Meet our bloggers
One Eyed Man
I am a life long news viewer. One of my earliest memories as a
child is watching the news. I watch TV cable news throughout the day. I
watch primarily Fox News and CNN, to a lesser degree CNN Headline and
sometimes MSNBC.
I am always interested in the differences between the ways the channels
will cover the same story and the choices the producers make in which
stories to cover and the importance they give to the stories.
Anchors, reporters and producers deserve to be acknowledged when they
do an exceptional job, but likewise they deserve to be called on it
when they drop the ball. Sometimes they just deserve a shout out when
they do something funny, even if it isn't intentional.
Who plays it straight? Who injects their personality? Who shares their
opinions? Who is fun to watch? Who is as boring as watching paint dry?
Who is as painful to watch as fingernails on a blackboard? Who is a
pretty face but an empty head? Who has chemistry and who is oil and
water? Who is worth changing the channel to watch and who is worth
changing to avoid? Who is smart and who is lost if the teleprompter
goes down? Is Fox News really "fair and balanced" or does it lean to
the right? Is CNN where America turns for it's news or does it lean to
the left? Does anyone even watch MSNBC anymore? How much wood would a
woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck chucked wood?
All these questions and others will be explored, considered (and maybe
answered) through serious critique, reviews, humor and sarcasm. Sure it
is all just one guy's opinion but so are the decisions made by Roger
Ailes at Fox News and John Klein at CNN. My opinions aren't adjusted by
ratings numbers and focus groups.
Of course, bribes of cash, sex and/or nude photos will be considered if
one wants to influence my opinion. (See that is the humor and sarcasm I
was talking about.)
One of my favorite, and best, TV news anchors is the late David
Brinkley. Here are a three great quotes from Brinkley.
"Being an anchor is not just a matter of sitting in
front of a camera and looking pretty."
"The one function that TV news performs very well
is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis
as if it were."
"People have the illusion that all over the world,
all the time, all kinds of fantastic things are happening. When in
fact, over most of the world, most of the time, nothing is happening."
To paraphrase Ernie Kovacs, "TV news is a medium, so called because is
neither rare nor is it often well done."
Click here to Email One
Eyed
Man
Details at 11
As you've already guessed, I'm a cable news fan. I watch cable
news both to be informed and to be entertained. I watch CNN, HLN, Fox
News, and MSNBC each about an equal number of hours each week. I
don't know anyone in the cable news business. I'm not even a
writer. So, why would I attempt to write a blog? I think
I'm typical of a significant segment of the cable news audience.
While there are a few anchors or reporters whose style just seems to
appeal to me, for the most part I think I can be objective in reviewing
their work, their performance, and their news coverage.
