It's happened again. We should not be surprised but when such a news-gathering stalwart logo gets abused time and time again, we have to talk about it.
Remember when "Breaking News!" was a time to stop everything and look at the TV monitor and listen to the radio. Today, it might be taking a turn to the Internet.
Well, the relic of real, breaking news has been further abused and devalued. I talked about this not so long ago. And that's a shame because "Breaking News" was cause for concern, a jolt, a retreat from your moment in life at home, in the office, whatever you were doing, you stopped and immediately went to see what was going on if you cared about the news. I mean, isn't that what we all do?
Now, once again, in light of the Boston Marathon bombings and the ensuing aftermath of stories about the brothers, their tactics, their plans, "Breaking News" once again became all too placid, for the most part, and hate to say it, CNN was the main culprit, with their top dog, Anderson Cooper, its greatest abuser.
Moreover, even when it was plainly apparent that nothing remotely was news nor was any of it breaking, CNN continued, (and continues without any shame), to routinely air "Breaking News" sounders and promos. That's simply irresponsible and downright misleading to its viewers and CNN, even in this lazy day of cable journalism, should know better.
This constant churning out of a hallmark news phrase has been marginalized and diminished. It's a shame that legitimate big and even-not-so-big, real, genuine, BREAKING NEWS has been de-legitimized. Viewers, rightly so, for the most part, have removed the urgency of that sounder from their mindset. It's just another baseless tag line that has been thrust into the cable forest.
CNN isn't the only suspect; Fox News is another co-conspirator. Local TV news stations have also added to the debacle. But CNN has a brand, a reputation, (which has taken a legitimate beating the past few weeks), and that's all but vanished.
A sign of the times that further muddies the already public skepticism of cable TV news. When there's real and absolute new developments, a real story, legit Breaking News, wake me up.
*Follow me on Twitter and listen to me every Monday-Friday from 1-4 PM PT on KSCO-KOMY
