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| Creative Commons photo by Ayushπ |
Watch this brief video where political satirist and comedian Jon Stewart criticizes CNN for their live reporting of the search for the Boston bomb suspect. Then read this article written by a Michigan reporter about his growing frustration with speculation posing as reporting on a major news network like CNN.
Do you think this writer and Jon Stewart are being too harsh in their criticism? Or do you think they are right about an alarming trend in how news gets reported?
I think that they may have been a little harsh but were right to call them out on their problems. In this field, when some start doing that it hurts everybody because it feeds the distrust against anything news related. They shouldn't be wasting everyone's time with things that will only end up hurting them in the end.
ReplyDeleteI think both Jon Stewart and the writer of the article are raising valid points, although they were being a little harsh. While Stewart shows the comical side of a serious issue in modern journalism, the writer gets straight to the point. News broadcasting stations, especially those that label themselves as 24/7, have a responsibility to get hard news directly to the public in an organized, professional way, much like a traditional newspaper. Lately, as evidenced by stations like CNN's covering of the Boston Marathon Bombing and Navy Yard shooting, many news stations have resorted to mindless chattering or filming to take up time, or to speculation and unprofessional comment and questioning. If stations like CNN are going to claim they will have news 24/7, they should plan ahead and have guest speakers and interviews set up for times when the hard news is lacking, and should never have to speculate or mindlessly chatter because they don't have news. At the same time, it is hard to have news all the time and interesting developments in a story, but that doesn't mean stations should speculate or waste time with meaningless commentary. All of this contributes to a greater distrust of the media in general, an area already under fire by the public.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Jon Stewart and Andy Heller, the writer of the article, are correct in saying CNN has a lot of speculation, and nonsense information. The speculation is not needed, as viewers want the facts about what happened, not what is going to happen. CNN is required to fill so much air time, they have resorted to telling viewers about what may happen. This information is unimportant to people, as many of their speculations are incorrect. Also, as Andy Heller wrote, some journalists are asking inappropriate and unimportant questions to fill airtime. These questions can make the network seem unprofessional, which will damage their reputation. Journalists need to come up with better questions to fill airtime, or not ask the questions at all. Viewers do not want to see journalists ask people for unimportant information.
ReplyDeleteI think that CNN effectively portrays the news. In my opinion Jon Stewart and Columnist Andy Heller are being harsh. CNN is a massive news station and they wouldn't have so much revenue if they did poor work. The woman who kept stating that the dog was barking was repetitive but she was on sight. Being on sight in such a volatile situation can be daunting and flustering. I think that when they go on site and let you see what is actually happening it is good. It allows me to create my own opinions and speculations about the situation. I don't think there are stupid questions like Andy Heller but as a journalist you have to word your questions in an intelligent way. I like CNN's non bias, sometimes dramatic news coverage.
ReplyDeleteI believe that John Stewart and Andy Heller are both correct in how news channels present breaking news, although they did it in a harsh way. I don't think it was necessary to bash CNN right off the bat in Heller's column. I understand that breaking news for anyone involved in journalism is though, because they want to get the story first and have it accurate as well. There are struggles with getting the news first nowadays because of social media. However, the way CNN presented the breaking news was definitely not professional at all.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the criticism given, although to a certain extent, it puts the reporter in a rough position. CNN requiring these reporters to "report" hard news when there ISN'T any, leads to speculation. Often times when news reporters provide news, the people receiving this information make speculations. But when people begin to speculate from reporters speculations, stories get so far off base than what the story is actually about, it creates pure chaos. Like the article mentioned, once speculation begins, people begin to distrust the media even more than they already do, and this trust leads to not caring about what is going on, leaving people uninformed about their day to day lives in their cities, states, and nation.
