Cable news in its current format — the breathless pace, the reliance upon what seems to be one rather oddindividual’s worn out, twenty year old Rolodex for “expert” guests (Dick Morris!?) — has been with us since CNN launched in 1980.
Despite all the criticism and parody, that format is so entrenched I doubt it can be dramatically altered.
However, if you’ll forgive a foreigner for boasting, we Canadians might be able to offer a few tips.
The Sun News Network debuted up here a few years ago. Dubbed “FOX News North” by liberal detractors even before it aired, Sun, being new, had no “bad habits” to unlearn, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to start from scratch and thus avoid some of its predecessors’ mistakes.
They operate on a budget that probably wouldn’t keep CNN running for a day.
Yet Americans who’ve watched Sun segments via YouTube, my blog and elsewhere typically exclaim, “Wow! FOX News wouldn’t even do that! Not even John Stossel is THAT cool!”
Here’s what they’re talking about…
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