• The Hollywood Reporter, Wednesday, March 16, 2011 1:15 PM

The Hollywood Reporter's television critic Tim Goodman takes a thoughtful, detailed look at how and why U.S. cable TV coverage of any disaster is usually so terrible.

For example, he notes, the current crisis in Japan "is clearly demonstrating how reporters and anchors are bungling the basics and how the producers and executives in charge of them have fallen woefully short of leadership."

Goodman criticizes reporters for, among other failings, asking "simplistic and embarrassing questions." He writes, "How is it possible that on Monday evening (Tuesday in Japan), with the earthquake, tsunami and worries about radiation poisoning engulfing Japan, a CNN reporter can ask this question: 'How scary has this been for you?'"

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