The End of Cable News?

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12 Jun 2007 10:19 am

One reason that cable has become more about entertainment or live-video "happening-now" marathons than, well, news is that most people now get their actual information online. Increasingly, of course, most people get their news and opinion online. Hello, guys! Money quote from a media observer:

"We're all pretty convinced that news doesn't break on TV anymore," said Eric Bader, senior VP-managing director of digital connections at MediaVest. "Almost everybody across pretty much every economic and age demographic learns of breaking news online, increasingly on mobile."

Perhaps cable news isn't thereby "assaulting reason," as Al Gore would have it. Perhaps cable content is merely adjusting to a new combination of technology and the marketplace. Reason and the information haven't disappeared. They are just being served elsewhere. What has changed is the ability of a few media outlets to dictate to Americans what is good for them to watch and read, and to control the information flow for most Americans. I know why some liberals regret this. They often regret it when people have freedom to ignore their lectures and bromides. But any media that allows me to filter out Al Gore - or not, if I so wish - is fine by me.

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