All Tuckered out
In a bizzare about face, CNN handed the pink-slip to the man with the most pretentious name in punditry (and that's saying something) - Tucker Carlson. Saying they would like to see less partisan hackery in exchange for more engaging debate. In an interview Jon Klein - CNN's V.P.- issued this statement about his change of mind:
"We need to lower the temperature...It's time for us to do a better job of informing our audience in an engaging way, as opposed to head-butting and screaming. I doubt that when James Carville and Paul Begala briefed President Clinton [as advisers] they sat there screaming at him for half an hour."
A sceptic might dismiss such provocative actions as media savvy pandering (think: Jon Stewart). Crossfire's popularity was in the doldrums, increasingly unable to compete with more carnivorous punditry shows like the "O'Reilly Factor". This should be seen not as an advancement of open-minded responsible programming, but rather, as a concession to the T-Rex of right-wing punditry: Bill O'Reilly. Nonetheless, some good can be gleaned, no-longer will a petulant five year old with neon bow-ties be on the "most trusted news source".
posted by EP @ 5:11 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
But such officers do the king best service in the end: he keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his jaw; first mouthed, to be last swallowed: when he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again.
Networks and programs are not designed to be conscientious. They are designed, and defined, as vehicles. That is, they are designed and defined to pander: acting as a connector between the performer and the viewer. If there is no viewer, there is no need for the program.
Open minded programming, in this case understood as programming that doesn't yield to popular demand, is a wishful ideal. Thus, to use pandering as a criticism of programming, or, indeed, as a criticism of an entire network of programs, is, it seems, a misplaced criticism. Perhaps Jon 'Pot calling the kettle black' Stewart got a bit ahead of himself on this one.
Moreover, I could not criticize someone who, desiring fame and respect, saved a child from drowning. Similarly, I will not criticize a network which, in its attempt to perform its (albeit selfish) function, acts selfishly but yields some ‘good’ consequences (i.e. ridding us of TC).
On a personal note: Too bad Tucker, it looks like you have just become a microcosmic casualty of the great capitalist philosophy which you so championed.
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