In the Airport - 11/26

What qualifies as news in the mainstream media is insane. Sitting in the DFW airport the day before thanksgiving, after a late wake-up, CNN is showing a piece on people who believe they have been abducted by aliens. They just wrapped up a brief discussion about the Obama administration’s apparent decision to keep Secretary Robert Gates on as head of the Defense department. That’s news. The newly elected president opting for a bi-partisan and pragmatic choice for Sec Def in the midst of a financial crisis. Alien abduction portrayed through art? Not news. The next piece was about a guy who had flown for a few minutes using a jet pack. I remember when I started thinking that the Today Show was turning into a circus. I think the Today Show used to be a morning news show, but by the time I graduated high school it was nothing of the sort. People (including my parents) chose instead to watch CNN or one of the other cable news networks, because they tended to focus on actual issues. I’m wondering if CNN is the new Today show. They did a terrible reporting job during the campaign, as did most of the major news networks. I get 99% of my news from the internet. Online editions of old standard US papers, magazines, blogs, international papers. CNN was with me on election night, sure, but we were more interested in checking 538 every 10 seconds.