Viewpoint by Aaron Turner/reporter
In the age of never-ceasing debate, social commentators and the 24-hour news cycle, often the last priority stressed is integrity. Yet with the recent firing of former CNN anchor and commentator Rick Sanchez, I can’t help but laugh at the newfound principles CNN is attempting to stress.
Sanchez, who called comedian and political commentator Jon Stewart an out-of-touch bigot and suggested that news networks like CNN are run exclusively by Jews, was clearly way out of bounds. But if making outlandish, divisive or racist statements were grounds for an immediate firing, a number of people should not currently be employed.
It goes without saying that a rambling, anti-Semitic rant can easily be grounds for getting the boot, especially in the cut-throat, ultra-competitive industry of broadcasting. However, a blowhard yelling about supposed prejudice nowadays is kid’s stuff compared to what is often said by the most well-known commentators.
Right-wing and left-wing broadcasters like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Keith Olbermann and Ed Schultz have long made a living out of vilifying and condemning those on the other side of any issue they feel is important.
Their opponents are Nazis, fascists and communists, and those are the more polite terms used. Most commentators have free rein to push whatever political agenda their network feels will appeal to its audience. Journalistic morals and principles take a backseat to personal views.
Truth be told, news networks will go to any means necessary to bring in viewers. Gone are the days of Cronkite, Rather and Murrow, where reporting the facts was the primary objective. 2010 is all about the mass consumption of “the issues” that we are told most concern us. And, of course, it’s all about the ratings.
My sympathy for a whiny, insecure news anchor, upset about his being replaced, is tiny. Sanchez will no doubt be hired somewhere, only to resume his faux objective schtick.
What’s most annoying are the hypocritical morals that conveniently seem to come and go when, in reality, news networks worry about one thing: being the loudest voice in a sea of talking heads.
