The Today Show, GMA ‘acted stupidly’ in coverage of Barack Obama’s health care reform newser
July 23, 2009 at 8:34 am by Wayne Garcia
A few weeks ago I announced to my wife that I would not be watching The Today Show in the mornings any more. I just got fed up with its growing tabloid style and insistence on flogging non-stories to death. Like this week’s “exclusive” multi-day interview with Susan Boyle. Or the dude trying to get his kid back from Brazil who is interviewed at least twice a week. Or the latest family with a loved one attacked by a critter/rescued from a certain death/dying from a disease/etc.
But this morning, I broke my rule and paid the price for it. Meredith, Matt, Al and the rest of the formerly great NBC morning news show led the broadcast with this top story: Barack Obama had ruined his newser on health care last night by criticizing the wrongful arrest of prominent Harvard prof Henry Louis Gates Jr. last week.
ABC’s Good Morning America apparently did the same thing.
St. Petersburg Times media critic Eric Deggans noticed, too, writing this AM:
…[W]hy did the Today show — by far TV’s most-watched morning show — spend its first segment this morning discussing what the president said about the arrest of a black scholar in Cambridge, Mass.?
Here is how the “journalists” left at NBC played the president’s desperate attempt to pull out his health care victory on the website this AM:
It reflects the online priorities of Today as shown by this screen grab:
So if you, like me, don’t give a shit about Susan Boyle and the rest of her life in the UK and want instead to help be part of the most important discussion going on this week, on health care reform, here are some links to help you out:
NYT — Obama Moves to Reclaim the Debate on Health Care
NPR/TNR: Straight Talk on Health Care
WSJ — Live-Blogging Obama’s News Conference
