I didn't know how good I had it.
Now, back in Philly, I've returned to cable news (occasionally) and what I've seen has been horrendous. Case and point: cable news' coverage of recent events in Iran.
To be fair, I don't really watch FOX or MSNBC news much if at all, mainly because I don't consider them credible news outlets. They're more like partisan entertainment, political circle jerks. FOX, for a long time, has been a mouthpiece for the Republican party (and not even any real type of coherent conservative ideology). Seeing FOX's rise in the ratings, MSNBC had a genius "idea" and decided to buck the whole "traditional" objective and fair reporting method (so old-fashioned) and become the yin to FOX's yang. The network has now transformed into the liberal/Democrat version of FOX--again, with no real clear, coherent liberal ideology. It's all, on both sides, partisanship at its worst: defend your man/woman (not necessarily ideas) no matter what they do. Beating the other party is key, not the truth--not objective analysis. Of course, there are exceptions: for example Shepard Smith on FOX and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC are decent reporters/commentators.
This leaves CNN. While the network has decided to take the highroad and stick to a relatively objective and fair narrative, the blunt truth is that their coverage of news still sucks. It's still based more towards entertainment (style over substance) and is framed in an ineffective, irrelevant right-left paradigm that does little justice to the reality of most of the stories the network covers.
Recent events in Iran--the rigged election, the street protests, the brutal government backlash--are a perfect example. One segment I watched on CNN focused on how recent events in Iran would affect the Obama administration. OK, so that might be a somewhat relevant question to American politics. But seriously, that question should be low on the totem poll. There are so many more important questions to ask about what's happening in Iran (some that, *GASP*, don't pertain specifically to America or American politics).
But the worst is what came later. It was enough to cause my brain cells to begin to engage in mass suicide. Yet I continued to watch. It was like a car crash or a naked Larry King. It's horrifying, but for some reason you just can't seem to look away.
Take a gander, if you dare, below:
Now if you managed to get through that without a) driving sharp objects into your eyes and ears so you no longer had to see or hear that travesty of news b) going to the hospital to treat the bloody knuckles you suffered from beating your computer screen in or c) having your brain simply stop functioning after it came to the realization that it could no longer exist in a world where this was taken seriously as news reporting, then congratulations.
So what's wrong with this segment? Where do I start?
First let's take the analysts...oh sorry...I mean "analysts." You may ask: are either of them Iran experts? Nope. How about Middle East experts? Nope. Well Jesus Herbert Christ, are they at least International Affairs experts? Nope, sorry. Then what the hell are they?! They're radio hosts. Yes, FUCKING RADIO HOSTS!!! So are they qualified at all to speak about the intricacies of Iranian politics and society?! Hell, are they even qualified to talk about the ins and outs of U.S. foreign policy in general?! NO THEY AREN'T, CNN!!! THEY'RE JUST TWO LOUD, ILL-EDUCATED TOOLBAGS!!! Their focus is not on objective analysis; it's on partisanship--beating the otherside, proving the otherside wrong. I hate to break it to these guys, but what's going on in Iran has little to do with whether Democrats or Republicans are right or wrong.
The second thing that drove me crazy about this segment was the pure idiocy of the liberal radio show host Warren Ballentine. If you don't quite remember it or your brain has tried to block it out because it was too traumatic, here's a sample:
I think the White House shouldn't say anything and the reason being because of what happened in 2000 when Bush stole the election.
...
When you look at what's going on in Iran right now, who are we to judge Iran? I'm proud of the people of Iran for standing up and going to the street because that's what we should've been doing in 2000 and 2004. Unfortunately our country doesn't have the fortitude to stand up when our country is doing wrong.
...
How are we as Americans going to be telling somebody else what they need to be doing when we had the same situation here and we didn't stand up and say anything? It's very hypocritical.
Alright, Mr. Ballentine, you are a moron. Last time I checked the recent news item was about the rigged election and subsequent mass protest reprisals in Iran. The breaking news is not "U.S. elections rigged in 2000 and 2004!" THIS ISN'T ABOUT AMERICAN POLITICS!!!! AHHHH!!!
And although I may agree with Ballentine that the U.S. should take an initial "soft" response to events in Iran, his reasoning for taking this approach is idiotic. It's like he took a page out of the Sarah Palin political analysis and debate handbook. Of course the U.S. government (and people) can condemn tyranny, corruption and human rights abuses by the Iranian government. Saying that the corruption and human rights abuses (although they have and do exist) in United States are on par with that of Iran are just ridiculous. It may score Ballentine viewers and increase his ratings but it does little justice to reality.
But Ballentine isn't all to blame for this haranguing. The CNN anchor actually set him up for the (irrelevant) subject!!! And why?! Because someone on twitter or in an email to CNN brought up the point! CNN anchors, here's a bit of news for you: YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE GODDAMN REPORTERS!!! START ACTING LIKE IT!!! WHO THE FUCK CARES WHAT SOME PRICK ON A LAPTOP IN HIS MOM'S BASEMENT HAS TO SAY ABOUT THE IRANIAN ELECTION?!
Perhaps the worst of this all is that this segment had me feeling sympathetic to, if not outright agreeing with, the turd monkey Ben Ferguson. CNN actually made him seem like a reasonable guy!!! If you don't know who Ferguson is just look him up on youtube. You won't be disappointed. Here's a quote from a past CNN interview with Rick Sanchez:
The people [Barack Obama] has surrounded himself with are very anti-Israel and have said some very radical things.
Now if you want some real coverage of what's going on in Iran hit the print media outlets (NY Times, Washington Post, etc.). Try Andrew Sullivan's blog "The Daily Dish" which has done a phenomenal job at giving as accurate a view of what's going on, on the ground level as possible. Foreign policy magazine and the Christian Science Monitor are good sources as well.
And to be fair to CNN, there is one show on their network that continues to do an excellent job at international relations reporting and analysis, especially recently on Iran. And that is Fareed Zakaria GPS.
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