The opening of "Newsroom" on HBO is a scathing attack on the MSM. No wonder the same outlets were

[JackRiddler]

24. The problem is that it turns to shit two minutes later.

Last edited Mon Jul 9, 2012, 01:57 PM - Edit history (1)

The stirring speeches end and then you have to sit through an hour of soap opera about unbearable fast-talking yuppies and their supposed relationship problems. This show, the characters and the situations are unbelievably fake, slick and trite.

Like West Wing, it's a fantasy for the powerless. In recent decades US government has completed a descent into soft totalitarianism and pervasive, open corruption. The supposed democratic institutions have become mostly irrelevant and the politicians are not only whores but strive hard to be clowns. But there was West Wing, into the darkest of the Bush years, showing you thoughtful, smart people in the White House struggling with their consciences and the complexities, not to mention an intellectual Republican of integrity bridging the partisan divide, blah blah blah bullshit! This is to American liberals what Harlequin romances are to the loveless, or what Marvel Comics are to frustrated teenage nerds.

In the Newsroom the surface has a lot of verisimilitude but the content is unreal. The corporate media is long past its moral nadir and on the way to obsolescence. Here is the same concept as in West Wing, with a fantasy that a network TV show is full of good people who, despite their foibles and problems, work hard to bring you the truth and present the news with integrity.

Except, these characters! Unbearable.