Television can't do it. Period. Unlike text, the medium is hopelessly compromised by the inherent limitations:

The low ceiling on the amount of content- as in "factual details"- that can be transmitted in a given period of time

which in turn leads to

massive compromises in editing- "i.e., which details that are absolutely necessary to produce anything resembling an accurate and thoughtful account of an event will I leave out?" Soundbite/vidbite world.

For example, consider all of the "polls" you've seen on television, asking people their opinion on a given question. If the number of respondents was less than a minimum of 30 (and a randomly selected 30, to boot!), it's a statistically inaccurate poll. That's a mathematical maxim of statistics. That doesn't stop TV news programs from broadcasting them, though. They'll find 12 people all coming out of the same restaurant, and edit the responses down to 4 or 5. Or 3. Or 2.

10,000 people killed by death squads is a statistic- a very nasty statistic. In print, it has the potential of being a reviewable and referencable one. On television, it becomes an unreferenced statement. It doesn't stick around long enough to be contradicted if it isn't accurate- or to be reliably used as a citation if it is. The statistic is usually connected to a news account that's edited down to 2-minutes, similarly unusable in terms of lasting value as an information source.

Meanwhile, on television, one missing child can become a Cause. Not for 2 minutes. For 2 weeks. 2 months. 2 years.

Image trumps content on television. No way around it. The most important thing is whether the camera loves you. Everything else is secondary.

I could go on for pages about how misleading television news broadcasting is- inherently, as a medium. Except for interviews- and to a lesser extent, a good, long format, well-moderated debate. But even then, the person who the camera loves the most gets an unfair edge- one that doesn't exist in the medium of radio. And radio doesn't indulge in irrelevant distractions like whether you have an ink stain on your shirt, or whatever.

Olbermann had two mentions of Bill O'Reilly as "Worst Person in the World", his ongoing (and rather tedious) war with Fox, but nary a word on McCaffrey or the Times expose.

*sigh*

I quit watching tee bee in 2004, and even then I only watched a few cable news shows. Now, I read transcripts and watch a couple of podcasts.

I tuned in to "Countdown" tonight to see if maybe, just maybe, KO would make McCaffrey or Brian Williams the WPITW.

I didn't really expect it, but I was sorta hoping I was wrong.

Oh well.

I think we could find plenty of photogenic people for our Intertubes News Show. I'm actually pretty cute, fwiw. And I can speak in complete sentences, also, too.

It's clear from the fact that NBC refuses to acknowledge McCaffrey's conflicts of interest that they are fully aware these conflicts are, in fact, a problem. Otherwise they would have notified their viewers about them in the first place and avoided this whole controversy. That they try to wrap McCaffrey in some sort of integrity force field due to the fact that he was wounded in action is pathetic. Benedict Arnold was also wounded -- twice (once at the walls of Quebec in the winter of 1775, and once at the Battle of Saratoga the following fall) -- but doggone it, he was still willing to sell out his country.

Well, duh! (as we scientific types say!) I am involved in health/medical research and professional education, and I am absolutely required to disclose financial interests and support (when relevant, and the assumption is that if money changes hands, it's a priori relevant) One thing that is positive coming out of congress is a movement to clamp down on the huge and flagrant conflicts of interest in the "academic" medical research/pharmaceutical industry complex (like psychiatrists who research and advocate for powerful antipsychotic medications being used with children, somehow failing to mention millions of dollars a year in consulting fees from the manufacturers of these drugs:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/opinion/30sun2.html?scp=1&sq=psychiatrist%20conflict%20of%20interest&st=cse

Much as it pains me to ever agree with spooter about anything, I would love to see a mandatory "disclosure panel" under all talking heads. It does seem like most liberal speakers usually have something like, say, "Center for American Progress" as an example of their affiliation. Of course these labels are frequently misleading, but I think it's safe to say it is far more so on the Right- so sorry shoothead, few on the "Left" could be subtitled "A Division of Exxon-Mobil"...

Anyway, Glenn, you are spot on as always. Also as always, it's frustrating to try to avoid the amazing divergences by folks here at times. I wonder what percentage of posters actually READ your blog, much less the responses. Sad...

National Security News Service:

http://storiesthatmatter.org/index.php?task=view&id=150

Trento's Column: NBC is to the Pentagon what FOX is to the GOP

Written by Joseph Trento
Monday, 01 December 2008

[...] NSNS reporters Christopher Law and David Armstrong provided The New York Times with the original tip and information about McCaffrey’s business ties and television appearances. [...]

[...] It is time for NBC News President Steve Capus to resign and –if he refuses– to be fired.

[...] Remarkably, on Sunday morning, November 30, 2008 – the same morning of the front-page New York Times article, George Stephanopoulos had Torie Clarke, the leader of the Pentagon propaganda effort first exposed in Barstow’s April 20th story, on his This Week panel with equal stature to others, including ABC correspondents.

We have come a long way since real reporters did documentaries such as the classic, “The Selling of The Pentagon.” Perhaps NBC News should make it required viewing before they get punked again by the Pentagon.

Real reporters understand they cannot be pals with the people they report on. They also tell their viewers or readers when their sources have conflicts of interest.

Right now the only reliable NBC News show seems to be Weekend Update.

- - Joseph Trento