Ideological Anchors do Little to Advance Journalism

by Kevin Clang

“I’m sorry,” he says, voice quivering and tears beginning to well in his eyes, “I just love my country – and I fear for it.”  With that line, Glenn Beck concluded a March 2009 broadcast of his new show on Fox News.  The episode marked a bit of a transition for Beck, who now seems to be abandoning typical political commentary to fully embrace his self described Howard Beale-esque method of delivering the day’s news.

In three months, Beck has done everything from calling President Obama a communist to insulting thousands of Muslim Americans.  He has made a name for himself by making inflammatory if not outright offensive statements on a nightly basis under the disguise of commentary.  Since moving to Fox News in January, ratings for Beck’s show have skyrocketed.  2.4 million people tune in at 5 p.m., previously a dead zone for cable news, to listen to Beck’s thinly veiled opinion on the day’s most popular stories. Like Bill O’Reilly before him, Beck has seemingly struck a chord with conservative Americans frustrated with the direction the country is going.

Liberal pundits have found similar success on other networks.  Over at MSNBC, Keith Olbermann has consistently challenged O’Reilly’s high ratings by appealing to liberals; consistently criticizing the Bush administration, John McCain, and the War in Iraq.  Olbermann has also took it upon himself to be a watchdog for Fox News, often mocking the words of his conservative opponents.  He ends his show every night with the amount of days it has been since Bush declared victory in Iraq in 2003.

Jon Stewart has also made a name for himself since taking over as host of “The Daily Show” in 2000.  Much has already been said about Stewart, a self-described comedian first with a hobby for journalism.  Stewart and his writers have built up the show’s acclaim to monolithic levels.  It is almost impossible to criticize Stewart; those who do are often mocked in segments on his show.  Even when the variety program out steps its bounds, as it arguably did during Stewart’s visceral takedown of Jim Cramer and CNBC, it escapes relatively unscathed.  The amount of clout the Daily Show has in politics is incredible for any program, especially one with the occasional fart joke.

Americans need to realize that television shows such as these are entertainment, not news.  While they do keep people informed by reading daily stories off of a teleprompter, Beck, Olbermann and Stewart are performers first and journalists second.  Every move, voice quiver, or fit of tears one sees during their respective shows is rehearsed beforehand.  This wave of “infotainment” is having detrimental effects on television journalism as a whole.  To become popular in today’s cable news world, all one has to do is make ill-informed ideological statements nightly and vehemently criticize everyone who disagrees with you (but only actually let them on your show on rare occasions).  Oh, and jokes help too.

Just ask CNN what happens when you fail to do this.  While not completely commentary free, when compared to Fox and MSNBC CNN’s liberal bias seems quite negligible.  The one time news juggernaut has seen its ratings steadily decline in the past few years, to the point where now it finds itself in third place behind the other two stations.  Watch what you want, but realize what you are getting when you do.  Americans should not be distracted or fooled by this disguised commentary.

Advertisement