CNN’s live coverage of the Shuttle Challenger launch, January 28, 1986. Compare to modern coverage: here, the event plays out live… and without a constant running commentary of inane babble. A reporter at the time would have no useful information for several minutes; he would not be able to tell the viewers anything they would not be able to figure out themselves. Today… you would expect *someone* to be running his or her damnfool mouth nonstop, apparently living in terror of three seconds of “dead air.”
Similarly, later that night President Reagan gave a brief televised speech to the nation. The Great Communicator earned his accurate nickname, one that has not applied to any President since. Sure as hell doesn’t *now.”
Theoretically CNN is *still* a news network. But I have randomly flipped over to the channel from time to time, probably several times a day… and I cannot recall how long it has been that I’ve seen actual news coverage. These days, every time I go to CNN it’s nothing but talking heads complaining about Trump. These days I see the “news” part of CNN to be a vestigial organ from the past, much like the “music” in MTV.