First time I've watched cable news in years....30 min of CNN - total brain poison!

[NRaleighLiberal]

False equivalence, hyperbole, stacking the deck with right wingers, a media nowhere near intelligent enough to deal with the complexities of what they are reporting on....as well as incredibly lazy.

That's what I've picked up in the 30 incredibly frustrating minutes I've just watched.

It is no wonder at all that the American public is, in general, so horribly brainwashed, misinformed and apathetic.

That's what I get for channel surfing while on vacation after the baseball game ended....must turn it off!

Believe me - if you haven't watched this shit in years and turn it back on again (like I did tonight), you can't believe how incredibly awful the impact and effect is on one's brain.

No more! No More!

OK - back to vacation....

[hrmjustin]

1. Cnn still thinks the presidential race is too close to call.

[lostincalifornia]

2. Watch c-span

[reddread]

16. pure conservative poison

Watched C-SPAN take our national discussion down the tubes more than 15 years ago.
That is the crookedest, clearest example of how bad we have it, when they use(d) cable
to end run the FCC and broadcast requirements to serve the public interest
If there were ever a real revolution in this country, one that moved away from conservative fascism,
Brian Lamb would find his head on a pike.

[1-Old-Man]

23. Utter nonsense.

[Enthusiast]

18. C-Span was created to serve as a conduit for right wing propaganda.

All they do is cite the WSJ and right wing think tanks.

[1-Old-Man]

24. No, that is not "all they do", in fact it is exactly opposite of what they do

I don't know what you're trying to do here but as any Cspan viewer knows they alternate between sources. It would be accurate to say they are generally binary in their choices but your statement, that they only do one thing, is completely contrary to their practice. Do you have something against Cspan that is based on fact? If so what is it, I'd be happy to hear.

[reddread]

28. no you wouldnt.

You are happier ensconced in a belief system that precludes thinking for yourself.
You are how old? Been watching C-SPAN for how long?
I followed C-SPAN very closely for many years before their degradation and corruption made
it a sewage shower. Once upon a time, they could, to a certain degree, make the claim of
showing both sides. Their uninterrupted broadcasts of Iraqi leadership speeches in 1990 and on
allowed viewers to hear the point of view they wished to represent. (ie the slant drilling oil grabs that
incited their own incursion.)
The BRILLIANT speeches and maneuvers of Rep Henry Gonzales, made for the most critical coverage
of Bush familia corruption linked to Iraqi armaments through Ag programs (if I recall correctly) and many
other revelations the corporate media (you know, like Bill Casey and his partners in Cap Cities/ABC?)
would never give full credence towads. and those days are LONG gone.
I took many opportunities to use their call in programs and viewer participation to question their guests
and foreign policy that spilled blood. Many.
Then the phone would only ring and ring on their end.
Funny how technology worked back then.
"we do not block numbers" etc. Sure smelled like phone banks when you heard the same pretentious lines over and over-
"I used to be a Democrat, but..." HUNDREDS of times over and over to preface their calls, eh????yeah.)
It was not until we moved and changed our number that I IMMEDIATELY got back through.
Until they blocked again.
They altered their policies to refuse discussion of any issues that were not covered in major newspapers that day.
They were a nice place to confront their "journalist" guests such as those Scripps Howard provided.
Scripps Howard being the original CIA cover operation/article originators. People like Armstrong Williams were regular guests.
While other journalists were rare or invisible.
Figure it out.
Or go back to sleep, America.

[lostincalifornia]

32. Last night I was watching the Democrats in the Senate elaborate what was happening, and that was

Not right wing propaganda as others inferred

I am sure if I watched the house proceedings, I would have inferred that was rw propaganda, but unfortunately, that is what most of the house is

I agree with your perspective

[jamzrockz]

25. Our cable company(cox communications)

Just turned CSPAN to a digital channel so if you cannot afford a digital box, you're shit out of luck. But then again, CSPAN is mostly raw coverage which is not something most Americans would watch.

[Firebrand Gary]

3. Next time stick with MSNBC, you will feel much better about it. =)

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. It is not an option on the cable supplied to this rental!!!

arggggh!

[NBachers]

5. It's an alternate universe they've built to keep the population ignorant and distracted

[Dawson Leery]

6. Wolfie and Erin belong on Fox Non-News.

[Rhiannon12866]

7. Turn on MSNBC, they're still on live!

[MuseRider]

8. Oh god me too!

I turned on CSPAN and am about to blow a gasket, whatever that would be. Gonna turn it off and go do something in the barn to get it out of my mind. ICK!

[Vashta Nerada]

9. I haven't been watching the news tonight (thankfully)

but I have been following this unnecessary drama on Twitter and it's infuriating. Nobody is doing anything to avoid the shutdown. It's all about the blame game.

DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE CONGRESS PEOPLE!

