Laura Ingraham Rips Cable's 'Balloon Boy' Coverage: "Puts Egg On All Of Our Faces" (AUDIO)

Cable news networks' rather breathless coverage of the 'balloon boy' saga has come in for its share of media criticism from across the political spectrum.

Appearing on MSNBC last night, Arianna challenged that particular network about its non-stop coverage of what she called a "non-story." "Once the boy had been found, there was no story -- just tele-voyeurism. Why continue the wall-to-wall coverage of a story that had turned into a non-story -- on a political show -- during a week when health care, financial reform, and Afghanistan are all at the tipping point?" Arianna wrote about the coverage.

Today on her radio show, conservative radio host Laura Ingraham also unleashed some cutting remarks about the networks' wall-to-wall coverage of the Heenes. Ingraham knocked the networks for devoting so much time to balloon boy instead of covering serious news. "Meanwhile Pakistan's blowing up, but let's not cover that story," Ingraham said.

What this does is, I think, it kind of puts egg on all of our faces. We all become part of the media problem. I'll throw myself right into the mix. Because you really can't take your eyes off it, but meanwhile you know there are all these really important things happening, not only in our country but around the world.

LISTEN:

Comments

[GolfingDevil05]

I actually don't disagree with Laura Ingraham that Afghanistan and Pakistan are far more important than a 6-year-old allegedly being trapped in a balloon over Colorado, but I'm going to give the press the benefit of the doubt here. They couldn't have known any differently at the time, so it was newsworthy. Imagine if the boy actually had been in the balloon - how quickly a news director would have been out of work had he or she chosen not to cover this?

What gets covered is largely determined by what viewers tell the networks they want to see. Human interest stories (even ones that turn out to be false) have come to dominate the news because the public wants to see them more than they want to see what's happening with this country's two wars or that we're being robbed blind by Wall Street.

Look who dominates the public's consciousness these days. It's not Hamid Karzai, it's Jon and Kate. How can we possibly be expected to pay attention to something that matters when Lindsay Lohan is in court?

We get the news we have told the media that we want. We need to start telling them we want something else.

[PathofTotality]

"We get the news we have told the media that we want. We need to start telling them we want something else."

Very good point/statement!
I never really watched the news (local or cable) as it irritated me more than informed me. I would say that when I watched election night results/broadcasts, it was more than I watched in the past 5 years total. This whole "issue" (I say with tongue in cheek) is just one more reason. I didn't even know any of this was going on until I saw it on the internet Friday and even then I didn't get past the "headline" or first paragragh.

[Cye]

The woman's got a point.

[nonofyabusiness]

Investigators are examining the possibility of other conspirators, "including the possibility that even some of the media outlets may have had some knowledge about this," Alderden said.

Documents show that a media outlet has agreed to pay money to the Heenes with regards to the balloon incident, Alderden said. He didn't name the media outlet, but said it was a show that blurs "the line between entertainment and news."

That last line describes most of the shows on Faux Knews...

[Alarmist]

Does it though? It was unusual and interesting, the notion of a boy in a balloon. ANyone would be interested. The egg on our faces is not for the coverage, but NOW, that we know the family put him up to it and thought it would be a funny hoax.

[billw8017]

As a hoax (not proven), it was an interesting prank. To bad the Heenes couldn't copyright it and partake of the media profits.

[susierr]

Too bad it cost so much money and jeopardized others who may have been injured or worse trying to rescue a hoax?

[susierr]

Too costly for the govt. and what if.... someone else's child really NEEDED help? and the resources were stretched on a wild goose chase for nothing?

[Ken Maddox]

I watch very little TV, MSNBC prime time line up and snippets of the comedy on Fox News?. I get my news from my local newspaper, and the internet.
The internet provides a wide range of stories, points of view, and personalities. I like being able to peruse several different sources on a given subject.
I find that what I learn during the day rarely agrees with what is presented by Fox News?, MSNBC seems to comment more on the points of the news and offers studied and factual opinions. On Fox News? this rarely happens on any show other than Shepard Smith.

[Ken Maddox]

Ingraham feels she has the bona fides to comment on what is and is not good journalism?
The irony of that is astounding.

[OLEGAR]

Waiting till Jon Stewart airs her lack of stature as an authority

[flydoghead]

Remember folks, this is the same media that bought in 100% to WMD and Al Qaeda in Iraq.

There is no more journalistic standard in this country, only in-fo-tainment.

A tiny helium balloon could lift a boy ? Check out the physics....i don't think so........

soon they will be chasing plastic bags floating in the wind a la "American Beauty"

[Moderatenation]

Rachel Maddow does an excellent job of keeping the discourse on an intellectual basis. Keith Olberman goes hellfire and brimstone once in a while, but somebody needs to be strongly presenting the facts, and calling out the liars.

[bryz]

co sign

[Ken Maddox]

ditto

[grf67]

Actually all of cable "news" and talk radio is mostly crap. The people on both who are whining at others are mostly thumb suckers who are too cowardly to get into the real game. If they want to be relevant and accountable, both doubtful, they should join the active military (reserves don't count) or get elected. Then they have a relevant platform and are held accountable for their actions. Lacking that, they are just yelling at the rain with nothing at risk and not worth listening to.

[waiteman]

Yeah joining the military is the answer. Shut up, do your duty and get your ass shot off in Afghanistan. That is what I call being active. Is that what the "real game" is killing and being killed mindlessly for corporate profits.

Have you tried getting elected lately? Have a crap load of money? Have morals and ethics to sell.

The medias job is to call the military and the politicians for the crap they are pulling on the American public. They have been woefully inadequate until Olberman and Maddow.

[lauram]

She's just upset that the dad played the media for the fools that they are on national wall-to-wall teevee.

[skybar]

It's no different than when there's a hostage stand-off or a Bronco chase.

[BlackJAC]

"You're watching Channel 6 News, where we promise you a car chase every hour or the weather girl wears a tube top!"
--Kent Brockman, THE SIMPSONS

[alanposting]

You people have so much egg on your faces....we can't even see who is talking.

[njb444]

What has this world come to when Laura freakin Ingraham is the voice of reason?

[flydoghead]

2nd

[fairplaystacy]

I've kept my news viewing at an all time low this week because I couldn't stand that the media was gorging itself on a non newsworthy topic as mundane as the empty balloon floating across the sky.

It was a new low in journalism. It should have been dropped as soon as it was discovered to be empty. The media tried to justify the wasteful coverage by converting it to a human interest story. FAIL*FAIL

Then the media tried to turn it into a story about the media covering the story. FAIL*FAIL*FAIL

so sad. I'll watch news again once this topic has been excreted from the system

Not since the ridiculous blanket news coverage of sharks leading up to the 9/11 attacks, has the media collectively been such a wasteful enterprise. They slept at the watchtower.
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=news+media+shark+9/11+2001&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

We learned back then that the media has important civic work to do, but here we go again. My hope this time is that there's not some burgeoning horrific evil approaching below the din of the silliness that crashes into America, totally blindsiding the country, while our media suckles on the absurd. What a shame.
JFK said: Not Primarily To Amuse & Entertain...
http://www.ceasespin.org/ceasespin_blog/ceasespin_blogger_files/archive-22-march-2009.html

[VoteOnPaper]

Yay! Let's hear it for giving up television! Woo hoo!

[lauram]

Word