Just thought I'd point out this article about Morning Joe, which I blogged about a few weeks ago...
TV Host Is in His Prime With a Morning Audience
More important, perhaps, the three hours of hard-core political chat (often laced with humor) that Mr. Scarborough and his co-hosts, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist, put on each day is unlike anything else on morning television.
It took a while for NBC to completely drive me away from the Today Show. It was my morning staple for years (with a minor diversion to Good Day LA while living in Los Angeles), but Meredith Viera does nothing for me and they have solidified their lineup of really only devoting the first 20 minutes of the now 4-hour-long show to actual news. I love Matt Lauer, but even he can't keep me watching this stuff...
And, I have now fully committed to what I see as the only alternative...MSNBC's Morning Joe. I find myself being a Morning Joe evangelist. It's all politics and news, with a little silliness thrown in - and, most amazing to me, I love Joe Scarborough!
If you are searching for TV news in the morning (I admit NPR is also a good alternative), give it a shot!
This post was inspired by another post on Deus Ex Malcontent:
This morning, if you made it past the fact that one of the lead stories on the show was a hard-hitting, two-and-a-half minute investigation into whether Britney Spears was reforming her image, and then past Meredith Viera cooing about how she'd been granted extra special access to Dick Cheney's home -- while keeping a straight face, mind you -- you eventually wound up being treated to a report that may have represented the final staggering triumph of hype over substance. The heavily promoted piece, fronted by the spritely Natalie Morales -- who may herself be nothing more than a CGI creation, the Jar Jar Binks of television news -- concerned the potential danger lurking in your medicine cabinet, compliments of Crest Pro Health mouthwash.
Does this seem like an odd booking to anyone else?
The National Association of Broadcasters booked Tim Robbins for a keynote:
Speaking in the third person, he said "Mr. Robbins will speak about the challenges facing broadcasters and media delivery systems." Adding, "I'm not sure what that fucking means."
To news execs: "Show me Night Rider drunk on the floor and I won't care about a lack of health care for my kid."