[xiamiam]

10. i came here to read the good news that the dog and pony show was over..couldnt find it

I thought about googling cnn live and then I saw your thread..it will just depress me more..i can wait

[FourScore]

11. I did the exact same thing a couple of months ago after years of not watching.

I had the exact same reaction. Unbelievably bad.

[NRaleighLiberal]

12. amazing, isn't it - even far worse than I remember. And essentially useless as far as

any true information, anything that stimulates thought.

Clearly nothing more than a vehicle for ads/making money. Pure garbage.

[AmBlue]

13. In other news.... YOUR 'MATERS LOOK AMAZING!

Just sayin'...

[Art_from_Ark]

14. I can vouch for that

Every time I go back to the States and watch one of those so-called "news" networks, I cringe, to put it mildly. Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow are surely turning over in their graves.

[reddread]

15. God damn Ted Turner

he let them turn CNN into the pile of psychops it is.
If only they would dress it in MSNBC's syrup, that would be better?
There is only one way to fight the forces behind these information criminals.
You dont subscribe to cable.
Otherwise, you might as well just make the check out to:
"people who want to screw heads up, and your country, and the world"
just switching the channel doesnt help. (except maybe your blood pressure)
just complaining about what you saw, doesnt help. (normally. this OP is the nail's head)
the front lines of disinformation and domestic diplomatic efforts.
just because a "liberal" comedy show or two exists, or some kinder, gentler,
more questioning commentator exists to exploit another market niche, dont
mean youre living in the land of the free, anymore, Toto.

[JHB]

17. It was like that years ago too...

It's amazing what a bit of "decompression time" will make obvious, isn't it?

[hobbit709]

19. CNN went downhill and turned into Faux Lite after Turner sold it.

[reddread]

31. the fox turned over the keys to the henhouse

AOL/Time Warner took out the only thing keeping unregulated cable news interesting and useful.
dont blame Jane Fonda one bit. Turner betrayed American citizens in a big way.

[G_j]

20. they were a HUGE part of invading Iraq

and spread the lies far and wide. Nothing has changed.

[LaydeeBug]

21. Yep. And we have to tell the truth to their lies, or those emm effers will get away with it. nt

[ChisolmTrailDem]

22. I stoppeed watching about 6 months ago. My brain...

...had almost completely recovered. Then I decided to drop in on this shutdown coverage and it is fascinating how incredibly inane our sources of information are in this modern era. Complete and total stupidity and childishness by nearly every single "journalist", pundit, and politician.

[KurtNYC]

26. the number of people who make up the core audience of cable news shows is fairly small

so the similarity between all of the cable news channels comes in part from them chasing the same audience.

Total Day P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s)
FOXN 1,117 230 463
CNN 348 84 140
MSNBC 438 139 198
CNBC 127 29 54

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/09/30/cable-news-ratings-for-friday-september-27-2013/205593/

If I add the total audience for all four I get just over 2 mil viewers (2.03 mil) -- less than 1% of the US population. With an audience that small they can't afford much in the way of research, journalism and production. In fact cable news is almost cult-like in it's emotion-laden, fact-free theology.

[Orrex]

27. I made the mistake of watching Good Morning America last week

It was so unbelievably vapid that I wouldn't have believed it if someone had presented it as satire.

For close to 30 minutes it was nothing but five idiots sitting around a table, smiling and laughing like simpletons. Actually, it was four idiots sitting and one idiot weather-talker smiling and laughing nearby in a short skirt.

All told, the program offered ZERO content of any real news value. Four "human interest" stories, a lengthy discussion of the decline of breakfast cereal, and some Hollywood gossip, along with the faux-meteorologist posing and smiling in front of a map.

We got rid of our cable about 2 years ago, and although I try not to be preachy about it, I'm always struck to see just how bad the programming has gotten. And the sad part is that "entertainment' news programs like GMA and The Today Show are really no worse than "serious" news programs.

[reddread]

33. all advertising, all the time

promoting tv shows and movies and celebs.
stealing the bandwidth of the peoples airwaves, completely.
And not just for money. like schools, they arent really there to make you smarter.

[RVN VET]

29. Let me put in a bit of praise for Al Jazeera America

I've been watching it and, so far at least, it seems to be doing real journalism. I've been especially impressed with the way they report on world news. They do America, of course, but not as the center of the universe.

Now I'll sit back and wait for the flaming to begin in 10, 9, 8, . . . .seconds.

[Enthusiast]

30. No flames from this quarter. Wish I could get Al Jazeera America.

I cannot escape the lies, even on MSNBC.

[Blue_Tires]

34. As I've mentioned countless times before

one of the biggest ongoing cons is the fact that Americans get the steaming piles of shit that are HLN and CNN while the REST of the world gets "CNN International" which I swear to GOD is in another universe of quality...