What they heard on CNN

[Mark Laurence]

On Saturday, July 31, 2004, at 12:09  AM, Garrett Wollman wrote:

> I watched what parts of the convention I did watch on C-SPAN, and
> occasionally listened to David Brudnoy on WBZ (who was apparently on
> C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" this morning).  I don't see any reason
> why these events should be covered on broadcast television, and maybe
> even the cable "news" networks.

I thought it was great watching it on C-SPAN, without all the 
blathering commentary on the networks.  Many of the cable news networks 
used it as a noisy backdrop for their regular shows, and talked all 
over the speeches and other events.  Jon Stewart of the Daily Show had 
a great bit last night, mocking MSNBC's "analysis" of a couple of the 
events where it was painfully obvious they weren't even watching what 
they were analyzing.  Too bad, as the Herald pointed out, the Daily 
Show taped their shows and they were almost 24 hours behind the action.

While C-SPAN was perfect for watching the convention this year, that 
wouldn't always be the case.  In many other years when there's been a 
floor fight or a close ballot, reporters have had much more value and 
interest than many of the speakers.  It's always possible that style 
convention could happen again.  This year, the reporters only served as 
distractions.

Mark