Yeah, I didn't plan on writing a sequel to the first article, but something so egregious happened this weekend that I felt compelled to call out all parties.
First I will defend CNN. CNN is not fake news. 80% of their content is real (and sometimes slanted), and the other 20% is sensationalized or fluff. The problem with CNN is that a generation ago, they were in the News Business. Today they are in the News Entertainment business.
In the late 1800's there was a term called Yellow Journalism. I recall learning about it in High School history class. Yellow Journalism sprang from concept of profits over hard facts. (Sound Familiar?)
Today, the distant ancestor of Yellow Journalism is Clickbait. And now I will defend Donald Trump. Instead of real stories, ISIS making inroads in the Philippines, the Opioid Crisis in America, or the mass shooting in Arkansas, the lead story on CNN today is....
Ripped from CNN itself: Today 11:30 a.m.
According to CNN today, two of the top headlines of the day are: Looking for 'Adult Leadership' and Trump punches CNN in a juvenile tweet. Now return to the top of this article and hover over the term Yellow Journalism yet again. It's not a direct correlation, but it's a concept over 100 years old in American history. When you have a free press in America, the largest corporate giants dictate what is and isn't news for the day. Is a Trump Tweet really one of the top stories of the day? It is when he attacks CNN.
The problem is that CNN isn't beneath clickbait and Donald Trump isn't beneath a good fist fight. The underlying issues are Trump acting in a way that is unbecoming of the office (which is a legitimate concern) and CNN eroding the tenants of modern journalism (which they clearly are). I just read an article yesterday about CNN ratings tanking. So Trump is clearly not the victim here, nor is CNN. What we have here is 2 schoolyard bullies beating on each other.
Ripped from CNN itself: Yesterday at 11:30 a.m.
"So Fred, if you're so smart, what was the top news story of the day?"- Everyone else in America
Good Question: Sometime in the early morning hours of the Saturday overnight (yesterday), there was a shooting in Little Rock, Arkansas at the Power Ultra Lounge. Not just any shooting, but a shooting that left 30 people injured, some with gunshot wounds and some injuries from the ensuing stampede. It was breaking news in the middle of the night, then I went to CNN late in the morning to see if the shooting was terrorism, or right-wing extremism, or even left-wing extremism, whatever label you want to put on such things. That's when I saw the Trump vs. MSNBC host headline. Maybe I was dreaming? Nope there it is, about half way down, 17 shot in concert in Arkansas.
"Officials believe the shooting is related to gang activity, Buckner said."We do not believe this was an act of terror," he said. "Some sort of dispute ensued." Police have no motive for the shooting, and no arrests have been made. Buckner said they have not identified any suspects and police are still interviewing witnesses and victims." -CNN
If no one has been arrested, how do we know that the situation is over? Apparently gang activity doesn't garner the clicks of political drama. I returned to CNN at 11 p.m on Sunday and the Arkansas shooting was already out of the news cycle, but there were 6 stories on the now infamous Trump Tweets. So I went to NBC News and searched Arkansas shooting arrest and a picture of Finese2Tymes picture came up. I am not a rap aficionado, so I'm not familiar with Finese2Tymes, but apparently he's a young up and comer in the rap game. Finese, a.k.a Ricky Hampton, was arrested on a totally unrelated weapons charge. How is it that they caught the rapper, but not the shooter? (Or shooters.)
In light of the circumstances, I could understand Hampton's rationale of wanting to carry a firearm. Here's a free plug for Finese to the right. If I was a rapper and there was a shooting at my concert and then the police arrested me when I didn't shoot anyone, I WOULD BE PISSED.
Either way, that should have been the top story Sunday, that or that plane crash on the L.A. freeway that was the lead story over at the Daily Mail.