Friday, June 1, 2018

The Astonishing Silliness of CNN

National Review
The hysterical chyrons, the endless drama, Stormy, Stormy, Stormy . . . Better to watch sports or read a book.

. . . "Witness the now-legendary CNN chyron — that’s the line of headline text gracing the bottom of the screen during every news story — which has taken to reminding viewers, often in cheeky parentheticals, what exactly one should think. Here’s a doozy from February: “WH: TRUMP HAS BEEN TOUGHER ON RUSSIA IN ONE YEAR THAN OBAMA WAS IN EIGHT (NO, HE HASN’T).” On Thursday, in response to a rather fluffy White House–sponsored “Sports and Fitness Day,” CNN got weirdly ponderous: “TRUMP AND FITNESS: AN EXERCISE IN HYPOCRISY?” During my brief yet torturous airport restaurant foray, the network’s chyron read something like — and please forgive my paraphrasing, but I was desperately trying to ignore the TV blaring over my head — “TRUMP FALSELY SLAMS ‘SPYING’ DURING HIS CAMPAIGN (ISN’T HE CRAZY? IT WAS AN ‘INFORMANT,’ NOT A SPY!).”

"The good people at CNN can do what they want, but this blatant chyron-splaining sends a rather clear and unfortunate message: that they think their audience is daft and incapable of figuring things out for themselves." . . .

CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta said Tuesday that the one thing he likes about the Trump presidency is that it is “good for news.”

Obeidallah Defends 'Important Voice' Samantha Bee; Lemon Defends Behar
. . . "CNN.com contributor Dean Obeidallah came to the liberal Bee's defense, lauding her as "an important voice."

"And, in response to conservative talk radio host Stacy Washington complaining about the double standard of liberal comedians Bill Maher and Joy Behar being tolerated when they attack conservatives, host Don Lemon defended Behar for recently painting Christians as mentally ill." . . .

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