The title of this review is derived from a derisive nickname for Cable News Network. It used to be seen as what we Americans call a dog-and-pony show: run very cheaply indeed because advertisers didn’t have any faith in it as a valid source of viewers and information.
All that changed when we were involved in the Gulf War back in 1990. At that time, the benefits of an all-news-all-the-time network became evident. Reporters were there on the front lines of this conflict, bringing Americans news in real time about their relatives involved in the war. We also got to see what war was really like as it happened, something which did not even occur when America was in Vietnam - when in Vietnam, we had to make do with taped news reports presented once daily on network news, at 5:30 every day Central (Chicago) time.
This is, in fact, the reason why I watch it - CNN provides real-time coverage of breaking national news, and often breaking world news as well. If the story is important enough, ’’wall-to-wall’’ coverage of the event is provided.
The problem is that most stories do not warrant 24/7 ’’wall-to-wall’’ coverage. Therefore, much of what is presented on CNN is ’’filler, ’’ and often boring filler at that. This, however, does not detract from the quality of the reporting done on CNN, and the reporting is why I will recommend CNN to you.