Visiting with an old friend, we ended up watching a stupid newscast on TV. That's the only kind of newscast on TV, of course, and in watching for half an hour, the news was nowhere to be found.

This is not a rant about how shallow and stupid television is. [I already wrote that rant](../Cranky Old Fart/COF-141). This is a (slightly) different rant, about how shallow and stupid the news on TV is.

TV news is only about what the Mayor said, what the Governor said, what the President said, and about traffic jams, house fires, murders, about disasters if there's good footage, with no mention of disasters if there's not, and now here's Chip with Sports, and Sandy with the weather. Mostly, TV news is about selling commercials.

You want to know the news? Read a decent newspaper (there still are a few). If you can't find time for a newspaper, or your local paper sucks, listen to Democracy Now, or there are other options, but cripes, don't watch TV news and imagine you're watching the news.

I've said this before, but it's been a few months so I'll say it again:

News is (or ought to be) the coverage of events that affect the lives of lots of people. News ought to be skeptical, ought to understand that what politicians say is usually bullshit, and that the rich and powerful are (almost?) invariably corrupt. News ought to be about digging for evidence to expose and punish the bullshit and corruption, but if that's news, then the news on TV was canceled a long time ago. Change the channel or click it off.

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And another thing:

If you're watching or listening to a newscast that includes a daily stock report (you know, "The S&P 500 settled at 4,175.48, gaining 20.10 points or 0.48 percent, while the Nasdaq moved up 27.74 points or 0.22 percent to 12,563.76"), that's a newscast that's not intended for you. It's intended for, shall we say, the investor class, and everything on that 'news' show is slanted toward them, not you.

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And one last thing.

What the hell is this?

"Some viewers may find the following imagery/video/story disturbing."

What does a warning like that mean, really, when it precedes a news report? It means the show's producers try very hard to make sure the news is never disturbing, but just this once, they're letting some actual news pass through.

Bubba, if it's not disturbing, then you're not watching the news. If you're following the news but don't want to be disturbed by the news, give up and watch a sit-com.

5/19/2022