The Stale Show

There was a time when The Today Show was required viewing for me. It was a news centered show providing a very good overview of all of the real news happening in the United States --- floods in Missouri, campaign coverage and in depth reporting about things that effect people's lives like medical care. Even though people hated him because of his arrogance, Bryant Gumble was the king of this show and was one of the best interviewers I'd ever seen. He would usually interview the leading newsmaker of the day which was always the highlight of the show. Then Gumble left in the early 90's and the show finally drifted until it caught on to something --- going a little lighter on the news and more on personality. Katie Couric and Matt Lauer became America's sweethearts. It seemed like the audience tuned in more to see them then to see what was happening in these United States. "Where in the World Is Matt Lauer" replaced real news, and Katie got to introduce Sting when he played on the plaza --- live for you, the Today Show viewer! I was out on this show long, long ago. It disgusted me because the Today Show became the standard bearer of all that is wrong with national news organizations these days --- turning a normal news story into a "celebrity news" story. What I mean by that is taking a sad murder case, deciding it needs daily coverage about every minor detail (seemingly for no other reason than the players in the story are physically attractive), and covering it for two years. The Peterson case is the worst example. A million people might die in an earthquake in India, but if a lawyer decided to leave Scott Peterson's defense team, that was the lead story on the Today Show. I've learned from a person who lives in my house and actually likes the Today Show that the show has a new producer. This producer apparently wants to use even more "celebrity" news including interviews with the hottest movie stars. I don't even have to explain why this is stupid. I submit to you, Mr. New Producer, that if you lose the one fan of this show who lives in my house, you're really doomed.