Breaking News: Radio's Big Lie

Remember the pre-Fox News Alert world? When bulletins were actually news worthy? Now, it seems, breaking news is nothing more than a teaser.

Like a Pavlovian dog, my ears perked up when I heard the phrase “Breaking News” on NYC’s WCBS Newsradio 880 this morning. Actually, the complete phrase was “Breaking News coming up after this…”

What followed was a commercial, then a promo for the TV show “Undercover Boss.” Then came the breaking news.

In his book “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” Neil Postman wrote about the phrase “Now this…” He lamented how reporters (“talking hair-doos”) move from tragedy to trade without giving any story its due.

Now, “Breaking News” has become its polar bookend. Devoid of meaning and dangled like a lure designed to catch the biggest audience share. As a sportsman, I know fish eventually wise up. They learn to differentiate between lures and real bait and move on. If only we could do the same.

Balancing Act

A pretty decent definition of “journalism” comes from a most unlikely source: Fox News. Bernie Goldberg makes some pretty good points about what it means to be a fair reporter on Bill O’Reilly’s show.

However, O’Reilly deserves a demerit or two for telling Bernie not to give him additional info “because then I have to go back and research it.” Do journalists really avoid facts just so they don’t have to do the leg work?