Tabloids and Taliqueers

[Peter K.]

>And now we have the Fox News Channel, too. It's politically vile -
>just last night, covering the Torricelli withdrawal, the only
>"expert" they interviewed was a lawyer for the Republican party. Not
>even a sympathetic lawyer, but someone actually drawing a paycheck
>from the party. And he flatly said that New Jersey law said the Dems
>couldn't come up with a replacement. Reading the (liberal) papers
>this morning, I learned that the law is more ambiguous than that. But
>not on FNC - it was an open and shut case. "We report, you decide,"
>indeed. But it's still entertaining as hell. I'd rather watch FNC
>than CNN anyday.
>
>Doug

To answer Yoshie and others who wonder what's so funny about it,
I'd argue it's the yawning chasm between what is "reality" and what
they report as sincerely the truth, the preposterous gap between
the signifier and the signified. Also, they deliver the news in
such an upbeat, over-the-top, almost smarmy way that it reminds
me of those "entertainment news" shows like Entertainment Tonight.
The only sane reaction is "You've got to be kidding!" CNN's
distortions are more bland and adhere to the consensus we
- some of us - have become inured to and hence are less jarring.
Anyway, that's my culturecritik. Oh yeah and their smirking, unblinking
news anchor Shepard Smith comes off as some bodysnatcher alien
from a bad sci-fi movie.

Peter