I'm a current affairs junkie. I like news and more to the point I like analysis. I listen to the AM and PM podcasts (since live reception might be a little difficult while I live on the wrong continent). I've noticed that in the four years since I moved here the quality of US news has declined significantly. Putting aside any question of political bias (became bias doesn't necessarily relate to depth) the cable shows have becoming increasingly banal. All the while the venerable network programs have become irrelevant and outdated.
A lot of people have been talking about the Daily Show's interview with Douglas Feith. I'm amazed at the fact that one of the few places in the US that intellectuals and controversial figures are interviewed with any depth is the late night comedy shows (Daily Show and Colbert). I sense that Jon Stewart is becoming increasingly exacerbated with his new role of 'serious interviewer'.
If you don't believe me: next time you travel turn on CNN International. You'd have serious trouble believing that CNN USA and CNN International are the same station. It's like comparing Britney Spears to Walter Kronkite.
The thing I most frustrating is that this is TV's opportunity to be serious journalists (even if they are bias). This is their opportunity to prove 'why they are better than the news blogs'. This is their chance to save their profession before YouTube destroys their business. CNN: Stop with the celebrities! You aren't the E! channel. Start playing your International content. FOX: OK - I get it - you are biased - that's OK - why act so juvenile? Can't you be insightfully biased? MSNBC: Just make it stop! You don't even know what you are anymore. I'm ashamed at the 'MS' in your name.