Sirius Satellite Radio host Alex Bennett explains why our media has utterly failed the American people.

Once upon a time broadcast news was nothing more than rewritten copy from the newspapers. Most newscasts ended with the admonishment “for up-to-the-minute details, consult your local newspaper.” Sure, there were a few bona fide news commentators, but actual proactive coverage was scarce.

A dying breed? Edward R. Murrow set the

It wasn’t until World War II that radio news came into its own, thanks to a renegade reporter named Edward R. Murrow. His vivid reports from London rooftops during air raids put radio reporting on the map. Murrow and his team of CBS reporters defined what we now call “broadcast journalism.”

After the war, the “Murrow Boys” helped shape television news, giving CBS its “Tiffany Network” reputation. Broadcast news was finally being taken seriously by everyone except the network “beancounters,” who couldn’t understand why their bosses allowed it to run at a loss. The bosses simply wanted something positive to point to when people complained about the Beverly Hillbillies. But that was then, and this is now.

Tim Russert yucks it up with NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell and

The downfall of broadcast news can be traced to the arrival of CNN in 1980. Not that CNN wasn’t a great concept. Disturbed by what he saw as the bias of Dan Rather—who’d inject his views into newscasts—Ted Turner decided to create a nonbiased, 24/7 news service. Now, for the first time, the news had to be profitable. Too bad money and good journalism don’t mix…unless you compromise your product. For years, CNN just barely kept afloat. Then, in 1991, its coverage of the Gulf War changed everything. CNN was the only news organization with a live feed during the bombing of Baghdad. The network’s subsequent war coverage not only gave cable news credibility, but also large numbers. With numbers came profit.

Broadcast news had become big money just as the grizzled and aging old guard reporters were falling by the wayside. They were replaced by “journalists” who had a new agenda: fame, glory, lucrative salary and perfect hair. Journalistic credibility quickly eroded. By the time we got to the Iraq War, the bar had been significantly lowered.

Smelling profits, other organizations entered the cable news fray. With a right-wing bias, Fox not only gave CNN a run for its money, but eventually pulled in more viewers. CNN responded by making its reporting more conservative. Just as bad, General Electric—a major war contractor—seized ownership of NBC and its cable news outlets.

During the Iraq War a Bush Administration genius came up with the idea of embedding journalists in with the military. Under the guise of freedom of the press, “embedding” reporters became a way to keep them in line. When you’re out covering a war with the troops, the last thing you want is to piss them off. The fear of being cut from access or, worse, getting yourself killed made the press more compliant and, ultimately, a willing tool of the Bush machine.

Reporters became a cheering squad for the Iraq War, presenting coverage that was little more than a squalid reality show. Reliable access to vital information was cut off. Sometimes facts were even falsified.
As the disinformation grew, so did support for the war. At one point, 75% of the American public believed Iraq helped perpetrate the events of 9/11. The news also pushed the notion of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction despite the lack of evidence. Bush and his boys played the press like a finely tuned violin.

A few alternative news sources protested, but they were not widely accessible. It wasn’t that the public was stupid, just too trusting of their mainstream sources. Mainstream news had betrayed them.

Imagine interrupting a possible leader of the free world, in midsentence no less, to break for a commercial. Since when did debates of this kind even have commercials? Since broadcast news went into the dumper, that’s when!

What’s wrong with running commercials, you might ask? On commercial programs, ad costs are based on the size of the audience. How do you get a large audience? You create drama. So if your political debates are part of your commercial programming, you treat them as you would a reality show.

“Let’s promote the good-looking black guy against the white woman.” That had to be going through their heads. Likewise: “Forget John Edwards. There’s no tension there. Besides, he hates corporations, and we are one.”

The candidates who didn’t fit the networks’ scenarios were cast as losers, making it impossible for them to get traction. The networks weren’t promoting a debate as much as they were a “cage match.” Not only did they pick the players, but they also created tension.

Tim Russert and Brian Williams hosting a Democratic Presidential debate.

The worst culprit is “Oh, sweetheart, you shouldn’t have worried about telling us you’re a lesbian. Heck, dear, I used to eat a mean pussy in my day!” Tim Russert, the pudgy, annoying chief of NBC’s Washington bureau and moderator of Meet the Press. (The show should be renamed Meet the Russert since he monopolizes every discussion.) At one point during a debate he shouted at Hillary Clinton, then argued with her. Hey, Tim, please look up the definition of moderator !

Russert also trotted out endless poll numbers that pitted black voters against white voters. On one occasion he even made the blanket statement that Hispanic people don’t like black people. What is the point of setting one group against another if not to jazz up the “cage match.”Thanks,Tim, for a hot, heaping pile of undermined race relations. On the sillier side, NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell swooned over Senator Barack Obama. Sliding off the tracks entirely, Mitchell (whose husband is former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan) announced, “He has a lot of young supporters like Maria Shriver.” Maria Shriver? Young? Maybe to Mrs. Greenspan, who is just a facelift away from looking like Norman Bates’s mother.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer

And now back to CNN. When Senator Christopher Dodd was still seeking the Democratic Party’s Presidential nomination, he would publish (on his Web site) the amount of debate time the candidates would get to state their various positions. Obama and Clinton usually got the lion’s share. However, CNN’s old Wolf Blitzer spoke more than either of them. Shut up, Wolf!

The Democratic debate in Cleveland was the biggest draw up to that time. Eight million people watched it, and NBC cleaned up in advertising revenue. Creating this newest reality show by choosing the cast and selling it to America had made the “cage match” a major hit.

Am I suggesting that news people be censored? No! I’m saying they should get back to the moral principals that guided broadcast journalism in its golden age. The networks should treat news as if it were a wildlife sanctuary. Just sit in the brush, film the action and let nature take its course. Don’t disturb the order of things. If you don’t make money, run it as a loss and figure that’s your penance for running Deal or No Deal.
If you ever watched Star Trek, you’re familiar with the “Prime Directive.” Interfering in the natural evolution of a civilization was the only crime that carried the death penalty. Am I suggesting that these news creeps be executed for trying to meddle with the natural course of our lives? Of course not! Well, maybe. Sure, why not? They’re useless anyway.

Tags: Alex Bennett, American Media, Media History

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