War Coverage: Gratuitous or Necessary?

[Luke]

Wow - cool avatar Froggy !

 

[frogboy4]

Thanks. You should see Nate's.

 

[MuppetsRule]

I don't mind so much the heavy coverage of the war as the sensationalism. (That counter that MSNBC had was perhaps the tackiest thing I have seen.) It's not like we're counting down to a movie premier. And the fact that they treat these bombings as a sterile event without what's going on on the ground is bothersome. But the public and American people do need to be informed about the actions their country is taking. War is a very serious decision. By the military allowing members of the media to ride along on military missions it brings the brave acts and the horrors of war home to us. Remember, one of the criticisms during the Vietnam War is that the military heavily shutout the media, so this is welcome.

Now, if they could just put Kermit the Newsman in Baghdad, then we'd get a hard hitting news-story.

 

[Luke]

Originally posted by MuppetsRule
Now, if they could just put Kermit the Newsman in Baghdad, then we'd get a hard hitting news-story.

Better still, put a dodgy moustache and a military uniform on him and he can be one of Saddam's doubles - do a few television addresses or something. It's not like Kermit hasn't impersonated dictators before - remember his Hitler impression in that old EMTV logo ? This could be the publicity Henson have been waiting for - he could even hold some Palisades action figures, the 'Evil Dictators' line .... oh Kenny i have an idea you are just going to ADORE !

 

[BoyRaisin2]

Originally posted by Luke
oh Kenny i have an idea you are just going to ADORE !

The "South Park" Kenny?

 

[CraigD]

The coverage is totally gratutious. Each network is just trying to outdo each other for ratings. It's pretty sickening really.

Although I have to credit one of our networks here, Network Ten. On the day the war broke out, the other major channels stayed with the war. After a while, Ten decided to screw it and they aired Jerry Springer instead. My mother is my lover I think the topic was......

As for cancelling the Oscars - bad idea. Unless something major and tragic happens within the next few days, on the with the show. There's no reason to cancel it.


Craig

 

[FellowWLover]

Originally posted by frogboy4
I’ll tell you this, buy stock in Blockbuster Video.

Yep, yep, lots of people renting movies these days!

As for me, I like the actual news updates, but think the commentary should be kept to a minimum. There is no reason to disturb the line-up for some dude's opinion. If I want to hear what others have to say about the war, I can search it out for myself.

 

[Super Scooter]

I agree with Foz. Keep us updated, but non-stop coverage is a little rediculous. If they could cut out all commercial breaks for their news reports, and keep the shows on, I wouldn't mind.

Thursday night they did that on NBC. They updated on the commercial breaks. I appreciated that cuz I refuse to watch the news. Don't mean to go too far off topic, but, I have alot of friends who get on my case about watching PG-13 rated movies and playing Teen rated video games (don't watch R or play M, they bother me too much). I respond to their bugging me about it by asking, "Why do you watch the news then? That's full of sex, violence, language, you name it! And that's all real! At least in the movies it's fake, and I know it's fake!" There's quite a bit of difference between what you see in the news and what you see in a movie. I know what's in a movie is fake, so I can deal with it. It doesn't bother me. But the news... it just really bothers me!

I like to keep up to date with what's going on with the war, that's why I liked what NBC was doing with the commercial break. But, the non-stop stuff gets to me. I watched it non-stop on 9-11 (and not just because my parents were watching. I watched it of my own free will) and... I'm starting to think maybe that's why I can't stand to see that.

Grrr! When I get a job, I'm buying them Muppet DVDs! Or, I'll wait for those boxed sets that so many fans have been requesting and that the Henson Company have started giving thought to.

Well, I'm done. I'm out of breath, and my fingers have blisters.

 

[Zack the Dog]

oh my gosh is the media taking this so wrong you can predict what they should not do and they do it anyways. My family and I went out the night the 48 hours would be up, and my step dad was all in a hurry to see what was going on on tv, my mother, brother and i all said at the same time, "oh you just know they are going to have a little clock counting down like it was new years or something till that time is up", and they did.... they are like Sidamm has 10 seconds to run out in the middle of the street and say, "ok! i give up! please don't push the big red button!!!''

i have heard people say too much information is giving out to the public to make them worry, like how the weather maybe bad there and it's dangeroius for US troops, this making family even more uneasy. Some people say not enough information is given and they want to know and see more. i don't know what to think, there should be coverage but not so much on it on every station.

 

[radionate]

Originally posted by frogboy4
Thanks. You should see Nate's.

Yeah! See!