxymoron. There isn't any real news on that network anymore. It has become an appendage for "TMZ."

As for hiring real news people, remember back in the 80s CNN decided to fire a large number of journalists, many who helped launch the network and replaced them with high-paid celebrities like Paula Zahn, Connie Chung, and Larry King. King is the only one left. The network did manage to hire Campbell Brown away from NBC, but her ratings are nothing to write home about.

If you want in depth news I would suggest CBC, BBC, NPR, or PBS.
 
In fairness, I have seen similar things scrawl across the screen on Fox News that made my
head hurt (don't they teach Basic English Writing Skills to Journalism/Communication Majors
and Interns anymore?) No argument here thought that CNN could use a house-cleaning, total
tear-down and rebuild.
 
One of our local stations just started the noon news with three "breaking news" stories.
They're usually not that bad about that.
I guess any story that might have a change in information and is still in some way unresolved [all the parties are still alive], then it's technically "breaking" to the newspeople.

Does it seem to anyone else that highschoolers are writing the news lately, cable and otherwise?
 
Nancy Grace runs the "breaking news" banner every night for almost the entire show. What a joke.
 
azumanga said:
Cancel Nancy Grace's show...
Click to expand...

I've read where she's going to have a new show in syndication called "Swift Justice." Perhaps she's planning to discontnue her HLN show at some point? And I wonder if she will pull the same "urgent breaking news" things on her new show - or is it the intellectual property of HLN?
 
In fairness to Don Lemon, he was off the air for well over an hour and probably had to hustle back into the studio. The on-call position at an organization like that is a tough place. How can you be called in the middle of the night and be expected to know every detail and look your best?

Eventually, they turned it back over to Lemon and TJ Holmes and later Brooke Baldwin.

I thought, considering the circumstances (an early morning 330am press conference), all the networks did their best.
 
mnbu12 said:
In fairness to Don Lemon, he was off the air for well over an hour and probably had to hustle back into the studio. The on-call position at an organization like that is a tough place. How can you be called in the middle of the night and be expected to know every detail and look your best?

Eventually, they turned it back over to Lemon and TJ Holmes and later Brooke Baldwin.

I thought, considering the circumstances (an early morning 330am press conference), all the networks did their best.
Click to expand...

Cut CNN some slack. Whenever I watch they seem to be all over breaking new stories. Sorry, can't say the same for Fox News Channel. They rarely run breaking news live. Oh and lets not forget if the President is live on tv you can bet Fox News isn't carrying it. GOOD DAY!
 
I'm totally sympathetic to CNN here. IMHO they have the best breaking news coverage hands down.

I was commenting on the unusual circumstances which surrounded the story (and thus, its reporting) and still giving them (and all other networks) credit.
 
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