Good Night & Good Grief

Give 'n Go ^ | January 31, 2007 | J. Martini

[joeystoy]

It was only a matter of time, I suppose, but I never dreamed that it would happen this soon. Sean McManus, President of CBS News and Sports said yesterday that gender bias is to blame for the ratings failure that has befallen the cute and perky anchor chick over at Black Rock.

"I think it is a fact there are probably people, both men and women, who are perhaps uncomfortable having a woman anchor the news,” McManus told the media industry publication Broadcasting & Cable.

"The way she is scrutinized, I think sometimes unfairly, quite frankly, I think a lot of that has to do with gender. As a woman, Couric has to be concerned about a lot of things the male anchor doesn’t have to worry about, like how she looks or what she is wearing."

Granted, Im probably not the best person to comment on such matters--the last time I watched a network news broadcast I was backstage operating a special effects projector in Studio 3K at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and John Chancellor was at the anchor desk. Also, anything I say has to be viewed through the prism of my mid-Victorian, anti feminist leanings. But what the heck, here goes.

SHE'S FRIGGIN' AWFUL!

[pikachu]

i have more important things that to watch Skankzilla^tm on the network where 'fake but accurate' passes for news.

[joeystoy]

Skankzilla... good one. I'll have to use that, and give you credit of course.

[pigsmith]

I haven't seen her on CBS yet, but I guess I should watch once, just to see how bad it is, before they pull the plug on her. I never could stand to watch her. That sticky-sounding touchy-feely lib slant she puts into everything is too annoying for me, and apparently I'm not alone in thinking so.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

instead of asking herself "What is the most important 24 minutes of information I can present tonight," [Ms. Couric] asks her viewers to suggest a clever slogan for her sign off.

Selfabsorbtion. It is crashingly obvious in Ms. Couric when pointed out here, but it is the besetting sin of Big Journalism - indeed, of all of "the media" generally. It is I suppose the natural consequence of the one-way nature of "the media," and is moderated in talk radio - and certainly in the Internet - by the relative prominence of vox populi feedback.

In journalism, selfabsorbtion is manifested in things like the McCain-Feingold bill which presumes to obliterate the free speech, press, and assembly rights of the common people while exalting Big Journalism as being "in the public interest." And moves to require that the president stage shows - "press conferences" - at which only representatives of Big Journalism are present and able to speak to the president. And "press shield" laws which presume to give representatives of Big Journalism immunity from laws governing the people generally. And presumption that representatives of Big Journalism can take the protection of the First Amendment for granted without any implication that they are, specifically, Americans - let alone patrioitic Americans.

All of which boils down to the presumption that representatives of Big Journalism hold titles of nobility, are better than the rest of us.

Why Broadcast Journalism is
Unnecessary and Illegitimate

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[Earthdweller]

J. Martini...lead us to the light. LOL LOL.

[PGalt]

OUTSTANDING(as always)! Thanks.

[joeystoy]

In journalism, selfabsorbtion is manifested in things like the McCain-Feingold bill which presumes to obliterate the free speech, press, and assembly rights of the common people while exalting Big Journalism as being in the "public interest."

Which is why I could never vote for John McCain. Of course, I live in New York so my presidential vote is strictly symbolic anyway. Thanks for visiting my blog page. I'm new at this and still finding my way around.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

I'm new at this and still finding my way around.

. . . then I guess that the fact that you quoted me and apparently addressed me - but replied to someone else's reply in doing it is understandable. ;)

That was nice writing in that blog, BTW. I never tried a blog as such, but I do something similar by regularly replying to

Why Broadcast Journalism is
Unnecessary and Illegitimate

which is a thread I created to discuss "bias in the media." I think you could enjoy reading the resultant "blog" of my analysis of journalism's shenanigans.

[joeystoy]

Yes. I replied to the "to" address rather than the "by" address. As an old-timer (I had my first Compuserve email account in 1983 or thereabouts) I'm exploring my way through this, but it is very rewarding. I've received a lot of reads on my blog page, along with many goofy and angry comments from the MoonBats here in the NYC area.

They bring a smile to my face, which irritates even more.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Yes. I replied to the "to" address rather than the "by" address.

Murphy's Law in operation!