“Didn’t they used to actually have the morning papers on set and go through them for the breaking stuff? I think I remember that, but google hasn’t helped.”
C-SPAN does this every morning while taking calls from insanely ignorant Amurrikans.
If MSNBC ever did that, then it evolved beyond it. I know people hate when I say this, but MSNBC is the progressive mirror of Fox News in that it’s mostly hyperbolic presentation of liberal opinions and attacks on the other side with some reporting interspersed. That’s not to say that MSNBC trades in fiction as Fox News does, but it enlists carnival barkers to present the information as Fox does. That’s just what cable news is now.
I think cable television has proved that TV networks always devolve over time to pander to the least-common denominator:
—Lifetime was originally an outgrowth of a women’s-interest public affairs group, sort of like a cable TV version of Ms. Magazine. It broadcast an entire Tori Amos concert as a fundraiser for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. As it presented stories of abuse, it became dependent on exploiting abuse of women for entertainment because that’s where the profits were made.
—TLC launched as The Learning Channel. The network showed recordings of surgeries (my mother used to make me watch them!) and other educational content. Now...Sister Wives and Honey Boo Boo.
—MTV used to show music.
—The History Channel used to show exclusively history documentaries, and it provided educational content to schools. Now it’s all Ancient Aliens and conspiracy theories all the time. Because profits.
—Bravo was NBC’s fine arts network. It showed operas, ballet and modern dance performances. It also showed filmmaking documentaries, including a series that exposed reality TV as fictional TV by demonstrating how everything is scripted. I remember well, specifically, the documentary showing how the producers of Survivor did something like 20 takes of a contestant walking thoughtfully along the lapping waves at sunset. He had been ostracized from the tribe and was ruminating sadly on his impending exile. CUT! DO IT AGAIN. And the camera backed up to show an army of production crew surrounding the guy, and his castmates watching the filming. The documentary explained how people may suspect that plot points in reality TV might be scripted, but never think how even these small interstitial moments are entirely manufactured, written according to script, and used to manipulate viewers to like or dislike the characters. And then of course Bravo made Queer Eye and Make Me a Supermodel for quick cash, and then it was the Andy Cohen Addiction Network.
—After Lifetime became an exploitation extravaganza, Oxygen was created to be what Lifetime originally was, and then in record time it became a network that exploited insane behaviors of insane women.
—OWN was designed to be a spiritual self-help network. That didn’t work, and so it’s all Dr. Phil reruns and Tyler Perry Melodrama Factory Originals No. 23-832.
—Anyone else remember when the Food Network was cooking instruction instead of game shows?
