4733 Chris and Brian

 Within the last few days, two giants of cable news quit, leaving two leading networks with empty benches and no farm clubs.

Famed nepotist Chris Wallace, left FOX for a new job with CNN's as yet unborn streaming service, called CNN-Plus. Wallace was Fox TV’s last remaining public face of actual journalism.

This past Thursday Brian Williams did his last straight news Late, Late Show, departing for parts unspoken, MSNBC's last connection with the Huntley-Brinkley-Chancellor-Brokaw style of TV journalism. 

So, between these two there was a combined 46 years of legitimacy.  Yes, Chris Wallace is no Mike Wallace and Brian Williams ain’t Cronkite. But they were the best their individual and opinion-ravaged “news” services had to offer in recent years.

 To make matters worse. Fox has been ceding air time to wackier than ever anchors. MSNBC is letting its prime time star, Rachel Maddow, expand her duties while reducing her air time. These moves make Fox and MSNBC even less relevant than they had been.

 Each will likely recruit from the nation’s lauded j-schools whose students mostly want to be television stars.  If there IS “regular” TV by the time they reach their senior years. Please remember that any job description includes something about the application of makeup means the jobholder is first an actor. Even Cronkite.

Which brings us to the general purpose of cable news which like everything else that is the product of human genius has fallen into a terrible rut where commentators with little or no skin in any game endlessly debate. These end like an unsolved cold case even after it’s been gone over thoroughly by the latest hotshot to join the police force.

Back to Chris and Brian:  They got on, they asked good questions. They held their subjects’ feet to the fire, and they said good night.  Is there any reason to watch a former FBI profiler pontificate about the disappearance of a murder suspect?  Is there any reason for an economist from five administrations ago to comment on today’s conditions after years of paying no attention to economic reality?

Ted Turner’s original plan for CNN was to put on 24 hours of news that could be seen in every time zone at the same time deliver commercials to tens of millions of eyes more than his dinky channel in relatively dinky Atlanta.  A real public service.  And, eventually, a real moneymaker.

 But it didn’t take long to realize that it served a higher purpose, bringing sensationalism to a country that started with a government by sausage factory and is winding down as government by tantrum. 

 I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

Any Questions? wesrichards@gmail.com

© WR 2021