CNN: Castrated News Network

I am old enough to remember when CNN was actually a respectable news network. That was back in the long ago days of Ted Turner when CNN was the new brash kid on the block, the one who dared to make waves. But CNN is a "news" network no longer. Today, it relies on viewers who have a Twitter account or email address to "report" news for them and to comment on news stories. They present these viewer-generated dispatches without screening and with no explanation and comment. Where they used to have professional news gatherers in the field and editors to actually review content, they now have Twitterers and bloggers. This is no way to run a news network. No wonder CNN is losing so many of its viewers. Soon no one will be watching. And no one will care.

And now it seems that CNN is determined to complete its suicidal slide by hiring bloggers like Erick Erickson as commenters. Jon Stewart had an excellent take on that development on The Daily Show last night. He also had some excellent advice for CNN on how to recover its mojo. I don't expect them to take it, though, because CNN has most definitely lost its balls and its direction.

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