Cable News
By It’s rare that I would look to the New York Times for a decent critique of American news reporting, but this is pretty good:
When 24-hour news channels debuted, we wondered how they’d fill up the time. Now we have an answer. Just consider the life-changing stories that appeared during the last week:
Boost Your Odds of Winning the Lottery (CNNMoney, which has now taken down the video because it didn’t meet the network’s “consistently high standards.” Or might it have been because of Felix Salmon’s withering commentary?)
Keeping Wine in the Family (Fox Business)
Buy Foreclosures with Your I.R.A. (CNBC)Clearly I’ve been doing it wrong for years. Instead of focusing on boring things like saving enough, being broadly diversified and keeping fees low, I should have been touting the virtues of buying foreclosures with the money in my I.R.A., or even better, buying lottery tickets, right?
It is difficult to imagine a more responsible piece of journalism than featuring a story on how to increase your chances to win the lottery….