ReplyDeleteI do not have cable, so I've never actually seen a 24-hour news station report anything at all, let alone a breaking story. From the video and article, though, it seems like it is a lot of sensationalism and speculation. I understand that they have hours to fill with news and there is not always new information to give the audience, but I think speculation is the wrong way to go about filling that time. Speculation has the potential to confuse the viewer about what actually happened. The information given during a "slow time" is probably not that important either. In the CNN report, the reporter made a big deal about dogs barking and cars going by. Yes, the reporter was saying what she saw on the scene, but those facts are not really vital to the story. The viewers want to know the most important information and might get impatient with the sensationalism and speculation. I also agree with what Andy Heller said about asking "stupid" questions. Sometimes reporters go too far just to fill their time, and this can reflect badly on their network. Speculation and unimportant questions are probably just going to make the viewer impatient and frustrated, which is certainly not what the network wants.
ReplyDeleteAndy Heller and Jon Stewart were very hard on the CNN reporters. Although they do have many flaws about the way the report news, they have a vey hard job. Because CNN is a 24-hour news channel, they have a hard time filling the slots with hard news. The reporters have to try really hard to make news more dramatic than it needs to be. This makes the reporters come across stupid because they are just trying to fill the time. CNN has a lot of useless information, making it easier for talk shows to target them to critisize.
ReplyDeleteI agree with John Stewart's and Andy Heller's critiques. However, I do think that Stewart and Heller were being a little harsh. Based off of those news clips in the video with John Stewart, 24-hour news stations like CNN definitely struggle to fill their time slots. The reporter who wouldn't stop talking about the dogs made me laugh and feel bad for her all at once. I think it would be very hard to constantly deliver good, hard news 24/7. Heller rips on CNN by saying that they ask stupid questions. I can see what Heller is trying to say, but sometimes viewers may want the answers to those so-called "stupid" questions. CNN is a well-known and successful news station. Clearly, most people think CNN does a pretty good job delivering the news or else they wouldn't watch them. I would like to see Stewart and Heller try to do a better job.
ReplyDeleteI think Jon Stewart and Andy Heller are right. They have every reason to criticize CNN and how they report news because of things CNN does and says. The video of the woman talking about the dogs barking and the cars going by is a distinct example of how reporting on these stations had become such a joke. Stewart may have been harsh on how he went about talking about CNN but that is the point of his show from the start, and CNN was just a very easy victim. I will say that, being a 24-hour news station, CNN has a hard job to do. Although, I don't think they should take on such a hard job if they cannot do it well. Doing it poorly is just embarrassing for the station and it's reporters. It's true that news station have become too insensitive and sometimes even rude about the news they report. Heller was right to point out the ideas CNN used, such as the all-black clothing, to make their news seem more observational can often be comical. CNN has made it very easy for people to criticize them. Their mistakes have cost them viewers and have given people, such as Jon Stewart, the opportunity to make fun of them on television. The more CNN tries, the worse their news gets. They need to learn from their mistakes and get better. Stewart and Heller may have been harsh, but they were right. They have every right to be harsh when it is this bad. Maybe CNN will realize their mistakes if enough people do what Heller and Stewart have done.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that Jon Stewart and Andy Heller were being a bit harsh in their criticism toward CNN's reporting. As said in the video it is hard to report live news when nothing is actually happening on the scene of the incident. Also, you don't want to be the 'jerks' that move on from a breaking story to a different matter with a sensitive topic such as the Boston Marathon Bombing or the Navy Yard shooting. However, Stewart and Heller do present very valid points. The reporting that turns into speculation doesn't hold the interest of viewers, who want to know what is happening or how the people impacted by the event are handling it rather than what the K9 dog is doing. Moreover, agreeing with what Heller wrote, the unimportant and trivial questions being asked by some news anchors just to fill air time need to be handled more efficiently. The questions are inappropriate and can offend some viewers.
ReplyDeleteI feel that both the writer and Jon Stewart were accurate in what they said about today's journalists. With constant 24-hour news, it becomes repetitive and there is nothing new to report. Reporters begin sharing information like "the dog barking" and other details that are not quite important. A way to resolve this issue would be not having 24 hour news. I do not think it is necessary. Also, some of the questions that fill air time are ridiculous and also unnecessary. The excess amount of airtime should be handled differently!
