AC360 Review Hits the One-Year Mark
Hi everyone. Today is my blogiversary! Exactly one year ago today, I made my first post, thus becoming an official member of the blogosphere. Oh, and what a year it has been! One of the reasons I started this little undertaking was due to the realization that if you watch the news and yell at your television set, well, you're crazy. But, if you watch the news and then take to the interwebs to put your yelling and quirky observations in post form for the whole world to mock/judge/appreciate, well, you're a blogger! See how that works, kids? To this day, I'm still a bit surprised anyone reads me regularly at all. After all, I pretty much cater to a very niche market. AC360 Review is not your average fan, media criticism, or satire blog, but rather a combination of all three. But read me you do, and a big thank you for that. This past year has been quite a trip, filled with many interesting emails, comments, and hits (I especially like the little irrational flip flop my heart does when the good folks of the Department of Homeland Security happen to stop by--Eeek!). Even CNNers have stopped in.
I'm not going to go much into the content of the show in this post, but over this past year, I've seen them run the gamut: from the exceptional to the unbelievably pathetic. It's been quite an education on how cable news works, and at this point I consider myself somewhat of a 360 expert in terms of what they've covered and how they've covered it. This can make reading criticism of the show pretty interesting because, shockingly, it turns out most of the critics have no idea what they're talking about. I suspect that this is true for a lot of news criticism, and not too surprising when the critic is doing what amounts to a news drive-by. Now, that's not to say news shouldn't be criticized, because Oh My God do they deserve to be criticized, but when it's clear that the critic hasn't even watched the whole show, it gets a little comical.
Two years ago today, I fell for a fed up anchor who saw that reality on the ground and the "official line" did not mesh, and decided to say so. But one person does not a show make, and over the past year I've grown quite attached to these mostly faceless and nameless (to me) people that bring us 360 every night (though regular readers know I won't hesitate to rip them a new one when warranted--heh). I've never been one of those I-watch such-and-such-so-you-don't-have-to people. I watch 360 because it's one of the few shows on cable news (that I'm available to watch) that isn't total crap. The show continuously frustrates me, and yeah, a couple of times I've come close to dramatic I'm-never-watching-this-show-again moments, but in the end, I think 360 is still worth it. What gives me, the lowly viewer sitting out here in St. Louis, the right to critique this show on a daily basis? Nothing. But that's the beauty of the Internets. People can chose to read me or not, and for those that have chosen to read me, again I thank you.
A little housekeeping: recently, I realized that I never told you guys why I stopped posting screencaps of the show. The short answer is that I got lazy. Over the past year, the blog has kind of evolved to where I'm adding more content, and posting screencaps is just another thing that takes up time. Also, really, once you've seen Anderson (or anyone) in a suit in the studio once, it starts to get redundant. Now, I'm sure some of you would like to hire a ninja to fight me on this (BTW, I can totally take a ninja), but for now, I'm only going to post screencaps in special circumstances. (There's actually a lot of things I'd like to do with the blog, but can't because of time. You know what the culprit is? That job thing. Damn my need for food and shelter!) Oh, also, some of you might be wondering "Why 'The Gerg'?" Well, my question to you is why not The Gerg? I mean, c'mon. Oh, CNNers, I kid because I love.
Anyway, Inside Cable News has reported that 360 will be back to two hours after Labor Day. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, I'll be playing it by ear as to whether I resume two hours as well. We'll see. Thanks again everybody for getting AC360 Review this far.
I'm not going to go much into the content of the show in this post, but over this past year, I've seen them run the gamut: from the exceptional to the unbelievably pathetic. It's been quite an education on how cable news works, and at this point I consider myself somewhat of a 360 expert in terms of what they've covered and how they've covered it. This can make reading criticism of the show pretty interesting because, shockingly, it turns out most of the critics have no idea what they're talking about. I suspect that this is true for a lot of news criticism, and not too surprising when the critic is doing what amounts to a news drive-by. Now, that's not to say news shouldn't be criticized, because Oh My God do they deserve to be criticized, but when it's clear that the critic hasn't even watched the whole show, it gets a little comical.
Two years ago today, I fell for a fed up anchor who saw that reality on the ground and the "official line" did not mesh, and decided to say so. But one person does not a show make, and over the past year I've grown quite attached to these mostly faceless and nameless (to me) people that bring us 360 every night (though regular readers know I won't hesitate to rip them a new one when warranted--heh). I've never been one of those I-watch such-and-such-so-you-don't-have-to people. I watch 360 because it's one of the few shows on cable news (that I'm available to watch) that isn't total crap. The show continuously frustrates me, and yeah, a couple of times I've come close to dramatic I'm-never-watching-this-show-again moments, but in the end, I think 360 is still worth it. What gives me, the lowly viewer sitting out here in St. Louis, the right to critique this show on a daily basis? Nothing. But that's the beauty of the Internets. People can chose to read me or not, and for those that have chosen to read me, again I thank you.
A little housekeeping: recently, I realized that I never told you guys why I stopped posting screencaps of the show. The short answer is that I got lazy. Over the past year, the blog has kind of evolved to where I'm adding more content, and posting screencaps is just another thing that takes up time. Also, really, once you've seen Anderson (or anyone) in a suit in the studio once, it starts to get redundant. Now, I'm sure some of you would like to hire a ninja to fight me on this (BTW, I can totally take a ninja), but for now, I'm only going to post screencaps in special circumstances. (There's actually a lot of things I'd like to do with the blog, but can't because of time. You know what the culprit is? That job thing. Damn my need for food and shelter!) Oh, also, some of you might be wondering "Why 'The Gerg'?" Well, my question to you is why not The Gerg? I mean, c'mon. Oh, CNNers, I kid because I love.
Anyway, Inside Cable News has reported that 360 will be back to two hours after Labor Day. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, I'll be playing it by ear as to whether I resume two hours as well. We'll see. Thanks again everybody for getting AC360 Review this far.
posted by eliza at 6:55 PM
5 Comments:
*Raises a glass of champaign*
Congrats to a great, informative, and entertaining year! I come here to catch up when I've missed the show, and to laugh at the skewering of the terrible when they deserve it. Keep it up!
Happy blogiversary! You made it through a challenging year of 360 and I think you've got the fortitude to handle another one; let's just hope the show can improve over time and be worthy of your praise - although reading one of your periodic 360 smackdowns is entertaining as well. Keep on keepin' 360 honest.
Congratulations Eliza on your 1st year anniversary of blogging.
You do a great job of keeping Anderson and 360 honest. It is a great place to catch the facts when I don't have time to watch or want to read the transcripts.
Keep up the great work.
Woot! Way to go, Eliza! Hope we see great things next year, for both you and AC360.
~~ Teri ~~
@duffy-*clinks glass*
Thanks!
@dc-Thanks! I always hope for them to put on a good show, but I have to admit the smackdowns can sometimes be a teensy bit fun to write.
@anonymous-Thanks!
@Teri-Thanks!
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