By Patrick Hauf
Sean Hannity versus Rachel Maddow. Mr. “I love President Trump forever” versus Ms. “Putin and Trump sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.” Fox News wants Hannity to match up against Maddow, who has given Fox a rare competition for ratings in the 9 p.m. slot.
Since last September, Fox has had five of their six evening slots change shows at least once. Fox has officially announced that starting on Oct. 30, Laura Ingraham will host a new show at 10 p.m., pushing Hannity to 9 p.m. and moving “The Five” back to 5 p.m.
Despite the constant changes, Fox has extended their most watched cable news channel streak to 62 straight quarters.
This just shows how single-minded our country has become. Hannity sucks up to Trump like a kid to his mom before asking if his friends can come over. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard Hannity say something negative about Trump.
Meanwhile, Maddow still hasn’t accepted the fact that Trump won the election. When I watch her show, I get the impression that she’s actually insane. Is she really that crazy, or is she playing a character? I can’t tell.
How about we get someone on TV who can think both critically and logically. For example, someone could say, “Last month, President Trump showed poor leadership in response to Charlottesville, but this week, he sounded like a strong leader in his UNGA speech.”
Trump is neither perfect (as Hannity sees him) nor malicious (as Maddow sees him). Trump does some good and does some bad. TV hosts should acknowledge when he does right and call him out when he does wrong. It’s that easy.
This leads us to the larger issue; cable news is absolute trash – garbage – a diaper filled with fresh diarrhea. Sure, there are a handful of good journalists and commentators, but overall, cable news is like Taylor Swift’s new single: disappointing.
America needs to realize that there are far better news outlets than those found on cable TV. We live in a new age of media. Just stick your hand in your pocket, and you have an unlimited news source. Open up the podcast app, go on Twitter or simply make a Google search.
There are poor media outlets online too, but how much worse can it get than cable news? I trust you to find reliable sources. What I don’t trust is my TV screen.
haufpj17@bonaventure.edu
