Why I Can’t Watch MSNBC

I miss Bobbie Batista.

Remember her?

Bobbie Battista was one of the early 1990s CNN reporters who looked like a washed up (literally) model that I imagined Ted Turner had scoped out, shoved news releases into their hands, and barked, “Read”!  Saturday Night Live mercilessly parodied her deer-in-the-headlights trance, an easy task as she looked exactly like Victoria Jackson.

Fast forward years later, and I can’t bear to watch CNN:  self-aggrandizing, self-important, and unlike Bobbie and Co., who read the news, they decided to make the news:  now the once-proud news network is festering with doddering Lou “birther” Dobbs; insomnia-curing Wolf Blitzer (his name is the most enticing thing about him); smarmy Campbell Brown; and Rick Sanchez, who shares Arnold Schwarzenegger’s orange tan and Geraldo Rivera’s vapid reporting . . . which is a lethal mix, dare I say.

So last year, sick of CNN, I drifted to MSNBC.  Witty Rachel Maddow, pugnacious Keith Olbermann, and the sage Chris Matthews.  Was I saved?  Nope.

Here’s why.

It used to be that journalists—think Walter Cronkite—delivered the news.  Now our so-called journalists decide they want to make news, whether it’s David Shuster accusing Hillary of pimping out Chelsea, or . . .  David Shuster getting busted by Joe Scarborough for showing up late for work . . . sorry David, didn’t mean to pick on you.

So what does this have to do with energy efficiency, climate change, or clean technology in general?

A lot.

Whether you’re discussing Waxman-Markley or any other environmental legislation, the issues are complicated.  For the MSNBC crew, it’s not enough to trash the “oilmen,” “big corporations,” or “big polluters.”  It’s not hard for us to make that decision—and those opinions don’t really matter anyway.  I don’t want to know why someone or a decision is bad, I want to know the how and why I should decide on an issue.

What viewers need to know is WHY these bills are good or beneficial.  I’m not saying there should be unbiased reporting—a reality that does not exist.  If reporters can simplify why the other side is “bad bad bad” or “evil,” they surely can expound upon the reasons why any legislation needs to pass.

The next few months are critical if the “green” or “clean” revolution is going to pick up steam.  So much of these technologies require massive amounts of capital and a change in the regulatory environment . . . and huge risks, that our politicians don’t want to take since the 2010 elections are already around the corner.

So public support is necessary, but MSNBC’s approach to be the Left’s answer to Fox News just won’t cut it.  I’m so tired of the ranting and raving, and crave analysis and explanation . . . so like many other news hounds, I scope the Internet.  In fact, I don’t even leave the TV on MSNBC for the dog when I step out because he deserves some peace and quiet.

And by the way, Bobbie Batista now delivers news . . . for The Onion!