WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In 2003, I wrote about what it was like to be forced to go without TV for five-and-a-half days when hurricane winds left our house without power. This time, I write about what it's like to depend on TV. I've done so out of necessity for a month, and I'm not done yet. A broken and dislocated ankle will do that. The surgeon recommended I stay on just one floor of the house to protect the ankle from further injury, so I chose the upstairs where I have … [Read more...]
Public broadcasting cuts in House could ruin station budgets
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- You may have read that the House of Representatives passed a bill that cut $61 billion in spending for the current federal fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Among the cuts: eliminating the federal subsidy for public broadcasting. House Republicans argue that with mounting budget deficits, cuts have to be made somewhere. But it's safe to say that if Democrats had their hands on the budget-cutting scissors, they likely would have found other … [Read more...]
CBS comes under fire for onslaught of violent crime dramas
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- It's said all too often that you can't argue with success. But you can. The argument: CBS is doing a disservice by airing so many crime dramas. The counter-argument: Doing a disservice to whom? CBS is the most-watched network in America. Precisely the point. The more people who watch, the more people can get drawn into a worldview that we live in dangerous places in a dangerous society. It's true that Marshal Matt Dillon gunned down … [Read more...]
Humorists analyze human condition, use mass media to make their points
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The quote is ascribed to poet Robert Frost. Even if he never said it, the point made is telling: "I am never so serious as when I am joking." And it may always have been thus. Humorists use their chief weapon -- humor -- to analyze the human condition. They make us laugh at ourselves, and they make us laugh with each other. "Humorists" is the word used here because not every stand-up comedian is interested in finding out what makes us … [Read more...]
‘Don’t have a cow, man’: Homer, Catholicism and ‘The Simpsons’
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- It's not every day that the Vatican newspaper declares that a fictional character from the world of television is a Catholic -- and a cartoon character at that. But that's precisely what L'Osservatore Romano did in early October when it asserted that Homer Simpson, the patriarch of the 21-season Fox sitcom "The Simpsons," is a Catholic. Oh, and bratty son Bart, too. The Vatican's fascination with "The Simpsons" began last December, when … [Read more...]
