This media coverage is the worst I have ever seen

[PCIntern]

for a major event.

This morning, MSNBC did their imitation of CNBC and railed about the financial implications of this horror. CNN ran almost continuous ads as the news was breaking, shepherded by two morans who don't know their asses from a hole in the ground. It is just too embarrassing for words. The almost-total disregard for the human life clearly lost here left me almost breathless in anger. It's as though the body counts were like those of the enemy in war: 200, 300, 150, 62...just numbers to be rattled of with the pictures of the precious oil tanks going up in flames - more of a tragedy in the opinions of the MSM than the loss of lives.

I can't believe that there is not a single legitimate journalist who could have been called early on to anchor this story. In the old days, meaning a few years ago, the third-bananas filled in until the star of the network would show up and take the reins. Now, they leave us with people whose I.Q., if squared, would still be in two digits. Ridiculous and empty-headed.

But like their hero St. Ronnie, "they all have sunny dispositions!"

[JustAnotherGen]

1. Tune into

Cenk, Rachel, O'Donnell (especially O'Donnell -he's an empathetic human being) if you can this evening on MSNBC. MSNBC isn't worth watching until 6:00 p.m.

[PCIntern]

3. thank you...I know...but it is the coverage of the event

as it is happening which is critical for me. Reflections later are interesting but not gripping in the same way. This was, in the immortal words of my father of blessed memory, "For shit".

[Esse Quam Videri]

16. Try BBC

I've been watching their live stream all day at work. No commercials - just reporting the news. We should all know by now not to count on the US media for anything.

[femrap]

20. Thank you.....first I tried

MSNBC and then CNN. They were simply HORRID! I got so angry, I turned off TV and yelled. "Shit....I'll read about it instead of watching these dumb asses."

Then I sat down and thought of Walter Cronkite...nearly started to cry.

I've lived through earthquakes...the 7.2 in San Fran in 1989. I can't imagine how terrifying this 8.9 was in Japan. The absolute power of Mother Nature is stupefying.

These anchors are not capable of reading the sports scores.

I'm so glad someone else thought the same thing. :hi:

[butterfly77]

2. Every station I turned on..

were mainly worried about wall street and how it would effect the money...

[MrCoffee]

4. I have somehow avoided all US news coverage today...

guardian.co.uk

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. That is why I watch the commedy

and read real news on the puter.

She was funny, at MSNBC, when she went over how seven and 8.1 were not the same... DIFFERENT SCALES honey... like Celsius and Fahrenheit.

And then they went over how we had a warning, when we were not even to watch status...

DU is better and all we have is... an internet and a computer.

[gateley]

6. Kind of OT, but did you hear Obama's response when asked about his reaction

to the situation in Japan? (Stupid question.) I found it very touching, moving and sincere, a far cry from those you refer to in your OP and I agree about the twits on CNN, I saw them, too.

[PCIntern]

7. Yes: he's a 'feeler'

and understands tragedy when it doesn't happen to him, unlike all these RW bastards who only understand it when they are the victims.

[Zen Democrat]

8. The worst I heard was this morning on Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie's show......

It was said that the markets are unlikely to drop as much as expected due to the earthquake and tsunami because most of the victims and property weren't insured, and the insurance companies wouldn't take as big a hit as "first feared."

Does it get worse than that?

[PCIntern]

9. Jesus H. Christ...

they really said that? sick fucks...

[gateley]

12. I'm speechless. Sickening. nt

[Posteritatis]

21. I've heard mentions of CNN making Godzilla jokes a couple of times too. (nt)

[sixmile]

10. The sun is just rising

It's been nighttime. Tough for a visual medium to cover well.

[PCIntern]

11. Yeah, I wasn't talking about the pix...

I was talking about the insipid words raining from the mouths of these morans.

[Arctic Dave]

15. Maybe in the future we will have cameras that see in the dark.

Ohhh, to dream.

[Scuba]

13. The media never disappoints me. I expect nothing from them.

[CJvR]

14. Infotainment.

Facts are boring, you actually have to know what you are talking about then. Speculation and worried relatives sobbing on screen is much more entertaining.

[SlipperySlope]

17. I read a few financial blogs every day.

One of them started off asking for a prayer for Japan, and then commented on how inappropriate it would be to do any financial speculation on what this means. That was classy.

[femrap]

23. WOW....would

you mind telling me which Financial Blog that is. I read some too and would like to read one that has a heart.

Thanks.

[chelsea0011]

18. Who were those two on CNN this morning. I don't watch cable news during

the day and I couldn't tell if this was CNN or they were broadcasting from some place overseas in someone's basement studio. And when one said that "that is water where it shouldn't be", I had to shut it off.

[PCIntern]

19. I was referring to the two CNN idjits...

the other live coverage which was local...well, they do the best they can. here in Philly, we have dolts on almost every local station, and those who aren't dolts are one-half step above.

[riverwalker]

22. "no American casualties"

Ohhhh, so then it's not a REAL disaster. :sarcasm:

[Posteritatis]

25. Oy

Reminds me of seeing coverage of a hurricane tracking towards me a few years ago: the news said "it moved northeast towards Nova Scotia leaving thousands of relieved coastal residents in its wake." Yeah, and it proceeded to give a direct hit to a million more. Thanks, CNN!

[Retrograde]

24. Local Bay Area TV was much,much better than the networks

Of course, we do have quakes here so they know a little about the subject, and had the sense to make two local phone calls - one to the USGS and one to the Menlo Park fire chief (they do urban search and rescue training for teams worldwide) and let the experts talk.

I can't remember which network I was watching this morning (I wanted to see if they had anything on the tsunami damage on the coast). The talking head was standing on the beach in Newport Beach while talking about and showing clips of the damage at the Santa Cruz harbor - neglecting to mention that it was 400 miles away.