It was a single moment in time, 5 p.m. on Aug. 1, 1980. But oh, what a moment! A frontal attack on American culture with a catastrophic outcome. It came with a whimper, hardly noticed by an unsuspecting population. Pundits laughed. Major TV network executives scoffed. Yet, the fuse was lit and we now live with the bomb that exploded across the airwaves. Because on that moment, 36 years ago, CNN launched their 24 hour-a-day news channel.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s turned out to be one of the worst disasters in American history. That\u2019s a bit of a stretch. What happened at that moment in time isn\u2019t on a par with the invasion of Pearl Harbor, D-day, 9\/11 or other disasters of that ilk, but those aside, it was a significant attack on our way of life that grew from an innocent beginning into a festering thorn in our side. Well, my side anyway. .<\/p>\n
When CNN launched its\u2019 all day news format, it was met with laughter. \u201cWho would watch a channel that has news on all day?\u201d \u2013 \u201cHow can they ever find enough fodder to keep people interested?\u201d \u2013 \u201cWhat a joke!\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, we were wrong, and now are living with the disaster that took root and blossomed after that fateful day in history. We live in a world where we\u2019re barraged with all day, every day news coverage, Not just on CNN, but on every major TV network, plus way too many specialty focused \u201cnews-like\u201d channels, such as the Weather channel and the Money Channel. We\u2019re awash in minutia, with only a little news mixed in. We\u2019re drunk on the underbelly of societal misbehavior. And, it is even worse in an election year (which in reality isn\u2019t a year anymore; it\u2019s a constant). We get endless garble from political pundits, analyzing every tick of activity, not just reporting it, but also endlessly speculating on how it will affect the outcome. I misstated that point; the pundits aren\u2019t just reporting and speculating; they are arguing about it, and constantly talking over each other creating a mishmash of noise.<\/p>\n
True facts are often lacking as news outlets race to be first with a new twist on the hot topic of the day. Everything and everyone is fair game: the family of the victim of a brutal murder gets a knock on the door and a mic in the face. The wife of a disgraced senator is rushed at a church service with none-of-your business questions<\/i> on how she feels about her husband\u2019s misbehavior. The victim, and the victim\u2019s family are victimized all over again, just so the insatiable 24-hour news media can feed.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an agonizing process as they repeat, again and again, the alleged facts. With an endless stream of repeated video running in the background, slicing and dicing the story into minute components and delving in depth into every morsel ad nauseum. And, we get hooked! We listen and watch, and to join the reporting staff by rushing to tell each other the latest tidbit we just heard on TV. Oh yes, Aug. 1, 1980 was truly a day in infamy. \u00a0(Written in the Owego kitchen<\/i>)<\/p>\n
Comments. Complaints. Send to mlessler7@gmail.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was a single moment in time, 5 p.m. on Aug. 1, 1980. But oh, what a moment! A frontal attack on American culture with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n