In Contention

Tag: CNN

  • #CNNFail

    I’m glad someone picked this up:

    As the Iranian election aftermath unfolded in Tehran–thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to express their anger at perceived electoral irregularities–an unexpected hashtag began to explode through the Twitterverse: “CNNFail.”

    Even as Twitter became the best source for rapid-fire news developments from the front lines of the riots in Tehran, a growing number of users of the microblogging service were incredulous at the near total lack of coverage of the story on CNN, a network that cut its teeth with on-the-spot reporting from the Middle East.

    For most of Saturday, CNN.com had no stories about the massive protests on behalf of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was reported by the Iranian government to have lost to the sitting president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The widespread street clashes–nearly unheard of in the tightly controlled Iran–reflected popular belief that the election had been rigged, a sentiment that was even echoed, to some extent, by the U.S. government Saturday.

    The rest here.

  • Kutcher wins

    You might remember that Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN post from a few days ago.  Well, it looks like Kutcher closed the Twitter gap fast and finally topped the news organization’s Breaking News feed to 1 million followers.  Now he will “ding dong ditch” Ted Turner’s home, as promised.  And this, my friends, is what is out there to cover this morning.  CNN even Twittered a congrats:

    CNN tweet

  • More on the Twitter apocalypse: Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN

    Ashton KutcherRecently I wrote about the dawn of the journo Twitter apocalypse, the idea that the micro-blogging platform will somehow have a considerable impact on the journalistic form.  I have my doubts.  And even if the possibility is there for Twitter to be a tool of the journalistic trade, I find myself wondering whether it should.

    Case in point: it seems Ashton Kutcher is in a public sprint to 1 million followers with CNN’s Breaking News feed.  The former is sitting at 888,000 followers, according to this AP news story.  The latter: 937,000.  Britney Spears, by the way, is somewhere in between.  But as much as I can’t help a natural irritation to Kutcher’s response to all of this, I also can’t deny what he offers in closing.

    From the AP:

    The 31-year-old actor recently threw down the gauntlet, challenging CNN and its founder, Ted Turner. In a Web video posted earlier this week, Kutcher said he would ding-dong-ditch Turner’s house if he beat CNN to 1 million. (For those unfamiliar with the classic adolescent prank, ding-dong-ditch is when you ring someone’s doorbell and run away.)

    “I find it astonishing that one person can actually have as big of a voice online as what an entire media company can on Twitter,” Kutcher said in a video he posted on qik.com. “I just thought that was kind of an amazing comment on the state of our media.”

    Preach on.  Speaking of all of this, has CNN’s news coverage on the whole become a lot more akin to a big top show over the last year-and-a-half to anyone else?  Not that it wasn’t close to the absurd already but lately I feel like my senses are ambushed every time I turn it on.

    (Ironically, I’m off to share this post on Twitter.)

  • Election jibber jabber

    Have at it in this space.  Though I have to say, I’m terribly frustrated with the conservative coverage of CNN.  I understand the networks dropped the ball eight years ago, but Wolf and company are calling states 30 and 45 minutes after they’ve been called elsewhere.  It’s difficult to watch something when you feel like you’re missing the news, so I’m making good use of DirecTV’s “election mix,” much like I enjoy multiple games on Sundays.  MSNBC seems to be calling stuff with a little more haste, while Fox News, believe it or not, is finding a happy medium.

    Also, a friend just mentioned an important point.  How much does the choice of after-election party venue say about each respective candidate?  Seriously, a posh, comfy hotel versus a community atmosphere and braving the cold?

    Regardless, Ohio and Pennsylvania pretty much makes it game over, no?

  • Did anyone just see Rick Sanchez dismantle Joe the Plumber?

    UPDATE (3:59 p.m.): Ask and ye shall receive (thanks to Dan Crooke for pointing it out):

    EARLIER: Holy shit, Joe might want to see if his balls are intact.  That was brutal.  I hope it pops up on YouTube ASAP.

  • Enough with the graphical commentary!

    You know, I’ve been looking for a reason to dump CNN lately from my regular cable news viewing.  I blame the election coverage, obviously, for finally bringing me to a point where Wolf Blitzer’s drawn-out delivery damn near gives me a headache, or the amount of talking heads in one segment or the next seems to never be enough for show producers.  But tonight’s debate sealed the deal.

    When I’m watching two guys duking it out over policy in an election year, I really don’t give a fuck how the pundits are scoring the proceedings moment-by-moment.  And as a news-delivery organization, CNN should understand the line this crosses, where viewers constantly feel like they should be darting their eyes back and forth to take an arbitrary score, rather than making up their own minds based on the discussion.

    If you don’t have an HDTV, you didn’t have to put up with this.  But here’s a sample of what I’m talking about:

    Debate coverage on CNN

    The little audience reaction meter that CNN loves so much is also a heinous distraction, never indicative of anything and simply a graphical manipulation that amounts to nothing.  It really got to me tonight.  Factoids are one thing, but this is intrusive, and reprehensible.

    Eventually I had to switch over to CBS, which had a much cleaner display (and no, Obama isn’t blowing Joim Lehrer a kiss):

    Debate coverage on CBS

    The fanciest the network got, beyond the classy chyron, was that old standby, split-screen:

    Debate coverage on CBS

    I respect that CNN is pushing the reach of broadcast media with these bells and whistles.  The “Go Live” feature on DISH Network, for instance, is a nice step toward integrating broadcast and online media.  And they are at the forefront of a lot of the progress the medium has made in recent years.  But someone with a journalistic mind has to step in from time to time and raise these questions.  If not, they’ll simply be at the forefront of broadcast’s inevitable march toward an entertainment commodity first.

  • By the way…

    …we’re all going to die.