Across The Media Universe: Condi Hearts Harry Edition
Freedom From Speech: The president's speech last night came in at a brisk 20 minutes, and "ABC, CBS and NBC scurried back to regular programming as fast as they could," notes Tom Shales. One e-mailer to Public Eye was not a fan of that decision: "Last night CBS aired President Bush's speech about Iraq, yet you chose not to air Dick Durbin's response on behalf of the Congressional Democratic majority. Could you really not spare a few more minutes? You are telling your viewers that at this critical moment in our nation's history, the President's opinion matters but the Congress's view does not." He's not alone. Writes Howard Kurtz: "I know that NBC, CBS and ABC were anxious to get back to their entertainment fare. But given the gravity of the issue, couldn't they have allotted another 10 minutes before returning to the likes of 'Deal or No Deal' and 'Criminal Minds'? They also thumbed their nose at the concept of equal time by blowing off Dick Durbin's Democratic response." CBS, it turns out, stayed with speech coverage until 9:28, slightly later than its two rivals.
But Hey, Who Needs TV?: If you want to look "classy and smart," writes Garrison Keillor, you need a newspaper. "It seems to me, observing the young in coffee shops, that something is missing from their lives: the fine art of holding a newspaper. They sit staring at computer screens, sometimes with wires coming out of their ears, life passing them by as they drift through MySpace, that encyclopedia of the pathetic, and check out a video of a dog dancing the Macarena. It is so lumpen, so sad that nobody has shown them that opening up a newspaper is the key to looking classy and smart. Never mind the bronze-plated stuff about the role of the press in a democracy -- a newspaper, kiddo, is about Style." Incidentally, if you're reading this, Garrison, I missed that dog dancing the Macarena video, so please forward. Although wouldn't that be on Youtube? No matter. After all, kids these days!