Question of the Weekend…
I’m going to try something new on weekends to help fill the news void that typically takes place on the blog on Saturdays and Sundays when there’s not as much to write about. I’m going to toss out a question and let you the reader answer it.
The first question will be: What do you think of talking head debate shows?
Frankly, there are too many of them.
Comment by Bob — June 4, 2006 @ 9:07 am
Inform me not entertain me. There are too many.
Comment by Fred — June 4, 2006 @ 10:10 am
When they start talking over each other…..I change the channel or turn it off!
Comment by jan — June 4, 2006 @ 11:39 am
Useless. Worse than useless. Nothing but two people yelling at each other trying to drown each other out and a host trying to interrupt them long enough to either ask questions, show clear bias for the position of one of them, or break for the commercial/end of show.
Nothing is accomplished with this type of programming. It’s “sound and fury signifying nothing.” And it reinforces the idea that there are only two possible sides to any story. Which is just not true.
Comment by tanne — June 4, 2006 @ 11:55 am
Most of the time the person on one “side” or the other is inferior. So, it doesn’t matter if their correct or not because they can’t convey or over talk the other person. And then on the rare occasion when both people are equally matched, there isn’t much debate about the matter at hand. Mostly just “spinning” on unrelated or off topic things in order to avoid making their “party” look bad.
Comment by Terance — June 4, 2006 @ 12:26 pm
I like the idea of presenting differing viewpoints about an issue, but I don’t like shoutfests. I don’t like single-viewpoint idealogue-fests, either.
Comment by Goldfish — June 4, 2006 @ 12:27 pm
I am a political junkie, so current events discussions, even in a combative style, that are instructive and reflect philosophical differences work for me.
But when misguided lip-glossed lawyers scream about the current missing blond of the week I am gone.
Comment by cella — June 4, 2006 @ 1:33 pm
Except for Hannity and Colmes on Fox, I don’t think these kinds of shows are as popular as they used to be. Personally, I like Brit Hume’s panel in the afternoons (although Fred Barnes is bad about interrupting sometimes)as well as “Fox Newswatch” on Saturdays and enjoyed CNN’s old “Capital Gang” show on the weekends also. Usually, these shows have people that are passionate about their views but also respectful and everyone gets heard. I’ve pretty much quit watching “Hannity and Colmes” because of the constant interruptions and talking over each other.
Comment by Scott — June 4, 2006 @ 1:45 pm
Any debate show where the guests wind up saying ‘let me finish, let me finish’ isn’t worth watching. Both sides are simply there to get their talking points out, and neither responds to the questions/arguments of the other.
A good host can actually turn a debate into a conversation, by keeping guests from talking over one another and insisting that they reply to one another’s points. It’s rarely done.
Comment by Arthur — June 4, 2006 @ 1:58 pm
On FNC, on too many occassions, on “Fox News Live,” you have to have one or two debates each hour, and that wears me out.
Comment by Bob — June 4, 2006 @ 3:14 pm
It’s also happened far too many times on “Fox & Friends,” also.
Comment by Bob — June 4, 2006 @ 3:15 pm
All I see here is the negative. If people really hate these shows so much, why do they watch? I just watched George Stephanopoulos; he’s great. Tim Russert: great too. Chris Wallace: the best! The reason these three are on Sunday mornings is that they do it best. They can control their guests; that’s important. Hannity and Colmes oftentimes turns into a screaming match, so I turn the channel. Larry King can’t control two or three opposing views, so he usually has just one guest or only guests that agree with each other for the most part. But that also gives him the reputation of being the soft interview. People like Chris Matthews and Lou Dobbs wear their hearts on their sleeves, so it’s always two against one when they have two or more opposing views on. That’s my take.
Comment by erljr — June 4, 2006 @ 9:39 pm
I rarely watch any cable news debate shows anymore. The only ones I like are the panels on Brit Hume’s Special Report and on Fox News Sunday. Fox News Sunday is especially good when Brit Hume and Juan Williams get wound up.
Comment by Philip A. Spicer — June 5, 2006 @ 12:16 am
These shows work best during elections, and with the mid-terms coming up, I can’t wait to watch them all!
Comment by Craig — June 5, 2006 @ 2:48 pm
Fox News Sunday is especially good when Brit Hume and Juan Williams get wound up.
But that’s not a fair fight. Brit routinely demolishes Juan. It’s embarrassing…
Comment by Spud — June 6, 2006 @ 12:48 am
A lot of people have made a lot of good points here. Many times, the pairing isn’t equal and the viewpoint that is supposed to reign supreme just happens to be represented by someone who’s better at bloviating and getting talking points out than the other person. The host can also ruin the proceedings by not trying to control the dogfight or by supporting only the “dog” whose opinion matches his agenda. That’s why I see no point to these things. They just attract people who enjoy fights and who like to then come away being able to feel “informed” because “I heard both sides.” Yeah, sure you did!
Comment by tanne — June 6, 2006 @ 6:45 am