Earlier this week, Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks went on ESPN's sports talk show First Take, and lacerated the sports media for their constant use of "generalities" over facts to avoid making concrete arguments. He claimed that members of the sports media, in particular ESPN's Skip Bayless, try to make statements "nobody can question," and in turn, avoid the nitty gritty details that explain why teams really win and lose (thereby saving themselves from having to construct and/or defend an in-depth argument).
Similarly, in HBO's new show, The Newsroom, which depicts a cable news show trying to break free from the standard, safe model of news today, creator Aaron Sorkin argues that the news media has abandoned "facts in favor of 'fairness,' which is troubling." In an interview with New York magazine, Sorkin claims that CNN "tries very hard either to not be anything or to be both things," while Fox and MSNBC are "on either side." But Sorkin could have taken his argument further: Fox and MSNBC aren't really taking risks, either. Sure, there are exceptions to the rule -- like Chris Hayes' increasingly popular new show Up (which is on from 8 to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, times when almost everyone is asleep), but in general, even shows on partisan networks avoid taking real leaps. Instead, they stick with, to use Mark Cuban's word, generalities: "Obama supporters are all socialists," "Republicans all don't care about poor people," "Raising taxes would definitely kill the economy," "Raising taxes is a sure way to save the economy," etc. -- generality, generality, generality.
And the worst part is that, ostensibly, MSNBC and Fox don't have any reason to go beyond these overly simplified broad statements. Those two stations are killing CNN in ratings because we, as audiences, like easy arguments to cling to. There will always be people who agree with everything Hannity says and those who feel the same way about Maddow. But what is missing in primetime cable news is exactly what both Sorkin and Cuban are calling for: someone who really talks about issues and focuses on facts rather than storylines. The only way a show hosted by someone who cares first and foremost about making honest arguments could possibly air on a major cable news network is if we, as viewers, make it clear we want to watch a news show whose goal is presenting the facts. I know this is naive, but I think a bit of naivety is what is called for in such a cynical world. So, I am demanding that everyone, liberals and conservatives, stop watching cable news until one of the three major stations (MSNBC, Fox, and CNN) puts on a generality-free show focused on presenting viewers with honest arguments.
Follow Sam Koppelman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sammykoppelman
Asleep?? Where on earth do you live?
The truth is that CNN mixes some intelligent commentary in with bland conventional groupthink.
MSNBC less so, with the exception of their new program The Cycle, which has 4 young journalists tripping all over themselves to become popular at the expense of any real new content or perspective.
Of the four the only exception is Krystal Ball in my opinion.
The immaturity of the other three, as befits their years, is in stark contrast to the network's other hosts.
Youth is great in the cases of Alex Wagner, Rachel, Chris Hayes and Melissa Perry, but spare me S.E. Cupp please.
She's the ingenue dying to go to the Prom, but belongs on Fox News.
Not a fan of the Wall Street Journal's editorial page? Read their coverage of the Libor scandal, now in Europe and destined to hop the Atlantic. See anything on any of these shows stating that the interest rates of as much as $800-trillion might have been fixed? "Frontline" and "Moyers and Company" on PBS - no matter your take on their slants - have been the only shows to devote real time to this issue.
You want information? Facts? Read a newspaper.
A couple things about what you said about Chris Hayes' show:
1. It is on at 8 AM, not PM on Saturdays and Sundays. Try proofreading. And there are plenty of people awake at that hour.
2. I don't see why it is an exception; everytime I watch it they have nothing but liberals on their panel. It is a show by liberals, for liberals.
News is not meant to be entertaining.
It's meant to be informative.
There are far more productive ways to spend my time than to have come corporate circus freaks telling me how terrible everything is and why I should be terrified and p*ssed off.
I'm sorry, I have better things to do than submit to that nonsense.
Go on, I dare you.
I guess that makes me a Soviet style Communist in the eyes of the Trolls.
It's easy to see why. One focuses on delivering insightful, nuanced, in-depth reporting while the others feature "factoids" and other easy-to-consume, paint-by-numbers, frivolous bullshit.
There is good broadcast media, but you have to really search to find it and only about 12 people are watching it.
The shows are not about news. They are entertainment. They cater to viewers; some for liberals, some for conservatives.
And heaven help anyone that wants logic, rational thought and critical thinking.
It is not about solving problems and making things better; it is about ideology and MY side winning, no which side someone is on.
The facts no one wants to read.