Update: Mediafly no longer provides this service anymore. NBC Nightly News is available via RSS.
My days as a news junkie are far over. CNN Headline news was the vessel and the juice was the Balkans conflict. Since then, the world of 24 hour news has changed a lot. At first, we thought that the constant stream available across multiple channels will open the airwaves to news that was not normally available or couldn't be included in the nightly news. It's limits of time and the need to have a local news portion will make the producers choose one important news item over another. We wouldn't know.
However, despite the 24 hour-news monster's huge appetite, it's still fed the same basic diet. Only there is a lot of it. The same story get covered over and over again. The same ground is gone over and over again by experts and news celebrities, those who are celebrated by viewers but don't really add anything substantial.
I know of Brian Williams previously only when he makes an appearance on the Daily Show with John Stewart. To see him in action and contrast that with his appearances on the Daily Show makes him human, more relateable. On the Daily Show, he is affable, can take a joke and is able to zing one back. On the Nightly News, he is all business. On the Nightly News, he brings us news and information and facilitate the experts to inform us. On the Daily Show, he can take digs about he Jersey background and reminds Stewart of how important his role is as media watchdog/court-jester. I was watching him and NBC Nightly News in the earthquake and tsunami in Japan coverage. There was a measure of calm but urgency in his delivery. He carefully noted what was fact and what was guesswork. While there were some concerns with issues like the nuclear power plants, the newscast always brought home the impact of the natural disaster up to a personal level.
The natural disaster also showed once again how limited the nightly news is. In the first few days, the time it took to tell the news about the disaster overtook all other news items. The events in Libya and the fallout of Wisconsin's maneuvering against unions took back seat or were not covered at all. It is this type of event reporting that 24 hour news channels are supposed to shine. But they don't. They should be. But once again, rather than informing, the news is lost in the technology and babbling of 'experts'.
The ill of the cable news networks is the ratings monster. Once these channels were given ratings, the consideration shifted from news to commercials. Got to get those advertisers. If the channel is highly rated, it means a better advertising rate. But there is one problem here. Popular does not equal quality. That's just assuming people watching are looking for the best news coverage. They aren't. Think of it like this: The most popular drink is not the best drink. It just says people drink it most of the time in large quantities. It is just gluttony. Fox News may be the most popular or highest rated news channel or the channel their viewers will less likely change but that could just mean their viewers are narrow-minded and do not watch anything else. Or that they never change the channel and leave the TV on all day to that channel. Then who is watching?
More importantly, is it really news when no one is watching.
My days as a news junkie are far over. CNN Headline news was the vessel and the juice was the Balkans conflict. Since then, the world of 24 hour news has changed a lot. At first, we thought that the constant stream available across multiple channels will open the airwaves to news that was not normally available or couldn't be included in the nightly news. It's limits of time and the need to have a local news portion will make the producers choose one important news item over another. We wouldn't know.
There is something to be said about thoughtful discourse. Rather than telling people what they want to hear, why not focus on the facts, clearly noting what is opinion and what it fact. If there is something to be discussed, why not do it a calm manner and let us the viewer decide. Boring TV? I'm sorry but it's the news. It's supposed to be boring. The interesting part of the newscast is the news, not the showboat trying to generate a higher rating. This is not pro wrestling although some news shows are starting to look like them, shouting and all.
Which brings me to NBC Nightly News. I don't watch it on-air anymore. Simply my life is structured in a way that makes it difficult. And while I know videos are available online, if I am online, I get the news faster by reading the news myself. Then came along my WDTV Live 
and Mediafly. Now I can watch it anytime I want on the TV. I know I sound like I'm gushing but to those of you who are watching on their computers, to have it on the TV (where it belongs) courtesy of the WDTV Live, you begin appreciate why traditional broadcasters are concerned.
and Mediafly. Now I can watch it anytime I want on the TV. I know I sound like I'm gushing but to those of you who are watching on their computers, to have it on the TV (where it belongs) courtesy of the WDTV Live, you begin appreciate why traditional broadcasters are concerned. The natural disaster also showed once again how limited the nightly news is. In the first few days, the time it took to tell the news about the disaster overtook all other news items. The events in Libya and the fallout of Wisconsin's maneuvering against unions took back seat or were not covered at all. It is this type of event reporting that 24 hour news channels are supposed to shine. But they don't. They should be. But once again, rather than informing, the news is lost in the technology and babbling of 'experts'.
The ill of the cable news networks is the ratings monster. Once these channels were given ratings, the consideration shifted from news to commercials. Got to get those advertisers. If the channel is highly rated, it means a better advertising rate. But there is one problem here. Popular does not equal quality. That's just assuming people watching are looking for the best news coverage. They aren't. Think of it like this: The most popular drink is not the best drink. It just says people drink it most of the time in large quantities. It is just gluttony. Fox News may be the most popular or highest rated news channel or the channel their viewers will less likely change but that could just mean their viewers are narrow-minded and do not watch anything else. Or that they never change the channel and leave the TV on all day to that channel. Then who is watching?
More importantly, is it really news when no one is watching.
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