oh my god, do I hate CNN’s Rick Sanchez
I confess that on days when I’m working at home, I sometimes keep CNN on in the background if there isn’t something compelling for the background on Sci Fi. (I have no idea WTF Charlie Jade is, and there’s no cute guys in it, so I’m on CNN this afternoon.)
But dear Edward R. Murrow in heaven, CNN’s afternoon anchor Rick Sanchez makes me want to commit felonious homicide. If he came onto my TV and explained how awful it is to roast kittens and gobble them up as tasty hors d’oeuvres, I wouldn’t believe that he means it. There’s a disgusting glee with which he approaches even the most awful news stories that turns my stomach... and an awful glee with which he (or his producers, or maybe all of them in concert) choose the stories to cover.
In the space of mere moments just now, he went from faux despair over a photo that captures the moment at which a suicide bomber exploded -- all the while gleefully pointing out how it looks like that one innocent bystander in the foreground is actually getting ignited by the flames of the explosion -- to faux outrage over a Japanese video game that allows players to rape women. I mean, that’s the most despicable concept for a video game ever, but why give the game extra free publicity? And why on earth would Rick Sanchez linger over the particularly disgusting aspects of the game the way he did? Unless he’s getting some sort of kick out of it... even if that kick is just the knowledge that this tawdriness is going to appeal to a certain segment of his audience?
I wouldn’t write about this, except that the point of this kind of “news”cast is clearly focused more on ratings than on actual coverage of important news: it thinks it’s entertainment (even if it’s not particularly entertaining). It always drives me fucking insane when an anchor on CNN (or MSNBC) interrupts a debate just as it starts to get substantive with “We’re out of time”... How the fuck does CNN run out time? CNN is on 24 hours a day -- it's got nothing but time. It doesn’t need Rick Sanchez’s pointless yet phony populism... unless its only purpose is ratings, not information.
I know, I know: I’m naive to think that journalism should be about information and analysis and education, not ratings. But I prefer to consider that “idealistic” and “optimistic” rather than naive.
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comments
posted by AK (Tue Mar 10 09, 4:36PM)
What is wrong with hearing the truth? If the truth is horrible and disgusting, that is the world's fault. Maybe you should do something to change it instead of trying to block it out. You can ignore forever but it wont go away. Rick Sanchez is not trying to make something out to be worse than it actually is! He is warning us (and not even going into depth) about a disturbing video game which should not be out in circulation.
The world is not all good. I'm not saying there is no good, but the evils of our day far outnumber the good. Admittedly, doing evil is easier than doing something good. If something (like a video game glorifying rape) bothers you, good. It should not be complacently accepted. This kind of thing is a terrorist attack on our minds. Now go change it, fight it.
posted by Tonio Kruger (Tue Mar 10 09, 6:18PM)
It's not what he's saying. It's how he's saying it. Some people just have a knack of saying things in a way which strikes you just wrong, even when they say stuff with which you already agree.
Anyway, I have the same problem with CNN that I have with FOX News: even when they cover a news story that actually needs to be told, they can't resist editorializing in a way guaranteed to drive anyone who is not already to the right of Rush Limbaugh straight up the wall. Which is one reason I make a point of not listening to either station if I can help it.
posted by JoshB (Tue Mar 10 09, 6:31PM)
Rick Sanchez should just hang out on somethingawful or 4chan. SA has been covering horrific Japanese porn games for years.
posted by Alli (Tue Mar 10 09, 8:26PM)
I just wish these "news" programs would admit to being opinion pieces, not hard news. This goes for all 24 news stations (CNN, MSNBC, FOX, etc.). I have a degree in photojournalism, and this trend towards entertainment is one reason why I'm getting out of the business (not to mention all the newspapers are failing, and no one's hiring full time).
Still, I always knew I didn't have the guts to do what photographers like James Nachtwey does. Nachtwey is what a REAL journalist. He tells a person's story, as tragic and horrendous as it is, and never tries to make it entertainment. He's simply showing you what is going on in the world. He wants to end these atrocities, not just shock you.
AK, if you want a real journalist, google Nachtwey.
posted by MaryAnn (Wed Mar 11 09, 3:33AM)
I don't have a problem with editorializing. The problem here is that Sanchez's editorializing boils down to: "Oh my god, how cool is it that that guy is about to burst into flames!" and "Your wife... does she like... video games? Know what I mean, say no more, nudge nudge?"
posted by Ryan Mcneill (Thu Mar 12 09, 8:54PM)
Heh, you would have been better off watching Charlie Jade. Much, much much better off. It was a short-lived Canadian/South African co-production about three parallel universes that start to bleed into one another that got 5 Gemini nominations for it's only season(the Canadian Emmy).
Also I've noticed it elicits almost Firefly-like levels of OMG from those who have seen it...
posted by blake (Fri Apr 03 09, 10:25AM)
I have freeview so I only get to see half an hour of American news a day...it's rubbish.
It's even worse than Sky News. Although I do have this weird CNN thing late at night. It's also rubbish.
Charlie Brooker does a great show called News Wipe which I would recommend to anyone who finds telly news slightly suspect...
posted by Nathan (Fri Apr 03 09, 10:53AM)
I'm not a regular watcher of cable news, not since the election anyway, but when I do watch it's not CNN. I have seen, however, more than one clip of Sanchez putting the hammer down on people that come on his segments to deliver their talking points. So I'll give him a pass on being salacious, which, like it or not, is his job.