"News" Shows on TV
Why are “news” shows like Arnab Goswami’s Newshour so popular? Why is that yelling-till-you-are-blue-in-the-face format the one that all the other news channels are aping? Michael Crichton wrote this article on why speculation is rampant in US media; but many of his points would answer my questions above. First, there’s the financial aspect to such shows: “It’s incredibly cheap. Talk is cheap. And speculation shows are the cheapest thing you can put on television.” Talk though, while cheap, is also boring. Unless “the talk becomes heated and excessive. So it becomes excessive”, says Crichton. Of course, even heated talk is not always compelling; hence the next step: ““Crisisization” of everything possible…There is a tendency to hype urgency and importance and be-there-now when such reactions are really not appropriate.” Ok, so it’s garbage. But does it do any harm? After all, some of my friends say they watch such shows for entertainment, not for information. You can...