What holds back the value of news programming is how too often they make their reason for being about keeping the public coming back every day rather than providing a consistent viewpoint.

News should focus on maintaining a consistent filtering bias rather than pretend that there isn’t one. How could anyone possibly tell the whole story in 30 minutes or an hour? Even a 24 hour channel has to leave stories and flavors of life out or somehow imbalanced with actuality. Besides, what's wrong with admitting what you're up to? It makes it easier for others not to copy you.

I like surrounding myself with people who enjoy the process of creating something original and complementary. They do not need to be something to everyone, and, coupled with healthy respect, they are comfortable being different things to different people.

If you want to convey something, make sure you have a receivable message. Ratings are one data point in the full equation. In the case of news however, I believe that if each program picked a flavor that consistently represents a combination of Critic, Dreamer and Realist (interactivebodywork.com/disney.html), we'd be better able to receive what's going on in the world by switching between flavors to serve our needs for stimulation and rejuvenation. Sometimes we need flavors our friends have trouble providing. Sometimes it's too expensive in time or money to get them met circumstantially. Sometimes I tire of being patient, and use television with the understanding that it is a less dimensional experience than in-the-moment living... it is however, sometimes a godsend to those who have lived by principle, diligence or conviction. I just want to feel, and know I'm not inflicting myself on anyone while I'm doing it, or experience art that's halfway between frivolous and high-minded. In my experience, that's where most of the interesting real life goes on anyway... it's also a bandwidth where competency often breeds healthy resilience. I'm rambling...