ReplyDeleteI do believe that Jon Stewart and Andy Heller, are right when saying CNN does a lot of speculation, but they were a bit harsh. A lot of other news networks also speculate but speculation is unnecessary, becuase viewers want the facts about what happened, not what might happen. This information is unimportant to people, and many speculations are usually incorrect. Andy Keller also said that journalist from CNN tend to ask unusual or unimportant questions to fill in all the airtime which results in CNN getting a bad and unprofessional rep. Journalists from CNN need to figure out a more effective way of filling the airtime but others need to also realize that CNN is not the only network guilty of speculation.
ReplyDeleteI think CNN could have done much better with their news stories. It is their responsibility to report the news and they should make it interesting even if the story they're given isn't, thats what they went to school for. I think that if the reporters aren't professional about what they say and are very repetitive then they aren't suited for that kind of job. When reading what Jon Stewart had wrote I think he had valid points, yet he seemed to be somewhat harsh to CNN. Although I think the reporters really should have said things in a better way because then it is making all of CNN look bad. I believe they could have done a much better job.
ReplyDeleteI think the Michigan reporter and John Stewart are validated in their opinions of CNN. After watching the almost laughable clip on the reporters filming the Boston Bombings I realized how ridiculous they were really being. They offered no real information other than the fact that they could hear dogs barking, and there were smells. The Michigan reporters argument was extremely truthful as well.the criticisms that were made were not overly harsh, but incredibly truthful.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Jon Stewart and Andy Heller's critiques but I think they were a little harsh. The way CNN reported the news, such as the woman talking about the barking dogs, was quite irrelevant and seemed to be used only to fill time. Although CNN is a 24 hour news station, which must always be up to date with the latest information, viewers depend on them to get the latest information. If CNN can't keep up with the information then they shouldn't be taking on that big of a responsibility in the first place. The useless information, which was obviously used to fill time, makes it easy for people to criticize CNN. I think the way Jon Stewart and Andy Heller went about making fun of CNN was a little harsh, but needed to be said. If CNN realizes there mistakes, then they can make their station better.
ReplyDeleteWhile John Stewart was incredibly harsh on the CNN reporters, I can see where he was coming from. However, what needs to be understood is that difficulty of the reporters job. It's hard being a 24/7 reporter and the woman who was speaking with Stewart had a good point about how by cutting away you might miss some action. Even with the difficulty if their job, I do feel like the reporters should prepare for time lapses like that so that they don't appear foolish.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jon Stewart and Andy Heller and sympathize with the CNN reporters.
ReplyDeleteIt's the reporter's responsibility to explain to the viewers in a logical way what's happening. I found the clips of the CNN reporters extremely unprofessional, especially since it was a tragedy, but can't blame them. They were in tough situations and had no other choice but to talk about irrelevant things and repeat themselves.
I agree with Andy Heller and Jon Stewart to a certain extent. Obviously, the CNN coverage of the Boston bomber's capturing speculation was unprofessional; however, I do believe that the level of rawness shown by the CNN crew, shows that the are just like the rest of America-human. Jon Stewart and Andy Heller's sarcastic, comedic was very harsh. Their critiques were true but their insensitivity level was very rude. They exploited the networks mistakes. CNN was in a bad position and obviously needed something to cover airtime. Their attempt was good, but they were unsuccessful at whatever they were trying to do.
ReplyDeleteI do not like cable news networks,I think they do a bad job of covering news. I think that they exaggerate and sensationalize the news to get more views, instead of using the really important information. No, I do not think that the writer and Jon Stewart are being too harsh in their criticism. I agree with what they had to say, they brought up many relevant points to the cable news issue. It is the reporters job to tell the audience the most important information and it is apparent that many news stations do not do this which is a huge problem.
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