Where have the 24-hour news channels gone?
No reply yet to the letter below I sent on December 27.
Jonathan Klein
President, CNN/US
1 CNN Center
Atlanta, GA 30303
Dear Sir,
I’ve been watching CNN for many years, but not lately. I want you to return to your former function of providing news. I used to be a huge devotee of Headline News, but now what that channel carries is definitely not headlines and arguably not news. Between 5pm and 10pm Pacific on Wednesday December 27, for instance, a typical night, Nancy Grace and Glenn Beck were repeated twice and Showbiz Tonight once. Meanwhile CNN had Larry King repeated twice, two Anderson Cooper shows, and Paula Zahn.
What happened to live updates of current events as they happen? Instead you have repetitious interviews, commentary, and “specials” on CNN, and a right-wing loudmouth, a fulminating feminist, and starlet obsession on HN. Tiny bits of news updates are squeezed into some of those programs as unadvertised intrusions. It’s just pointless to watch either channel during prime time in the Pacific time zone if one is looking for news. I get better options from the Canadian NEWSNET and CBNEW cable channels.
I wouldn’t write this letter if I didn’t think you used to be a great channel and you might listen to me. I’ve taken the Atlanta tour twice. I realize the pressure for ratings is huge but if that’s what this is about, why not just throw in the towel and show the same kind of soft porn that Fox makes? For heaven’s sake, it’s not like there’s any real alternative in 24-hour television news, at least not on my lineup (90 channels; basic Shaw service); if there were, I wouldn’t bother writing.
Aren’t there a lot of people like me who want to turn on the TV and see the latest news, updated to the minute, whenever they want? Shouldn’t a station calling itself a news station do that on at least one of its channels? Like you used to?