The articles, produced TV pieces, etc and produced and stockpiled well in advance. There are obit files on everyone who is anyone. All that needs to be filled in is the date and cause. Case in point: I was listening to WTVN, Columbus when an erronious report that Bob Hope had died surfaced (he was not dead at that point). They go to an ABC report "This is an ABC News Special Report. Bon Hope has died. (Cue the pre-produced bio "Bob Hope got his start in the 1920s, etc, etc."). Report ends, ABC News guy says "this just in, Bob Hope's publicist indicated he has not died".
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Sen. John McCain dead at 81
- Thread starter Y2kTheNewOldies
- Start date
I am not talking about the wire service reports. I am specifically talking about the virtually non-stop and repetitious quoting of both local and national politicians. We are now into our third day of this nonsense.
When you choose to watch news, that is what you get. The "protocol" is you cover it until he's buried.
Correct, when a former President or losing Presidential candidate who also held another high office dies.
IIRC, George McGovern, the last Senator who was also a losing Presidential candidate that passed away (2012), got plenty of national news coverage of his death and funeral. As did Barry Goldwater (1998). Bob Dole, more than likely the next (he's 95), will also.
There is no question the coverage is accurate and deserved. This man was a longtime US Senator. He also was the Republican candidate in 2008 for the Presidential election. Not to mention a war hero. He deserves the greatest respect from all Americans. (IMO, Trump should be ashamed for his treatment of this event).
Or......it is cheap "news" reporting. Might as well just read the teletype because other things are still happening in the world and we are not hearing about those.
You missed my point, which is that the "news" about McCain's death and his lifetime accomplishments have been covered over and over and over again. The news cycle is stuck in gear and yet it continues and will probably still be going when his remains are transported to D.C. and the whole cycle will repeat itself again and again and again.
Journalists should do the story then move on. I tuned in this morning to find out the very significant results of yesterday's Arizona primaries. Two stations here were running a script at the bottom of the screen instead of discussing the results and possible ramifications - something that will affect every AZ citizen much more than the death of a senator who hasn't been in the nation's capitol in the past year. What I got was less than several minutes of a raw vote count. No discussion. No interpretation. No expert opinion on what might happen next and no followup to the reported voting irregularities reported earlier. Virtually every station of note chose to repeat a story which had already been repeated at least a dozen times since last weekend and which has no bearing on the average citizen.
I was living here when Barry Goldwater was in his prime and when he died but I don't remember multi-day repetitive reporting like what is being done now (with more to come). The biggest discussion about Goldwater, who did much more for this state than McCain ever could, was whether to rename Sky Harbor airport for him. I also remember the media brought up Goldwater's failed 1964 presidential bid endlessly - something that has barely been mentioned locally although McCain failed not once but two times. Goldwater was a native son whose family was immensely important to the founding and growth of the State of Arizona. McCain was a carpetbagger who married into the political scene.
I am not trying to compare the two men personally but rather the media coverage accorded each. This state would not exist in its current position had it not been for Barry Goldwater. McCain never came close to that kind of performance during his political career yet you would think just the opposite judging by the media coverage. And we get to relive it again and again this coming weekend - unless our colorful president tweets something that the media finds more important.
My definition of a "hero" is a person who voluntarily puts themselves at severe personal risk while serving others. While McCain's personal conduct during his imprisonment was laudable it was also what is expected of our military personnel. There were literally hundreds of soldiers in Vietnam who willingly put their lives on the line for their fellow soldiers but whose names we will never know because they weren't the sons of flag officers and no one was left to document their actions. Like JFK before him McCain conducted himself with integrity and honor when he was put in a position not of his choosing. He stepped up but that is different than being a "hero". As a fellow navy Vietnam veteran I had great respect for John McCain but I didn't consider him a "hero". I don't think he did either.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-...and-russia-in-new-documentary-active-measures
Yes there is another movie out on John McCain and yes its about his final issue he had to deal with and its about Russia. The Movie is "Active Measures"
Yes there is another movie out on John McCain and yes its about his final issue he had to deal with and its about Russia. The Movie is "Active Measures"
It's what the majority of people are interested in. Maybe not you, but there's an audience for John McCain right now. So yes, there are things happening in the Punjab region that aren't getting reported. There are things happening in lots of places. But right now, there's nothing like a good funeral, and that's what they cover. When Winston Churchill died, the networks pre-empted everything to cover his funeral in London. You would have thought he was Prime Minister of the US.
My point is the problem isn't the news channels. The problem is you want custom news. News that only you are interested in. I'm here to tell you it exists. But you have to look for it. Otherwise, you get what's given to you. If you don't like it, turn it off. But they're not in the business of programming to an audience of one.
That's pretty much how the news business rolls. At least for the past three decades or so.
Some porn star says she slept with Trump and it's wall-to-wall on the cable nets.
Some ferry sinks in Bangladesh killing 800 people and there is nary a mention.
Not just the news business. We can now see it in trending topics. What are people really interested in? What you think they're interested in.
The question is which funeral will get the most clicks: McCain or Franklin. I suspect Franklin.
I think you are being somewhat unfair. There have been many stories about tragedies overseas particularly the refugees in the Adriatic Sea off the Italian coast. We see stories about typhoons and floods in Asia commonly. But those stories do not affect but a very tiny number of people in this country. A porn star sleeping with our president presents all sorts of issues (national security, lack of moral behavior etc.) which affect everyone in this country and should be covered in depth, as it was.
Let me add that "cheap news" isn't broadcasting a funeral or any live remote. It costs a lot of money to send a crew and satellite truck to a site.
Cheap news is having the anchor sit in a studio and just read headlines. It's even cheaper if you do it the way Newsy or Cheddar do it, bypassing the anchor and the studio, and just have a dull automated voice reading text.
Cheap news is having the anchor sit in a studio and just read headlines. It's even cheaper if you do it the way Newsy or Cheddar do it, bypassing the anchor and the studio, and just have a dull automated voice reading text.
The funeral in Arizona is taking place this morning and is wall to wall on TV. I have seen nothing of Franklin in the past several days.
The Franklin funeral is tomorrow in Detroit. Smart not to go head to head.
No, I don't want "custom news" but I do want, and expect, news that is of importance to the average Arizona citizen and I don't expect it to be drilled into me multiple times per hour/day/week. Every major story is covered by every major outlet at least once. That should be enough. Otherwise the stations are just filling time.
But you mention Churchill. Winston Churchill was the European face of WWII for almost its entire duration and most importantly during the early years when the issue was seriously in doubt. He had an American mother which made the USA connection long before our troops entered the war. He had a long record, both good and not so good, since the early days of the 20th Century in two very significant wars and spoke for what was then the world's largest and most important empire. The people, like my parents, who lived through WWII thought he was the most important person on Earth during those times and it is inconceivable to most of them what the world would look like today had he not led the Brits through one of the most terrible times in their history (and by extension the USA). It is understandable to me that he would be given a funeral as you describe. BTW, I did not witness it as I was in Vietnam fighting another politician's war at that time.
People don't watch 24/7. They tune in for a short time at convenient points in their day. The news has to be repeated endlessly so when people tune in, they get a quick recap of what's happening. That's how news radio works, and that's how the news TV channels work. So no, they can't cover a major story once. They have to repeat it at least 4 times an hour. You think it's boring to the viewer? Imagine if you had to be an anchor. That's how real time broadcasting works. On-demand is different. Maybe that's what you want.
Rush actually had the nerve to say Bite Me was speaking at the funeral. He did clarify he was referring to former VP Joe Biden and then called him Bite Me again. And then twice referred to Barack Hussein.
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