CNN or Fox? The death of airport TV news

by Charlie Leocha on October 6, 2008

Politics has entered the world of airport waiting areas. A group of professors from Notre Dame has protested the airing of Fox News at the the South Bend, Ind., airport. They feel Fox offers news with a conservative slant. Some want to shift back to CNN. In our world of political correctness, get ready for the Weather Channel and a slew of lawsuits.

The professors indicated that they would favor “political neutral” content, such as CSPAN or the Weather Channel. If travelers are lucky, perhaps CNBC, the Fox Business Channel, the Cartoon Network, the Travel Channel and This Old House might have a chance. But, once lawsuits start flying — the next logical step — airports will shift away from news because no news channel is fully objective.

Make no mistake about this. The world of airport waiting areas and the television programs that will be broadcast there has changed forever. What began as a money-making foray designed by CNN with their Airport Network to beam TV commercials to a captive audience at airports, is now falling prey to “neutrality.”

I’m not certain about who owns the actual TVs that have been installed in airports across the country. Some, I believe, are actually owned and installed by the CNN Airport Network. The content beamed from those will probably remain CNN until the lawsuits begin and contracts expire. Others are controlled by the airports and will come under increasing pressure to become politically neutral.

The South Bend airport is conducting a survey to determine what shows should be shown on the airport’s public televisions, but voting seems to be fairly well split between the right and the left of the political spectrum. No solution, other than purely non-political programming, will solve this problem — that means no news since even the very choice of news stories can be deemed political.

The Pandora’s box of the appropriateness of public news broadcasting is now open. Under the guise of keeping Big Brother from controlling our thoughts, we are moving toward a world of no controversy in any public arena.

Heaven forbid the Weather Channel claim that global warming is man-made.

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Tagged as: airports, CNN, Fox News, politics

  • SirWired

    I, for one, would not regret for one second those stupid TV’s going completely silent. I recently flew through CDG, and it was almost spooky how quiet it was. It is very hard to concentrate or work with all the blaring TV’s and continuous announcements in the average US airport.

    SirWired

  • Wrona

    When the TVs first came out it was great because it gave you access to the outside world and some visual entertainment (other than people watching). Now with the spread of laptops and wifi hotspots at airports, there’s less of a need for TV news in airports to keep people up to date. And many people have iPods or portable DVD players to keep them entertained.

    And I know I hate being stuck somewhere where I am forced to listen to what someone else wants me to watch on the TV (whether it be FoxNews, CNN, ESPN, Cartoon Network, etc). I would be happy to have at least one place where I don’t have to worry about who is controlling the remote control.

  • Dave Sturtz

    The left has had a strong grip on the mass media for decades. It’s amusing to see how vigorously they protest when their grip is pried loose a little bit.

    How about having several choices (one might have to sit at a gate nearby the one he is departing from) and letting people decide what they want to watch. And yes, SirWired, I’d be in favor of having “none of the above” as a choice too – that’s what I’d choose.

  • http://leftcoastsportsbabe.com Janice Hough

    I haven’t been in an airport where you can’t find a seat away from the televisions, in fact, some times, like during big games, it’s hard to find a seat near them.

    I personally despise Fox News and don’t watch it at home, but have been in bars or restaurants where it is on, especially in the south or rural areas. I doubt a few watchings of Fox while waiting for the airplane is going to make that much difference to anyone’s mindset. Ditto CNN. Would love to see a choice, but even as a mostly liberal person I think, get over it. You don’t want to see Fox, or CNN sit somewhere else or read a newspaper. (Though considering that most papers have either a conservative or liberal slant, are they next?)

  • http://profburgos.blogspot.com Prof Burgos

    Enough noise in airports without the TV blaring, especially when — let’s face it — there’s not that much “news,” and many of us have longish waits. Once you’ve gone through the 22-minute cycle, you start hearing the same stuff over and over and over. The same clips, the same talking heads, the same “coming up” teasers. Why are we so afraid of silence in this country?

  • James Falsedo

    I don’t know why my comments don’t appear here. The main point I have is that the professor is asking for something that doesn’t offend them, while acknowledging it is a public space. You can’t have it both ways. People always have a preference. There are 15 TVs in the space. Pick one, put CNN on, and relax. Problem solved.

  • Bruce InCharlotte

    Can I put in a vote for the Spice Channel?

  • Alan

    Fox news makes the best effort of ANY network to provide both sides of an issue. The comentators are mostly conservative, yes, but rarely do yu see an interview without both conservative and liberal points being aired. (Try that on with CNN–they are so liberal that they should change their name to the Socialist network!)

  • Tahoe Joe

    How hypocritical is it that these liberal bastions who scream for protection of freedom of speech only when it protects the speech they want to hear. Maybe the conservatives need equal time in the classrooms to offset the liberal bias of these “professors”

  • Mitch Kaplan

    I can’t figure out why TV must be forced upon us in every public or quasi-public space. Been to the doctor’s office lately? A hospital waiting room? Your local car dealership’s service area waiting room? My damned dentist even has mini TVs next to his dental chairs – so you can watch inanity to dull the pain, I guess. I say turn off all the TVs and go buy a book.

