Eugene David<br>...The One-Minute Pundit

Posted 9:40 AM by Gene

Now, given all of that, it's easy to come back and say that cable channels over-hype and sensationalize everything about the tragedy, that the coverage is excessive and unfiltered and shoddy. The answer to that is simple: Well of course. That's the nature of this particular beast. Always has been. And if you look at it from strictly a business perspective, what would you change? Flooding the zone, as they say, is what everybody does. If you're not in that game, then your ratings are down. And if your ratings are down, you're out of a job. So there's little incentive for news directors at these cable channels to reinvent the wheel.

WHEW! WE DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE A THING!

Most important is the notion that all the reporters and anchors on camera should be better schooled in crises reporting. Don't sensationalize or speculate. Don't talk about things you don't know because then you're just talking in circles on air. And even though channels employ the "news wheel" philosophy of constant updates, use discretion. Walking us through the story from the start every 10 minutes doesn't help anything. In short, don't waste airtime talking about nothing if you know nothing. Get someone on the street or in the studio. And if the story stalls -- as they all do, even temporarily -- then don't resist the urge to cut away to something different (even though that goes against your gut, history and self-preservation instincts). You can always come back.

Having just had a hack tell them their MO is perfect, we can be sure the cable news jerks will take this very seriously -- and then do things THE EXACT OPPOSITE WAY AS ALWAYS.