Agree?
Patrick Hruby: … Turn on ESPN. There are score tickers and headline crawls, slick graphics and constant teases for upcoming stories, everything creating a sense of urgent immediacy. Now switch to Fox News. Visually speaking, it’s the same eyeball-grabbing formula. (Well, replace scores with stock prices, and garrulous sportscaster Chris Berman with a frosted blonde news babe). This is the SportsCenter-ization of the news, in which coverage of Washington — and the world, really — apes a glossy entertainment product dedicated to spectacular touchdowns, gee-whiz statistics, prefabricated drama, insta-debates waged by a nattering, revolving-door athletic punditocracy and the very latest updates on Brett Favre’s various bodily appendages.
Guess what? This is a problem. A big one, in fact. At least for anyone concerned about American political discourse rising above the level of: (a) Two pundits yelling talking points past each other (b) Plastic robots punching each other in the head. (Admittedly, B is preferable to A).
Leave a comment