What a contrast! The year 2008 would go down in the history as a watershed in the annals of visual media the world over. This has been the most eventful year since 2001 when New York City was hit on September 11 by the terrorists. The coverage of the presidential election in the United States would be remembered as the lowest point in American TV Journalism. Nobody is ever surprised by coverage on Fox News, it is after all “fair and balanced”. We are used to the third-rate theatrics of Bill O’Reilly and Shawnnity (Sean Hannity) as both these jokers cater to the uneducated Republicans. What has shocked the moderates in America is the love affair of CNN and MSNBC with the idea of a Black President. The anchors and their contributors were so unprofessional in their coverage that no serious discussion took place during the long and contentious primaries and then the general elections. On the one hand we had to suffer the unqualified love of Chris Matthews, Keith Obermann and David Shuster for their very own Barack Obama, while on the other hand we had to suffer the ‘Giggling Bimbos’ like Nora O’Donnell, Rachel Maddow, Campbell Brown and Gloria Borger. You may also add the disgraceful Jack Cafferty to the list.
Compare this to the highly professional coverage of NDTV in India of the terror attack on Bombay on November 26, 2008. Vishnu Som, Barkha Dutt and many other reporters on the field were simply fantastic. They provided wall-to-wall coverage of the three-day rampage that killed 179 people and wounded hundreds more. This is called ‘news coverage’ not what passes on for news on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. TV channels like NDTV could actually mobilize public opinion and channelize into a citizens’ movement. This is the role of the so-called ‘Fourth Estate”!
Filed under: Indian Media | Tagged: American TV Journalism, anchors and their contributors, Barack Obama, Barkha Dutt, Black President, Campbell Brown, Chris Matthews, coverage of the presidential election, David Shuster, fair and balance, Fourth Estate, Fox News, Giggling Bimbos, giggling bimbos of CNN, Gloria Borger, Jack Cafferty, Keith Obermann, love affair of CNN and MSNBC, NDTV, New York City, Nora O'Donnell, November 26th 2008, Rachel Maddow, Shawnnity (Sean Hannity), third-rate theatrics of Bill O'Reilly, uneducated Republicans, Vishnu Som | No Comments »