BREAKING! MSNBC Reports: Tim Russert Still Dead
When all 3 cable news channels (MSNBC, CNN, Fox News) spent hours on Tim Russert's death on Friday, I was slightly surprised. Even Fox was paying lavish tribute.
When I kept checking back as the night wore on, and kept seeing nothing but Russert, I was increasingly puzzled. Did nothing else more important happen in the nation or the world that day?
When I checked in on MSNBC at various points on Saturday, and the Russert mourn-a-thon seemed to be continuing nonstop, I was disgusted. The death of their fellow member of the elite media loomed larger to these people than the floods in Iowa, the Taliban prison break in Afghanistan, the Supreme Court's restoration of habeas corpus to Gitmo prisoners, Obama's Social Security plan, or anything else.
When I saw that they were again programming solid wall-to-wall Russert all day Sunday -- giving his death far more coverage than the passing of the far more talented Peter Jennings, at least as much coverage as the death of John Paul II, and rapidly approaching the point where it will overtake the Ronald Reagan weepfest -- I finally understood.
The bizarre, narcissistic spectacle of the Tim Russert Memorial Network reveals the fundamental truth about cable "news": It's not about news. It is about itself.
When I kept checking back as the night wore on, and kept seeing nothing but Russert, I was increasingly puzzled. Did nothing else more important happen in the nation or the world that day?
When I checked in on MSNBC at various points on Saturday, and the Russert mourn-a-thon seemed to be continuing nonstop, I was disgusted. The death of their fellow member of the elite media loomed larger to these people than the floods in Iowa, the Taliban prison break in Afghanistan, the Supreme Court's restoration of habeas corpus to Gitmo prisoners, Obama's Social Security plan, or anything else.
When I saw that they were again programming solid wall-to-wall Russert all day Sunday -- giving his death far more coverage than the passing of the far more talented Peter Jennings, at least as much coverage as the death of John Paul II, and rapidly approaching the point where it will overtake the Ronald Reagan weepfest -- I finally understood.
The bizarre, narcissistic spectacle of the Tim Russert Memorial Network reveals the fundamental truth about cable "news": It's not about news. It is about itself.
