Remember the days when you could turn on CNN, at any time of the day or night, and get actual news?
I spend a lot of time in front of the TV these days, about four or five hours a day while scanning the job boards. It reminds me of my days at the University of Iowa when I'd go to the student union or a coffee shop where CNN was always on in the background. I'd study and keep up with the world at the same time.
My how the world has changed. We now have about ten news channels with Verizon, and eight of those are crap. All talking heads with a focus on either business or politics. CNN is a waste of time if I want to know what's going on outside of Wall Street or the Beltway.
Guess who actually gives us the actual news these days, 24/7?
Al Jazeera.
I hate to sound racist or xenophobic, but seriously: How is it, in this post-9/11 world, that my only choice for real, hard-hitting global news coverage is from a news organization based in Qatar? Don't get me wrong - I like and appreciate their work even if they're more heavy on war coverage than I'd like (how about a piece on street vendors in Beijing or something?) But come on, America! Why can't we get the same or better from the dozens of news organizations we have right here? Surely we have the brain power and resources to provide more than what's on offer today.
Oh, but wait! I should give a shout out to One America News. If you can stomach the blatant Right Wing Nutbag slant to their content, you can count on getting what Fox News used to deliver before they devolved into a talking head wasteland: Actual news from around the country, all day every day.
I know I'm a lone voice in the wilderness, but I'm hoping somebody at CNN will stumble across this rant, a light bulb will go off and by some miracle I'll tune into CNN one day and find - gasp! - actual news.
In the meantime, I'll be grudgingly tuned in to Al Jazeera.
Post script: As soon as I published this post, Al Jazeera aired a piece on a chopstick competition in South Korea, part of a larger cultural festival taking place this week. Yes! Love that shit!! Thank you A.J. America!
