TV News is a Shithole

Sorry for cursing. Anyway, here's a letter I sent to NBC today:

Hi NBC -

This morning, I gave you a chance. For the last 2-3 years, I have been so fed up with the stupidity of TV news networks (starting Fox, then spreading like an infection to CNN, ABC, and other networks) that I have never tuned into the stuff. I get all my news from blogs these days, since at least their opinion is transparent and they link back to sources of detail on the things they mention.

This morning, I gave you a chance. My house was too quiet, and I wanted to hear about Super Tuesday. I flipped through news channels and stumbled upon your network, and Kate Hudson was talking about Super Tuesday. Golden.

I could bear it for almost a minute before the waves of idiocy forced me to turn off my TV, lest it leak stupidity all over my carpet. Kate finished the three sentences about Super Tuesday, then went to report on some other headlines: environmentalists suing the military over too-powerful sonar technology, scientists being concerned about new indicators for global warming, and US monuments being left open by lax security.

The whole time, Tim Russert and the other chump on that show was MAKING FUN OF KATE FOR REPORTING THE NEWS! They were mocking her reporting, being sarcastic, and generally interrupting news for their stupidity.

There's a couple things wrong with this:

1 - Tim chimed in as soon as he heard the word 'environmentalists.' He said, "I care about our national security more than whales." That's a fine opinion, but he obviously had never heard of the piece on sonar technology, had no clue what the details of it were, but was already comfortable interrupting the news to tell the US his gut reaction. And being a sarcastic dick about it. I call it 'willful ignorance,' and it is the greatest sin we can commit in the information age.

2 - He then proceeded to mock Kate openly about global warming, saying repeatedly, "And tonight's news: polar bear cubs! Oh, the polar bear cubs!" Does he think that's funny? It's so 4th-grade. But the fact is that if I saw that happening in a bar, I'd hit the man, no doubt. IT IS NOT OKAY TO TREAT ANYONE THIS WAY EVER, let alone live on a 'respected' news show!

3 - Did I mention Tim was INTERRUPTING THE NEWS?! Isn't this a NEWS SHOW?! Why would anyone watch the Today show except that they wanted to hear about the news? And Tim was blocking that with his unwitty invective.

So, I gave you all a chance. And you know what? NBC, with it's Tim Russert, has reaffirmed my faith in blogs, and confirmed for me that all TV news is insipid twattle. Worthless trash. I hope I see Tim apologizing to Kate live on the air - but I will be seeing it on Crooks and Liars, or YouTube, or some other online outlet. I certainly won't be tuning in to your trashy network again.

Good day.