The Shop Talk panelists discuss CNN’s decision to provide non-stop coverage of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
USA Today’s Rem Rieder raised some issues about the decision during a recent column, though he also pointed out the network’s ratings rose when it chose to broadcast wall-to-wall coverage.
Shop Talk Panelist Jasmine Crighton said she watches quite a bit of CNN and she feels some of the network’s coverage is “ridiculous.” Crighton said CNN is drawing out the story and keeps talking about it even when there is nothing new.
She also said CNN is missing out on plenty of other newsworthy stories that are unfolding in the U.S. and around the globe.
Panelist Lisa Kernek said television often gets criticized more than newspapers for focusing on single story. Kernek said a newspaper she worked for in Jacksonville spent months reporting on nothing but the flooding in 1993.
Panelist Rich Egger said the newspaper’s coverage served a purpose by focusing resources on a significant local story, though he wondered if the newspaper missed significant stories in communities not affected by flooding.
He also said he has avoided tuning in to CNN because of its non-stop coverage of the missing airliner.
