CNN suckage

[Undertoad]

Jesus. I just wanted to document this 60 seconds of complete non-news stupidity of morning anchors covering this really difficult story, "It's warm". As some of you know I often watch cable news as background as I work by myself. This bold dialogue took place on Friday morning and I'm sure it will mark a high point in the channel's history. From their official transcript.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
Warm weather in cold country. We're watching the temperature go in an unexpected direction.

What is going on here? A little hot in here.

It was nearly 60 degrees in Buffalo yesterday. Yes, Buffalo, the land of spicy wings and deep snow banks, if you catch my drift. Even the Great White North is not so white. In Ontario, record-breaking temperatures there.

And in the Southeast this morning, rolling thunder. A summer- like storm spurning tornado warnings as we speak. This shot coming to you from WBRC in Birmingham, Alabama.

Yikes, Auntie Em. The calendar and the country seem inside out. It is summer in January.

Carol Costello outside overlooking Central Park. It's in the mid 40s, due to get up in the mid 50s, which is about 10 degrees shy of what it should be in New York City today.

Carol, good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm telling you, yikes, Auntie Em is definitely right, because take a look at the weather. It' sunny, but there's fog. And I'm out here without a coat, and it is January in New York City.

Yesterday we went up to 61 degrees. There were people outside in shorts.

There are two schools of thought. Some people say, oh, don't talk about the warm weather because you're going to jinx it and it's going to end. And then there's a second school of thought, what's happening? Because, you know, when something unusual lasts for so long, you just start to wonder.

And as you said, Miles, it's bizarrely warm in many parts of the country. Let's take a look at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, right now.

It is 45 degrees at, what, 9:00 a.m. Eastern in the morning, 45 degrees. Their expected high is 60 degrees.

In Baltimore, we have another tower cam shot of that because Baltimore shares in our warmth, is basking in our warmth, 41 degrees right now. Foggy there, too. But they are expecting a high of 56 degrees.

And you mentioned Ontario, Miles. Well, Ontario, this is supposed to be the coldest month, January. They had a really nasty December, but in January there were people outside in shorts because in parts of Ontario, Toronto, it was 48 degrees.

So we ask our expert Chad Myers, what is going on here?

A year ago they said that American Morning was directed at an IQ level of 120, higher than any other morning TV news show. It's possible. If you watch any other morning TV news show, you find happy grinning morons giving you happy grinning morning news with entertaining guests and hardly any news content whatsoever. I can't watch those shows in the morning, because I experience the side effect of nausea and vomiting.

I just about lost it as I watched the above 60 seconds. It's not the sort of thing that should make one lose it, but I've been so annoyed for so long that by the time she repeated that final question, "what is going on here?" I could only yell back at the TV "You're the goddamn news, you find out and you tell us! That's your fucking job!!"

At this point I turned to Fox News, which is my practice when CNN is being moronic, and they were talking about Iran's nuclear program. So yeah, the highest IQ morning show these days is the typically-shallow, sensational and righty Fox.

[Griff]

I was grinding my teeth just reading that.

[ferret88]

you sure Matt Lauer and Katie Couric didn't somehow end up on CNN???

[capnhowdy]

CNN's redundance is what pisses me off. It seems like an endless loop of.... the same fu@#ing thing every ...what.... 90 seconds? While I have my coffee and prepare to brave the business world each morning (usually for about 1-11/2 hrs) I find myself pre-quoting the O'briens. By the time I turn it off to go vomit, I have their dialogue memorized to a tee. Hell I could have their jobs and I'm a dumbass Marine.

[fargon]

I watched that show once for about 10 minutes, and went back to Fox and Freinds before I puked.

[Clodfobble]

Christ, people still get their news from the television?? That's what the computer is for.

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Christ, people still get their news from the television?? That's what the computer is for.

I've come to respect television exactly for what it is: entertainment. Anything produced for television has to keep the viewer's interest, has to hold it, has to maintain it, and has to do it every second to keep the person from hitting the button and going elsewhere. The result is 24 hours news that jumps the gun on stories, adds in a lot of fabricated drama, and reports incorrect information without taking the time to check it.

But you just keep on watching it and, because of that, there is no incentive to correct any of that. In fact, I promise you'll simply continue to see more of it.

Did you notice the 9/11 "breaking news" ticker hasn't left any of the screens even after the emergency is over? Do you remember what CNN/Fox/MSN/whatever was like before they had that?

The worst is when very little is going on during any given hour. That is when you get stupid reports about how warm it is, etc.

I cannot stand it that televisions in bars, break rooms, restaurants, airports, waiting rooms, lobbies, and even on the street are now tuned, perpetually, to a 24 hours news channel. I'd like, for just once, to be able to eat dinner out in peace and not be constantly reminded that the terror alert is currently "yellow", the market is down a couple points, and fifty cent has released a new album that is sure to take the youth market by storm.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Kitsune

I cannot stand it that televisions in bars, break rooms, restaurants, airports, waiting rooms, lobbies, and even on the street are now tuned, perpetually, to a 24 hours news channel. I'd like, for just once, to be able to eat dinner out in peace and not be constantly reminded that the terror alert is currently "yellow", the market is down a couple points, and fifty cent has released a new album that is sure to take the youth market by storm.

They put TVs in our elevators at work a few months ago. They actually call it the "Captivate" network, which, I might note, is derived form the word "captive." The screen is split, with a commercial on the right side (often a Hummer) and some CNN Headline News style factoid on the left side. Most people watch the TV, because it's bright and shiny and has pretty colors. Captive is right. I have the urge to smash these TVs that are pumping commercials out at me as I am at work. I wonder if my employer gets a cut of the advertising revenue, or if it's just the building owners who do.

[Trilby]

Hm--clod's message is listed as posted at 6:26 and my computer clock says it's 6:21--wtf?

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Brianna

Hm--clod's message is listed as posted at 6:26 and my computer clock says it's 6:21--wtf?

The time is based on whatever UT's server says the time is, not what your computer says. It doesn't care what your computer says because you could be in any number of timezones...

But if it makes you feel better, Cellar times are about 4 minutes ahead of where I think they are as well.

[Undertoad]

This is fixed

[xoxoxoBruce]

About a week ago, it warm and pleasant in Philly, as it had been for awhile. The local morning weather comes on and to be honest there wasn't much to say....same, same.
But nooooooo, they spent 8 minutes ranting and raving about an ice storm and a blizzard we had a dozen years ago just to hear themselves rant and rave in good weather(wo)man fashion.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Unlike UT's punctuation.

Sounds like it was well to miss this. I watch a fair bit of Fox, having been turned on to it through the outraged bellowings and raucous heehaws about FNC by the more leftist people I've seen online. They actually tried telling people Fox was no good, if you can believe it.

Now, in general, I don't trust the Left to put the cap back on a bottle of Four Roses without crossing the threads (twenty Texas points to anyone who catches the literary reference), so I consequently gave Fox a good look. Now I don't bother watching much else for the news.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Now I don't bother watching much else for the news.

Well, I guess that's your punishment.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

... I watch a fair bit of Fox, ... Now I don't bother watching much else for the news.

This is *not* news to any of us, I assure you.