WGN America this week launched a national 3-hour straight newscast, pitched as “fact-based, unbiased news.” Americans have said they’re sick of the partisan spin on cable and network news, but do you really want no-opinion reporting, or do you merely want the other guys to stop injecting their opinion in everything?
Right Angle with Scott Ott, Stephen Green, and Bill Whittle, comes to you free 20 times each month thanks to the Members who fund it. They also produce their own content. Join the team today and find your people.
Listen to the Audio Version
Bill Whittle Network · Do You Really Want No-Opinion News? NewsNation Launches 3-Hour Straight Newscast
14 replies on “Do You Really Want No-Opinion News? NewsNation Launches 3-Hour Straight Newscast”
I really liked Bill’s point that if they just told the truth all of America would vote like Kansas. But that is , of course, why they lie. About everything.
I really like print news and I choose The EPOCH TIMES which is very balanced and great range of articles from the week.
If the anchors look like regular people it will start off with good chances. If they are Barbie and Ken dolls then the cult of celebrity will kick in. That is only the 1st problem they are facing. The other problems are well covered by the guys.
How about if the anchors are cgi rendered robots with no inflection in their voices? Nope. Not entertaining enough. See the problem here?
We as people WANT to be entertained when we sit our butts down for EVERYTHING we view. If we are not. our attention wanes. We change the channel/web page/You Tube video. In order to keep our attention this news show will HAVE to give us something MORE than news. We have come to expect it. No, Require it. So an entertainment value has to be injected. So what will they try. Hmm….how about a spinning disco ball? Nope, that shows bias. Might piss off the country music or rock and roll fans. Bias see?
They just can’t win. But whos fault is it?
Ours.
I’m very skeptical. “Academic experts” on rhetoric will critique them. “Academic.” “Experts.” You think that the critique will be unbiased? And then there’s the bias inherent in selecting which news to cover.
If, 20 years ago, Fox News had made a push to broadcast the first half hour of Brett Baier’s news show on their affiliate network local TV stations (many of which had and have local news affiliates already competing with the then-Big-3 networks’s local news), this would be a very different country today. (Presumably some law or regulation prevented them doing that.)
But I suspect that Bill is right. Network TV is done, whether it’s basic cable or over-the-air local broadcasting. I “cut the cable” a decade(?) ago and only ever felt a tiny pang wishing for Fox News for election coverage, but I got over it. I remember how I used to sit and watch all of their prime-time lineup, starting with Glenn Beck, and sometimes even watch the repeats waiting for Red Eye to come on. What a time-waster. I do much better now with my time and energy.
When Scott said he hopes this new project gets wings, I thought “We need them to sign Red Bull as a sponsor!”
One way I’d like to see it done, could be to have a news site/channel that strictly abides by a 48-hour rule for commentary. When an event breaks, you get nothing but a headline, a dry list of bullet-pointed facts, and a countdown timer. After 48 hours pass, open the topic for discussion.
But you have to wonder if it would be able to make a profit.
The Dan Bongino – and others, I’m sure – rule. I like it!
My attention span has been drastically reduced by my internet surfing. An essay longer than 3 to 5 screens and I am asking for them to get to the point. Even the video segments here lasting longer than about 15 minutes sometimes trigger me into skipping ahead a few seconds at a time.
But, yes NBC crams the “real news” into the 1st 12 to 15 minutes, followed by commercials and fluff and flash. That is too little to get the real story. I also don’t want to spend 3 hours (!!?) on a single topic, but might suggest a good 10 minutes as a summary, with a promise of greater depth to follow for another 20 to 30 minutes (interviews with experts or other witnesses, etc.?), if that is what it really takes to sort out the plus/ minus nature of most news issues. Like a good essay: say what you are going to say, say it, say what you said.
As Scott said, even an honestly biased presentation is acceptable if the other side is still provided a respectful portrayal. After all, it seems the Dems and many never Trumpers forget that 63 MILLION people voted for Trump; a number larger than any of the intersectionality minority groupings usually identified as worthy of attention and “respect”.
What about One America News (OAN)? It’s cable (I think), it leans right (I believe), it apparently doesn’t have any (currently) celebrity anchors (although they are at least good looking).
My husband has been looking for a news program that actually reports the news. After listening to this episode of Right Angle, and reading your comment, I was able to alert him to both WGN and OAN. Right now he’s trying them out, but it’s looking like OAN so far is a good fit. Thanks for the heads up.
Re: The Daily Show with Craig Kilborn
Hey, Steve, do you remember the “moment of zen” that showed Bill Clinton’s face when first asked about the cigar?
For those who didn’t see it, some interviewer, I think when Clinton was giving testimony during the impeachment, asked him about the infamous cigar that was allegedly placed in Monica Lewinsky’s … er … um … special lady tunnel. For a split second Clinton reacted before he could control himself. He showed a look of shock and horror like I’ve never seen before or since. It screamed, “OH SHIT!!! THEY KNOW ABOUT THAT‽‽‽”
The Daily Show with Craig Kilborn – “When News Breaks, We Fix It”
I hope this works out for them. As FG says below, taking some real time to factually discuss a single issue, from all sides, has me interested. It will be very interesting what they cover.
However, like Bill, I wonder why this is on broadcast tv. Many radio types are now streaming live on YT / twitch or other platforms. Why do this on TV? Will they keep all content on their site for people to tune in?
I watch a lot of long form documentaries. I usually go w/ ancient history cause there’s the least amount of bias there. So if a news org could spend 30-45 min going in depth on a story w/ lots of background… I’d be interested.
I, for one, am so ready for this and want to give it every chance to succeed.