Well, I guess I’ll rag on the left-wing “liberals” today, seeing as I’ve done enough emotional damage to my psyche flinging myself on to the pile of also-ran’s who perpetuate the “right wing’s crazy” motif in type/blog/news/editorial/whathaveyou. If only to be put simply: The right wing will NEVER admit or cop to anything they say or do. They will either double down in their idiocy, speak loudly over you, or basically just never give you what you want. Which is to admit they’re wrong. They do not respect any one who’s on the “other side”, and apologizing to you for their ignorance just isn’t on the table. So, I bring beef to the left in the form of an observation I made recently.
I’m not a big fan of Rachel Maddow and her ilk on MSNBC. I find no pride in watching someone who got her start trying to climb on top of the clown car known as Pat Buchanan. Watching those two debate things was akin to washing your eyes with a brillo pad and pouring peroxide in to your ear holes. Since the departure of Keith Olbermann, MSNBC’s prime time news block has just turned in to Diet Maddow, then Maddow Zero, then New Maddow…and finally Rachel Maddow herself! An inane block of similar news style that will NEVER allow MSNBC to overtake Fox News’ nightly programming.
The algorithm goes a little likes this “News Story. Banter, Banter (can substitute one Banter with Zany bewilderment), Chart/Graph, Then finish with an exasperate flourish”. Unlike Fox News, these ditto-head programs at least have NEWS and FACTS, but they’re all delivered in the 4/4 time signature style, that eventually reveals itself to casual observation.
It’s a double-edged sword to be sure. No one really wants, or respects the aping of Fox News but with Liberals motif that MSNBC has bought wholesale. But no one wants 3-4 hours of samey show programming either. Well, besides the right-wing Fox News crowd. But that’s a fundamental difference between the right and left wing buffoonery! Uninformed versus informed viewer ship. Fox News “informs” its viewership with the daily talking points memo, and supplements itself nicely with the talk radio that brings the message down from on high to enlighten the unwashed masses with regional flair. MSNBC’s crowd is typically more informed. They crack a paper open more often than not, they visit website’s that typically tell the truth, listen to (gasp)NPR. They may be a more boring people, but at least the liberal left-wing is informed enough, and can in fact be more open-minded about policy and politics in general, but they are not dumb…nor are they misinformed.
The idea that MSNBC is trying to function as a polar opposite to Fox News is a disservice to the programming and stewardship to those who are trying to actually function the channel as News. They also just can’t compete with the sheer cliff of ignorance that feeds the Fox News monster. The right-wing is a fear based monster. It constantly needs an enemy, and affront to their ideals and a challenger to their integrity. If the right-wing is not being oppressed by something, then it isn’t functioning properly. Is it any surprise that most of the right-wing is evangelical based? MSNBC has no skin in the game when it comes to patronizing the evangelicals. The only real messianic figure they had was Olbermann, and he left after he was denied sainthood by the guy’s upstairs. And even then he only mostly dealt with the old school right-wing aping of name calling and pooh-poohing also known as the Limbaugh.
And if we’re really being honest about this aspect of the political theatre, then this MSNBC/Fox News is just “wrasslin’”. It’s about advertising revenue and ego. Neither of which have a political leaning.
But the point of this rant is the rinse wash repeat of the Maddow clones that flood the MSNBC prime time slots. Even after the ridiculous “lean forward” ads of earlier this year, this block is no where near a competitive threat to the Fox News block. The only real threat to Fox News during that time is Monday Night football. Some of the problem with the MSNBC block is exactly how many takes a news story has and how many cycles of the Maddow-o-tron does a viewer need to “get” the story.
The modern journalist media is a sham and has only the barest of lip service paid to the real television journalism of the past. “Good Night, and Good Luck” indeed, sir! I get why every other “news” show on MSNBC is essentially a rip off of Maddow: it works. She doesn’t patronize viewers like Anderson Cooper, getting all real with you. She mostly stays behind her desk and prattles on while tugging at her hair. But this is the state of journalism today. It’s merely filler until the next block of commercials. It’s not news, it’s editorial. More importantly, it’s cable and the meat of the viewership just isn’t there. It’s still somewhat on the major networks, who have long ago abandoned any idea of a news department that actually delivers news. Thus, the standard is set for all “news” related endeavors. If you want eyes on it, you have to do it like this, or no one cares.
No comments:
Post a Comment