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Monday, May 15, 2006 12:00 AM

Beeb tube

A cabbie gets on the BBC to talk technology, proving what you already suspected about cable news.

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  • Monday, May 15, 2006 07:18 PM

    "Cable" News

    Video Dog:

    What else might be the meaning of your subhead:

    "A cabbie gets on the BBC to talk technology, proving what you already suspected about cable news"

    ...other than "here's an example of cable news"?

    If this wasn't your intent, then "...proving what you already suspected about shag carpeting" would work just as well, as would, "...about diet sodas," "...comfy armchairs," and any other non-sequitur.

    Either you were "proving" a shortcoming of cable news, or you weren't. The subhead says you were, and my response was that the channel in question was broadcast, not cable, in Britain.

    In any event, didn't Norman Minnow and Marshall McLuhan pretty well sum-up the state of television generally, including news, sometime about 40 years ago? I realize that VD, as it were, is essentially a little fluff to go along with the theoretically more serious content here, but jeez, suggesting that television--broadcast or cable--appeals most often to the lowest common denominator isn't exactly taking you out on a limb.

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