Slate's Calling it Fireside Chat 2.0, the addresses are meant to reach and reassure viewers about the steps the government is taking to make sure our entire economy doesn't go down the toilet. Now, I'm all for open and transparent communication between the higher echelons of power and us proletariat masses, but please President Obama, stop pre-empting my shows!In his less than 50 days in power, President Obama has made two major prime-time appearances. First, there was a nationally television press conference to discuss the bailout, and then came the lengthy address to a joint session of Congress. Thankfully, none of these events happened during sweeps. Living in DC, I'm a big political junkie and can appreciate the pageantry and formality of these events. I'll happily tune in and even watch pre-game and post-game analysis on the news networks. But, I can only imagine the outrage that will happen if an Obama address pushes back a season finale in May or causes a DVR glitch.
Time Magazine's James Poniewozik writes that the new 10-minute format Obama is considering might be a perfect for modern audiences with ADD, but he too worries about how networks will schedule around it the awkward block of time. 10-minutes here and there don't' bother me, but speak too often and they'll just end up annoying people who simply want to unwind after a crappy day at work.
Sometimes, being able to watch your TV show when it's due to air is the best way to relive the stress that many of us are feeling. I appreciate his impulse to take his message directly to the people, which is more than can be said for the White House's previous occupant, but knowing how crazed people get around May sweeps, he should be wary.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-17-2009 @ 6:19PM
Max said...
Let's not forget the airspace that he bought for 30 mins.
I remember when TV Squad was compaining about Bush giving his farewell speech. I commented that Obama is going to take a lot more and I was right. What else do you expect when you elect a celebrity to the highest office?
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3-17-2009 @ 6:28PM
B said...
Yeah, god forbid a president actually tries to have open communications with the public. A celebrity, I say!
Now, if you must know I shall leave to go shoo some kids off my lawn.
3-17-2009 @ 10:28PM
Michael said...
As soon as you have a criticism of substance to add let us know
3-17-2009 @ 6:35PM
Elizabeth said...
He had better not get in the way of Jack Bauer, or we'll have another national crisis on our hands.
I imagine TVSquad was only complaining about Bush's farewell speech because it got in the way of...TV. And even if the writer of this post was making a partisan comment about Bush, I think it was a valid point, and I say that as one of the five Bush supporters left. Bush should have been way more aggressive with the media, and I hated how rarely he spoke to the American people. He never explained his reasons for doing anything which allowed the (mostly) left-leaning media to, understandably (it is their job, after all), explain his actions for him. Obama is reining in the media monster, which, as obnoxious as that is for TV fans, is probably a good idea for everybody.
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3-17-2009 @ 7:42PM
0megapart!cle said...
Uhm, MSNBC is mostly left-leaning (with the huge exception of the hours they give Scarborough every morning), and CNN is occaisionally left-leaning (although they give the obnoxious and clearly conservative Dobbs his own hour every weekday with no progressive equivalent). CNBC, Fox Business, and Fox News more than make up for any left-leaning on MSNBC or CNN. Not to mention the broadcast networks, which feature Republicans more often than not, and quite often harass Democrats and throw right-wing talking points at them like they are fact.
Overall, the TV news media is so far from a generally left-leaning stance it is not even funny.
3-18-2009 @ 12:00AM
Vito said...
Agreed with previous comment. There are TWO, count them, TWO liberal voices on television: Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. Oh, and David Schuster is trying.
But you would never see one of these people get their own hour on CNN like a Glenn Beck or Lou Dobbs, let alone FOX News. There is no progressive voice, only quite a few progressives who bend over backwards to try and avoid speaking their mind. And keep in mind, this is after the biggest mandate Democrats have received in decades.
3-18-2009 @ 11:51AM
Franklin said...
Well, isn't this, um, interesting. Shitparticle wants to school us on what's left and right leaning on the tube. I would've responded sooner, but I was laughing so hard I couldn't type.
I especially love the fantastical assertion that CNBC is anything but a leftist mouthpiece! That was a good one.
Your comments are truly enlightening. They go to show that your mind, what little there is of it, is so far to the left that EVERYTHING seems right-leaning to you. I would say you're an idiot, but that doesn't even come close to describing your unequivocal vacuousness.
3-17-2009 @ 7:54PM
Modwild said...
This is a great idea. He can take 10 minutes during the nightly network news broadcast, save them some dough imagining their own theories on the economy and they get it straight from the source. Why would it need to air any other time?
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3-18-2009 @ 11:52AM
Franklin said...
Agreed. If this idiot who can't answer a simple question directly without a teleprompter telling him what to say wants to read to us from it, let it be during the nightly newscasts. That way, the few people left that voted for him who don't have the mental capacity to realize they've made a colossal mistake can spend those 10 minutes having obamagasms without the talking head interrupting the fiction of choice of the rest of us: scripted television. Actually now that I think of it, every obama appearance is scripted television. He's got nothing to say on his own and relies solely on his scripts.
After all the broken promises and backpeddling, there is a lot of very justified voters' remorse in this country. Fortunately, most of the country is a far sight more intelligent than the socialist libtards hanging out here and loving on nobama. But that's not saying much at all.
3-17-2009 @ 9:00PM
Han Solo said...
DO NOT WANT!
Americans are already tied of Obama W. Bush.
Approval is 59% and falling fast.
Another
Bad
Ass
Mistake
America
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3-17-2009 @ 10:29PM
Michael said...
Yeah I'm sure they are all tired of the guy they overwhelmingly voted for
3-17-2009 @ 10:42PM
Wii60 said...
@Micheal
70 Million people voted for him
60 Million people voted against him.
In what universe is that overwhelming?
3-18-2009 @ 12:02AM
Vito said...
How do you conservatives manage to completely clog the internet when there are so few of you? You represent 30% of the population, but somehow you manage to make most major discussion boards inhospitable without being bombarded with rumors and lies.
3-18-2009 @ 12:17AM
belden said...
"Another
Bad
Ass
Mistake
America"
ABAMA? Like Alabama? Or is that like a new ABBA?
3-17-2009 @ 9:13PM
Maggie said...
He's on TV too much already and says absolutely nothing. I hope everyone who voted for him is happy with all the pork and spending. Now he wants to screw the injured vets. He is not a President, he is someone trying to act smart.
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3-17-2009 @ 10:30PM
Michael said...
Yeah he's on the TV too much you would think that he's an important public figure, oh wait HE IS!!!
3-17-2009 @ 10:05PM
Rocketboy said...
Does he ever get tired of hearing himself talk?
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3-17-2009 @ 10:25PM
Darren said...
NO NO NO NO NO Enough is enough - Do it during the day then NOT at night. I'm sick of interruptions already!
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3-17-2009 @ 10:54PM
JW said...
Shouldn't CNN/MSNBC/FOX News air these little shows of Obama's so we can watch our more important TV? Most people are probably tired of hearing about the economy or anything political, and the one's that aren't more than likely have access to one of the major news networks and will tune in to one of them. Why not air them at 6 PM instead, during the local news, or just come on Oprah (I mean everyone watches Oprah, right?)
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3-17-2009 @ 11:32PM
Jimmy said...
He clearly has a God complex.
The fact is, now that he's elected, no one really cares what he has to say. How many people watched his first prime-time news conference -- the one where he took 60 minutes to answer like five questions?
People want results, not talk. So far, we haven't gotten any. Does he want to come on TV to remind us that he "inherited" the economy?
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