I’m a journalist in the real world. Professionally, I’ve been one for about three and a half years, before that, I had over four years in college and real world journalism experience–I just wasn’t getting paid anything you could live on. That being said, I hate television news media.
There’s nothing that gets me screaming at my TV than turning on CNN, FOX News or, yes, even MSNBC. I don’t think journalism is about looking good. I don’t believe you can get the story in frame and edited in time for your scheduled satellite uplink in the truck. I don’t believe flashy graphics and scare tactics are forms of information or public service. Most of all, I don’t believe the pundits do anything but tell you how you should think.
Nevertheless, it’s always hilarious to watch them copy each other. Over a year ago, CNN introduced iReport. For those of you unfamiliar, it lets you upload pictures, videos, and on occasion, text unedited for others to view and CNN to harvest when it needs something to kill some time. You don’t get paid, you don’t really get famous, but you do get something on the air. It sounds good in theory, but lately it’s devolved into something like YouTube, only with original content (OH SNAP!).
Seeing how well ceding effort and credibility has worked for CNN, FOX News is nipping at their heels, introduced “uReport,” which is, of course, completely different than iReport. (Stay tuned for MSNBC’s He/She/ItReport.) FOX News, like most of the AM radio-listening crowd, still isn’t too sure how this Internet thing works, and until a redesign a few months ago, looked like a local news station’s site.
uReport is different from iReport, because unlike CNN’s citizen journalism bay, uReport will also be on MySpace. (You remember MySpace, right? That’s where everyone was four years ago, but it is now inhabited by thousands of sex offenders.) So you can dust off that MySpace account and head on over to share your photos and moving-pictures of newsworthy events, assuming the site isn’t having one of its fabled down times. Heck, you can even get hit on by Internet stalkers while you’re there!
FOX News’ attempt to be hip could be the natural evolution of things, it could even be that someone on the right is finally listening to what Meghan McCain has to say, but it underscores a larger problem: effort, credibility and integrity are falling by the wayside–not that broadcast journalism has been filled with that sort of stuff since Morrow and Cronkite left the biz. I realize that people screaming at each other wins ratings battles and fills up time in between commercial breaks, but that doesn’t mean it’s news. Ratings-driven networks are appealing to the lowest-denominator in hopes of keeping our attention, meanwhile, the newspaper industry is set to die a noble, if not ill-prepared death.
I don’t even need to get into how retarded the CNN/Ashton Kutcher Twitter follower battle was, but for the sake of being fair and balanced, it was another example of media establishments grasping at whatever they can to find some sort of coolness.
Where does this leave us? Well, the radio, but that’s a step backward, so there’s the Internet. It’s hugely popular, it’s free, and it constantly piggybacks off the work of others. So I’m proud to announce that the McBournie Minute is now, more than ever, your source for sexy people, frightening words in headlines and douchebaggery. I’ve got the credentials, I’ve got the experience, and I’m going to cram it down your throat as long as my sponsors say it’s OK.
Yes, but what has Lindsay Lohan been up to today? Is she single again?