BCT Editorial – 9/29/04

This page was last updated on September 29, 2004.

Completely different; Editorial; Beaver County Times; September 29, 2004.

In summary, this editorial is an attack on cable news channels. After all, the editorial refers to these outlets as “supposedly news channels” and “theaters of the absurd.”

The target of the attack is the “debate” we routinely see between partisans of an issue. In this area, I agree with the Times to a point. Many of these so-called “debates” are no more than the recitation of talking points and I usually channel surf when one comes on.

Where the editorial and I part company is the implication that these exchanges make all of cable news illegitimate.

Understandably, the editorial doesn’t acknowledge the significance of these exchanges. Until Fox News Channel came along, most “debates” were one-sided affairs with only the liberal view presented. When a conservative was included, he was usually someone on the fringe. Now we hear both sides.

Though I’m not a fan of the current “debates,” I hold out hope they can evolve into something useful. That said, even in their current state, they are better than what we received on broadcast news and print media.