CBS News sees a possible “Moment of Zen” effect

From CBS News’ Public Eye blog:

When News Readers Attack!
Posted by Matthew Felling
July 25, 2007

A month ago, MSNBC’s Morning Joe news anchor Mika Brzezinski famously refused to read a story about Paris Hilton, going so far as attempting to set her news script on fire. (Unfortunately, her partner’s Bic lighter wasn’t up to the task) And in doing so, she became a YouTube celebrity, with the footage now having been viewed nearly three million times.

And yesterday, CNN’s lovable curmudgeon Jack Cafferty went so far as to – on live TV, mind you – ask/demand that the Lindsay Lohan story be removed from his teleprompter. On the grainy YouTube footage, he says “I wonder if we could get the Lindsay Lohan DUI arrest out of the teleprompter and put my script in. Is that possible?”

. . .

What brings all this on? Has the infotainment pendulum finally swung too far for even the established cable professionals? Has the wink-and-a-nudge “Moment of Zen” awareness brought on by the Stewart/Colbert duo percolated up into the cable studios? Is this the hidden price tag of the cable networks’ infatuation with ‘personality,’ that sometimes the journalists become so empowered that they defy orders? Or has the entire culture of cable news become so frustrated by the fluff that the anchors and reporters are beginning to side with their viewers against the people who make the news decisions? Is cable news — dare I ask — developing a conscience?

Regardless … There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear. Whatever it is, it’s promising.

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Oh, if only those wonderful boys of our fake news hour can inspire this sort of revolution!