What’s Worse than Gustav? CNN’s Rick Sanchez Anchoring Coverage

Kudos to MSNBC

MSNBC, becoming more known for prison documentaries and visual talk radio, is actually covering the news today.  I’ve been looking in from time to time today on their hurricane coverage.  They appear to be the only network who had a reporter in Cuba to cover the hurricane.  The devastation and displacement of people is horrendous.  I hope decision-makers in the Gulf states and Washington have seen some of this coverage.

Brickbats to CNN

Guys this story is too serious for Rick Sanchez.  Sanchez proves every time he’s on the air that he’s the Ted Baxter of today.  One of his trademark moves is to get a guest talking and then loudly interrupt them about 15 seconds into what they’re saying.  He just did it to Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Russel L. Honore, the Ragin’ Cajun.  Honore, I believe, is calling in an airstrike on Sanchez’s position.  As I write this, Sanchez is checking in on Facebook to let us know what “Mark” from Somewhere in cyberspace thinks about everything.  Rick, there appears to be enough news today.  Put down the Facebook.  America doesn’t give a shit what “Mark” thinks.

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Could someone shove ‘the big Twitter’ screen up CNN’s Rick Sanchez’s Ass?

Just when I forget what a dolt Rick Sanchez is, the weekend hits.

Sanchez is a former correspondent who did things like get himself tased, stand out in hurricanes, and simulate how to escape from a car underwater.  You know, news.

Now Sanchez is the CNN anchor at 10 p.m. EDT on the weekends.  His “newscasts” are difficult to focus on with his over-eagerness to hear himself shout and interrupt guests.  He also has an annoying habit of letting a guest say something and then restating it as a question.  He’s a dolt.

The latest shiny object on the CNN set which has captured Sanchez’s attention is the “big screen.”  He uses this thing to interrupt the normal flow of the show to let America know what the idiots at home have to say about the news.  This feature is brought to us via Twitter.  Sanchez acts as if Twitter is some sort of cutting edge technology, something I’m sure the kids who use it snicker about.

My question to CNN is: “Who cares what Frodo7235 has to say about the latest CNN electon poll?”

Will the pendulum ever swing back to where the news is information and not infotainment?  I don’t expect the news to be interactive.  I expect trained, educated, experienced journalists to gather the news and report within a standard of ethics and professionalism. 

CNN and others — leave the social networking on the Web.