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About what I need to make it through a Williams, or Couric broadcast.

The London Symphony's Sir Thomas Beecham didn't like Ralph Vaughn Williams's monotonous "music" any better than I do.

After a Williams composition in rehearsal one day, he kept waving his baton at the silent orchestra � and asked a violinist "Why aren't you playing?"

"Maestro, it's over!"

Feigning surprise, Sir Thomas quickly looked closely at the score and exclaimed "Yes, thank God, so it is!"

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It is show biz ya know....

So..... is there an economic opportunity here?

If "supply and demand" really works - what does that say about the American Public?

I quit watching local news a long time ago. Every now and then I'll turn it on and it'll instantly show me why I quit watching. They've never got anything of substance on there, just 30 minutes of which drug dealer got busted today or which mexican got caught molesting their 3 year old. I already know that stuff goes on in the ghetto, if I wanted to hear about it all the time I'd go watch it myself. The evening news has become like watching an episode of COPS, which I don't watch either.

Is it asking too much that the reporters be able to string together a complete, coherent sentance without referring to their notes? How about that thay actually understand what they are reporting?

I'm DONE with "the news" in all of it's forms. It's biased and uninformed, with no attempt made to investigate. I'm sure I'll miss an important even or two, but the really big stuff (like the next terrorist attack) will trickle through and I'll learn about it within a week. What's fast enough, considering there's nothing I can do about the course our country is taking anyway.

I also dislike the "sensationalism" in the news.

It's a lot like the Chicken Little syndrom

Last night on our local news they showed that story. "The skeletal remains of a three-year old have been found." Then they showed a PICTURE of Caylee Anthony, before going on to say that "police caution they have no evidence it is her."

If you were watching with the sound off, you'd think they found her. If you weren't paying 100% attention, you'd think they found her.

Much as I dislike her mom and think she DID kill her, it was irresponsible to play the story that way. That will tend to taint juries, etc., and could lead to issues down the road.

we were discussing this the other day in the thread about "Crisis de jour".

Half of the news, or maybe more, is not about what HAS happened, but about what MIGHT happen. The talking heads always posit their story in the direction they wish their agenda to go.

Ditto..

"Scoop" is the operant word regarding news today. What they're spreading has to be scooped up for disposal.

Years ago, I stopped watching, and I've almost stopped reading. I realized that what they were spreading wasn't news if it didn't affect me. Almost nothing that's broadcast really affects me, therefore it isn't news. Only a small part of what's printed in my local paper actually affects me, either.

I heard something on the radio while on my long road trip recently, and had to jot it down. The station had, as its slogan, "If you read about it, it's history. If you hear about it, it's news radio." That about sums them up: unless you are tuned in electronically, it isn't news. These days, it isn't news unless it's a forecast.

Maybe the words to replace the news, to describe the substance of the broadcasts accurately, ought to be the nexts.

� or the whats?

� or the gonnas � maybe.

I believe that at one time journalists and anchors performed an actual service by watchdogging the government and current events and keeping the public informed of all goings on of public interest. That changed as news outlets became realized as commercial enterprises and put the focus on making a profit rather than honorably reporting the news as it happened without imparting spin.

Don't forget about the "old"s, Ken.

News is plural of new. Supposed to be new things. They'll beat an old story to death for days on end as though there's nothing "new" worth reporting.

Diversion...