The Myth of the 24 Hour Television News Cycle
Cable News Channels Don't Come Close to Reporting News 24hrs Daily
In fact, if you scrutinize the news cycle programming on cable outlets, you're lucky to get 18 hours a day of original news. This is certainly enough for even the most rabid reporting addict, but the fact remains that reruns of Larry King Live, Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly two or three times a night officially destroys a grand notion of 24 hour news overload. Sure, if important breaking news happens, a live reporter can always interrupt, but watching Latoya Jackson chat on about brother Michael Jackson to Larry King for the 6th time in a day, takes away from pure 24 hour news reporting.
It goes deeper than basic hourly number crunching. The content quality can be justifiably criticized. On MSNBC for example, you'll find infomercial weekends. Slapped next to repeats of Meet The Press, you can watch fascinating pitch ads for Oxi-Clean cleanser, Jupiter Jack cell phone gadgets and diet potions and lotions. MSNBC is also home base of sterling programs like Lockup: Indiana, The Gangster Chronicles and 5 Animal Attacks. Do these 'documentaries' provide true news value? I suppose they may to some, but counting those informational gems to truthfully call MSNBC a true 24/7 news outlet is stretching it to say the least.
Between countless repeats of Countdown with Keith Olbermann and HardBall with Chris Matthews coupled with irritating hype of the infomercials and 'news' shows like The Gangster Chronicles, you then go from 24 hours of original news reporting to something like 12-14. To top it off, all major cable news networks air repeats at the 11pm news hour, the time when many Americans catch up on news before bedtime. Sadly, the glory days of live 24 hour news casting, when CNN first went on the air, seem gone for good.
I guess I can live with that much TV news. I'm a bit of a news junkie, but glad a 24 hour news cycle is mostly colorful hyperbole. I'll stick to being a 14 hour news junkie, then take my vacations by going to a 12 hour news resort. Club CNN, Rancho MSNBC and Fiesta Fox, your 14 hour news cycle calms my restless news spirit!
Published by Will Stape
Will is an Emmy Award nominated screenwriter. He also writes extensively for magazines and the web. Will penned episodes for the TV shows, Star Trek: The Next Generation & Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.... View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentGood points here!
Soooo true!
This is so true, Will! And of all the so-called 'news' that is non-original stuff, look at all the non-news 'fluff' on these channels; especially Nancy Grace, where every damn day, it's another 'missing child' story. I was quite the news junkie before the era of 24-hour news, now I don't even waste my time with FOX, CNN, CNBC, or any of that; they've become every bit as irrelevant as newspapers have!
They don't even cover the news that does occur.
I third David's nomination!
The old glory days of CNN - when actual news mattered most - had 24/7 live coverage of events. Sure, there were always recaps. Today, you have tons of 'news shows' - ala Larry King, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly. These shows are rerun multiple times. Since it's cheaper and easier than to pay a roster of 24 hour newscasters. If I can't sleep, & I want to turn to CNN at 3am and watch breaking news, I can't... In the old days I could. Yes, a true 24 hour news cycle was forming when CNN first hit the air - now it's just reruns. The infomercial debacle on MSNBC is the worst of it. Here you have a supposed news network spooning viewers hours of paid for programming - truly shameless.
I second David's nomination...interesting read Will.
Are you trying to tell us that there isn't news presented on television 24 hours a day? cuz eveyone knows that the news is just rolled and rolled and you get the 5 news local - 6 news national and the 6:30 news local that is a repeat of the 5 news local. Not even the internet has 24 hours of news and they regurgitate the news in a circle all day.
I'd like to nominate the news for the Myth America pageant!!