We've finally got younger daughter a lift to school --- but only for Fridays. Nevertheless, that meant I could hang around the television set and look frantically through the crowds that congregate outside NBC in New York during the weather portions of the Today Show. Elder daughter's school tour was scheduled to stand out there this morning. I'm not sure if they did; it was listed in the itinerary as optional. At any rate, I didn't see them.I used to watch the Today Show quite regularly when I was much younger. Was it always this bad? We had the show on for two hours, and I learned four things:
1) President Obama is in a sweat over the discovery of an "underground nuclear facility" in Iran.
2) A pretty woman has disappeared after being in police custody. The fact that she was young and pretty seemed to weigh heavily.
3) Apparently children who have been spanked have lower IQs than those who haven't.
4) Michael Jackson is still dead.
They spent quite a bit of time on the Obama item, a little bit less time on the disappearance, less than three minutes on the spanking; and tons of time on Michael Jackson. The rest of the programme, totaling about ninety minutes I'd say, was spent on weather reports, local news (we get the Detroit feed), and commercials. Interminable, loud commercials, the longest of which focused on some guy who sits on his deck reading and petting an animal while the voice-over details a very long list of side-effects to the drug being advertised.
I turned off the set at 9 am, having failed to glimpse elder daughter and with the feeling that my brain had been turned to cheese. There are people who routinely begin their mornings this way. How can they bear it?
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2 comments:
I've not figured out the appeal of any news shows beyond the nightly local news (and most of the time it's too depressing to watch). Your guess is as good as mine.
I will admit to occasionally watching Judge Judy to feel better about whatever little irritations I have going on in my life. Plus it's fun to watch Judy snark at people.
We're lucky up here in Canada; we still have the CBC which is struggling to maintain its journalistic standards. I've noticed a dip in the quality of the coverage on BBC, as well. Whenever I visit the States, I have an uncomfortable feeling that I've entered a buffer; no news that isn't American seems to permeate. Perhaps the internet now alleviates the insularity somewhat.
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