News Media Blinded by Their Own Reflection
SAN DIEGO -- If a U.S. city about 40 miles from the nation's capital erupts in violence, but the cable news networks ignore the unrest because they're busy with live coverage of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, is it the end of television journalism?
No regrets. It has been a good run. But television news isn't what it used to be.
My grandparents on my mother's side were Tejanos who spoke only Spanish, but they understood enough English to introduce me to Walter Cronkite. The most trusted man in America was a revered figure in their home. In their world, only important people were on television.
What would they have made of the Kardashians?
I imagine my grandparents would have been baffled by that CNN segment in February in which anchor Don Lemon covered a story about runaway llamas in downtown Phoenix by interviewing, wait for it, a llama.
They also might have been a tad confused by that time in March when, on MSNBC, "Hardball" host Chris Matthews, a make-believe journalist, interviewed make-believe President Frank Underwood, aka Kevin Spacey.
There's a special challenge for cable television, where I've offered commentary and analysis for more than 20 years. Having to fill a 24-hour news cycle every single day can cause you to lose perspective on what constitutes news, what people care about, and what makes for compelling television.
When it comes to criticism, journalists are better at giving than receiving. I ruffled feathers at CNN, where I was a contributor until a few weeks ago when we parted amicably. During an interview on a digital network, I said CNN news programs "cover the wrong stories." That can't be a secret. Most viewers get their fill after three days of wall-to-wall coverage of missing airplanes, or overhyped East Coast mega-rainstorms that never materialize, or -- as comedian Keegan-Michael Key joked at the correspondents' dinner, as President Obama's "anger translator" -- two weeks of around-the-clock Ebola coverage.
Are we watching the slow death of a once-powerful medium? For the last 50 years, television has been the go-to place for Americans when they grapple with a national tragedy or bask in the glory of a shared triumph.
Twenty years ago, college students lugged television sets into dorm rooms. Today, many of them opt for a smaller screen and get their information from laptops, tablets and cellphones.
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