Does CNN make sense to you?

[elfs]

Does this make sense to you at all? Just last week, CNN held a "Newspaper Summit" in which it pitched its internal newsgathering service as an alternative to the Associated Press and other Wire Services. AP is pricey, as AP well knows (and enforces so baldly and badly that there's a semi-popular boycott of AP articles in the blogosphere), and the other services aren't much better.

So, today CNN announced that it's shutting down it's Science, Space and Techonology desk. Although it's not clear from the article whether he quit or was pushed out, Miles O'Brien, one of the best journalists working the space geek beat, is leaving CNN as well. I liked Miles. He wasn't nearly as gung-ho for space geekery as the late John Holliman (who apparently was so popular at NASA they dedicated a building in his name), but he was great nonetheless.

The CNN Spokesdroid is just an idiot. "Since the bulk of our environmental coverage is through the Planet in Peril franchise, there is no need for a separate unit."

As if "the environment" and "science, space and techonolgy" were synonymous! I can't believe how infuriating that is to read.

Yo, CNN: Your audience is too ill-informed already about science-related issues, like vaccinations, overhead powerlines, food irradiation, genetically engineered crops, and the cost/benefit ratio of manufacturing (and recycling) an all-electric economy as opposed to a portable hydrocarbon economy. This is proof that neither you or they care enough to change that.

Gods, that pisses me off.

Comments

[tagryn]

Well that's a stupid decision. Miles was the only reason to watch Shuttle launches on CNN instead of NASATV or Fox. I suppose they're just going to try and replace him with a talking head whose knowledge of space is at the "Hee hee! Look, it go BOOM!" level. sigh.