  • Carrie Charney

    There was a TV sci-fi series call Amazing Stories, in the 80′s, I think. One story told of a man who refused to be connected, literally, to a communication device, something like a cell phone. All around him, others walked around constantly talking. TVs and sound machines blared all over the place and there was no sanctuary from the noise. In the end, his grown children threw up their hands and had him committed to an asylum for refusing to be in the loop. He was put in a quiet padded cell as punishment, but he had really, finally found peace. I think that will be me soon…

  • Joe S

    Alan makes it clear he drinks the Kool Aid. Fox News has turned “fair and balanced” into a slogan that means the complete opposite. They are so far to the right, they are known (to me) as the Bush Administration Mouthpiece Network. None of these “news” networks provide news. The closest to providing actual news is CNN Headline News during the day. There doesn’t seem to be the talking head syndrome the other channels face. My vote is either the Weather Channel, CNN Headline News (during the day) or ESPN, or whatever live sporting event is going on, or even silence. While traveling during the Super Bowl, it was nice to see Intercontinental Airport in Houston air the Super Bowl on its TVs throughout the airport.

  • Stephen M. Collins

    I realize that many university professors have become increasingly liberal over the years, but I thought that Notre Dame transcended a political agenda. It’s sad to see that a university, which is supposed to be place for discussion, exchange of ideas and learning, cannot tolerate a “conservative slant”, and makes me embarrassed to admit I’m a Notre Dame Alum.

  • Liz

    I’m with the folks who wouldn’t miss tv’s if they just completely disappeared from airports. Especially when you are stuck in a waiting area with an unspecified delay, you hear the same nonsense over and over and over and over. and over. There is enough noise pollution. Pull the plug.

  • HomeSick

    Anyone under the delusion that Faux News is truly “fair and balanced” is obviously so biased their opinion is worthless.

  • Carrie Charney

    We call the news “happy hour” because the news readers always smile and make mindless comments after recounting the lurid details of the day’s accidents and shootings. And we call FOX the BCN – Bush Cheney Network.

  • http://www.itravelnet.com/blog/notes.html James Clark

    I prefer airports that show BBC World. It has more international news, plus you are more likely to get cricket scores.

  • Jim

    FOX is obviously politically biased. I wouldn’t mind something other than news on those televisions once in awhile.

  • James Falsedo

    @The FOX bashers (read: Unapologetic liberals):

    It is a known and well documented fact, bolstered by recent studies, that most news broadcasts are presented from a left-leaning point of view. In cases where this is not readily apparent from the broadcast presented, the vast majority of correspondents, and journalists belonging these news organizations, hold these views.Your political views are not supior to other Americans. The right to think, and or believe, as one chooses, is one shared by ALL Americans. As the airport is a public place, all views have a right to be presented, like it or not. Alleged right-wing “bias” or not, in their political reporting, not all news on FOX is political in nature. In fact, the most likely broadcast you would see on FOX (simply due to statistics) in an airport, or CNN for that matter, is a regular news report, headlined stories updates. Little besides style seperates FOX, from CNN, or ABC, or NBC, for that matter, in this reporting. The substance is essentially the same. This of course, requires actual thought and analysis, perhaps asking too much from the “intelligent” liberal views presented above. Get a grip. It’s a public space, that means you don’t get to pick and choose. It seems many would like it both ways. Present the view, just only my view. That is by no stretch, as UN-American as it gets.

  • Mark Paone

    So now the politically correct professors are whining about Fox News. Boo hoo to them. For years I’ve had the 3 major networks, 2 cable stations, most newspapers and magazines and finally it seams our education system that all lean left telling me how to think, act and live. Frankly I’m tired of these whining lefties. Now I a busines person who travels and works for a tax paying company has to give in to these “educators”.
    Wow, I thought they were on the side of “all views”.

  • http://www.tripso.com/author/leffel Tim Leffel

    After last night’s debate, Fox News ran a viewer survey where 88 percent said McCain won the debate. In the general population polls, it was around 30 percent. They are playing to a defined audience and say “fair and balanced” with a wink. (You betcha!)

    But it’s not going to kill me or anyone else to watch it for a half hour. It’s mostly harmless posturing. I’d vote to turn the TVs off though except the bars that are showing sports, where people have chosen to be there. At a gate you have no choice. Thankfully, most everyone carries their own entertainment now anyway, and earplugs to block out the mostly useless news broadcasts.

    I like another poster’s idea that if we are stuck with the TVs, show the BBC instead. Then at least we’d know what’s going on beyond our borders.

  • Hemlock for Gadflies

    Mr. Paone writes:

    “I a business person who travels and works for a tax paying company” who is concerned that it “seams” that the media are telling him what to do. He is tired of the whining lefties (but clearly not tired of the whining righties).

    If your facility with the English language is indicative of your business acumen, please let us know which tax-paying company that is, Mr. Paone, so that we can be certain not to do business with it.

  • Pingback: Fox News vs. CNN: What Channel Should Air at the Airport? | Trip Delivery

  • Plain English Lover

    You’ve picked an interesting and topical subject. But your points would be stronger without some of the fluff words–”actual tv”? As opposed to virtual? The adverb form, “actually”, also says nothing, and wastes one more syllable doing it. In this respect, CNN and FOX are not so different–they both inculcate us with a Newspeak full of such empty intensifiers. They are the McDonalds of language, and they are supersizing it without mercy.

  • Teddylove1962

    Take a vote at each Airport & let the vote win….either CNN for the Bleeding heart Liberals & think tank Utopians, like those who constantly protest any ideas but their own. It will be interesting to see how many business travelers vote for CNN.
    Love

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