Week Six Of Live Coverage From The Gulf Of The BP Oil Disaster
Hi everyone. I'm not feeling very bloggy right now, so unfortunately the bullet points will be few. Tonight the 360 kids kicked off their sixth week in the Gulf. Pretty amazing, and dedication that is truly to be admired. However (yeah you knew it was coming at some point), I think it's time for me to throw some criticism their way regarding the overall coverage. Don't get me wrong, it's still good. But I'm starting to see the same signs that we saw at the beginning of their financial coverage. And we all know how that turned out.
Look, as I've noted previously, the public's interest in the Gulf disaster was going to start to wane at some point. That seems to be happening now. The show no longer has the ratings bump that's been giving them the solid second place demo. Decreasing interest in the story is not 360's fault. But man, they are not doing themselves any favors!
Like with the financial crisis, once again, the show seems to have fallen into a rut. There's no denying that 360 is doing a pretty excellent job of living up to their motto of "keeping 'em honest," and the majority of the packages have been very good. The rest? Why are they talking to the same people over and over again? Just because Carville and Nungesser don't have their heads in boxes doesn't mean they're not a type of panel.
Why is Anderson Cooper not talking to more of the everyday locals? I don't get this. If I had to pick one thing to list as his strength, that would be it. Instead we get to see him interviewing celebs. I don't expect much of him on Mondays since he might have just returned, but this is ongoing. If I'm remembering his Katrina reporting correctly, it was much more varied. Even I'm beginning to lose interest, and I'm a huge supporter of their presence in the Gulf. This is not a blog post telling them to stop their coverage; it's a post urging them to shake it up. Will they do so? Yeah, probably not. But buck up kids, we still have the bullet points:
Look, as I've noted previously, the public's interest in the Gulf disaster was going to start to wane at some point. That seems to be happening now. The show no longer has the ratings bump that's been giving them the solid second place demo. Decreasing interest in the story is not 360's fault. But man, they are not doing themselves any favors!
Like with the financial crisis, once again, the show seems to have fallen into a rut. There's no denying that 360 is doing a pretty excellent job of living up to their motto of "keeping 'em honest," and the majority of the packages have been very good. The rest? Why are they talking to the same people over and over again? Just because Carville and Nungesser don't have their heads in boxes doesn't mean they're not a type of panel.
Why is Anderson Cooper not talking to more of the everyday locals? I don't get this. If I had to pick one thing to list as his strength, that would be it. Instead we get to see him interviewing celebs. I don't expect much of him on Mondays since he might have just returned, but this is ongoing. If I'm remembering his Katrina reporting correctly, it was much more varied. Even I'm beginning to lose interest, and I'm a huge supporter of their presence in the Gulf. This is not a blog post telling them to stop their coverage; it's a post urging them to shake it up. Will they do so? Yeah, probably not. But buck up kids, we still have the bullet points:
- Below is Randi Kaye's piece about the developing mental health crisis in the Gulf and the money the state of Louisiana has requested from BP.
- The piece is followed by discussion with James Carville and Billy Nungesser. The subject is extremely serious and heart-breaking, but...WTF is Carville wearing? Has he been umping little league games or what? Not to be mean, but if there's anyone who doesn't need to add ridiculousness to his look...
- I haven't pimped out the Make BP Appear on AC360 Facebook group in a while, so...join! Because BP shunning Anderson makes our anchor sad. Don't let him be sad, people!
- Below is Chris Lawrence's piece about people (specifically Anthony Thibodeaux) who are affected by the oil drilling moratorium:
- That's going to do it for me tonight. This bullet point contains a new shirt for Carville. Because seriously.
Labels: BP, hilarious shirts, mental health, Oil Spill, the 360 rut, tropical storm
posted by eliza at 11:59 PM
2 Comments:
Hi Eliza,
I agree with you that the show isn't doing themselves any favors. Enough of Carville and Billy. The coverage needs to expand. PBS News talks with the local people affected, AC needs to do more of that. Unfortunately, Billy and Carville make me turn the channel or turn the sound down. What Carville doesn't need is anything distracting/colorful to wear. I am on the Gulf side of Florida, so far people here are hopeful that it doesn't start looking like Pensacola Beach.
I think it's okay to have Billy and Carville on sometimes, but they're relying on them too much. Even when I like the guest I don't really want to only hear from them. It's like when they had David Gergen on every night. I hope your beaches stay oil free.
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