Cable news = background noise.
Via Mediaite
Cable news viewers, distinguished critics, pundits, and average Americans: the state of cable news is frail and flailing.
President Barack Obama set to deliver his fifth State of the Union address on Tuesday night where he is expected to address a variety of topics which do resonate, on some level, with the American people. The endless economic recession and its accompanying anxiety and pessimism have prompted him and his vulnerable allies in Congress to fret about a fixed feature of any economy: the disparity between rich and poor. Republicans, for their part, are also focused on pocketbook economic issues, though their prescriptions for how to remedy Americans’ increasing economic dissatisfaction varies greatly from those of the president.
Agree or disagree with these positions, at least they align with the priorities of average American voters. When asked by pollsters what they believe is the most pressing issue facing the nation and should be the highest priority for lawmakers, Americans have for months said the same three things: the economy and job growth, the federal budget, and health care.
The average prime time cable news viewer is even less well-served by the Acela Corridor media complex than they are by Washington D.C. For cable’s top pundits and personalities, Americans’ priorities take a back seat to their own myopic focus in the issues which pique their own interest.
For CNN’s flagship host, Piers Morgan, the preeminent issue is and always will be gun violence in America and gun control legislation. But a topic that might have once resonated with Morgan for altruistic reasons has long since evolved into an opportunity to talk about himself.