Just making democratic conversation...

Like everyone who has been following the election season, I wanted to know where in the world Obama and Clinton were.

So I was watching CNN, and Candy Crowley was parked in front of Clinton's Washington home, assuming it was the meeting place. Of course, we all know that lead was bunk.

But either way, there wasn't much of actual "reporting" going on. It was Candy, standing outside Clinton's home. And the conversation that occurred between her and Anderson Cooper really struck me. Cooper asked whether Candy got a sense of whether there will be some kind of announcement from either candidate.

Now, clearly neither candidate would say anything, even if they were there at the home. Instead, Candy chewed the cud on her own expectations, based on her experience and what she sees.

What I realized was that this would be a conversation my editor and I would be having in a similar situation. My editor would ask me a question like, "So Gene, how long do you think you'll be there? Do you think they'll say anything" if I were to stake out a private meeting between politicians or policymakers. And I'd simply respond, "Y'know what, I really don't think so. They might send out a paper release or something but that's about it."

And here was a version of that same conversation, repackaged and presented as news product on national television.

I mean, I can't imagine some of my darker conversations with my editors being broadcasted for national consumption. I might have Sen. Joe Lieberman trying to censor me at my paper. :-p

Call me cynical or old fashioned, but do we really want this to be part of new journalism? Between that exchange of Candy and Anderson, we learned absolutely nothing factual, except for the fact that nothing is happening. In an age of the 24/7 news cycle, I'm becoming increasingly wary of what is passing off as news these days, and the presidential election has only highlighted my concern.

My competitor here in Hawaii feels it worthy to update their online news segments with, "No traffic incidents as of 8 a.m." or something similar. Now I'm all for online integration, but at what point do we say when something is just too much useless information? Maybe this blog itself is too much useless information? I don't know. You tell me.