• by John Gaffney , October 20, 2002

Some media content riffs that are stuck in my keyboard:

Watching TV and websites during this tragic shooting spree, I strikes me that never in the history of TV has so much non-news been labeled “breaking news.”….I think Matt Drudge has some issues with strong women, especially if they have a political point of view. How do you surround reporting of pending geopolitical crisis (Iraq) with an organically created tiff about Barbra Streisand. Or Hillary? Or Chelsea?……..When new websites start a crawler at the bottom of the screen, that’s when we hit overload, folks. Hasn’t happened yet….I was so over Steven on the Dell commercials….I wasn’t holding my breath waiting for Roseanne to come back to TV……My favorite new phrase is “directional improvement.” That’s what Media General used to describe their narrowing losses over the three quarters of this year. I’ve been trying to get my mortgage company to buy into this phrase. Keep you posted……MSNBC’s summit on Wall Street (aired on Sunday night) is exactly what cable news channels should be doing: making sense of complex subjects for the viewing public……CNN’s Fredericka Whitfield is a bonafide star, and if somebody’s smart they’ll put her in a good spot at a major network. I’m thinking morning show, with some weekend newscasts to start out.