I used to consider CNN a useful place to get (mostly) objective reporting. That was 10+ years ago and I have sort of watched it since then out of habit (not that there really is any place better, broadcast media is purt near worthless), but have noted that it steadily declined in quality until it is on par with the usual mishmash of nonsensical ‘reporting’ that we now have to endure as ‘journalism’. This was really driven home by two pieces by Glenn Greenwald:
Why didn’t CNN’s international arm air its own documentary on Bahrain’s Arab Spring repression?
A former CNN correspondent defies threats from her former employer to speak out about self-censorship at the network
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/04/cnn-international-documentary-bahrain-arab-spring-repression
and his follow-up piece:
CNN and the business of state-sponsored TV news
The network is seriously compromising its journalism in the Gulf states by blurring the line between advertising and editorial
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/04/cnn-business-state-sponsored-news
I would be a little shocked if any of my reader(s) feel that CNN is a reliable, non-partisan and unbiased news source, but I had sort of grown numb to how far it had fallen over the years. Granted the focus is CNNi (the international arm of CNN), but when you view the screen the differences are so subtle as to be indistinguishable, so who knows what you are listening to droning in the background. It has been clear that Fox and MSNBC are not ‘news’ but infotainment for years (decades?), now CNN is clearly nothing more than infotainment as well. Thank god for the ‘net and bloggers like Glenn!
