Damn Yankees

I’m out at the end of Long Island for the summer. Ok, I’m in the Hamptons, I admit it. Today was a perfect gym day and I even managed to find a parking space, which is nothing short of a miracle. So there I was on the cross-trainer or whatever they call it, watching television, WABC, when suddenly there is a news flash interrupting the programme. I get into a somewhat panicky mode when this happens because the first thing that enters my mind is that NYC has been attacked once again and there I am, safe and sound, while my daughter is in the city. But no, NYC was not attacked. The news flash was because 80 year old George Steinbrenner, owner of the NY Yankees, had died.
Prior to today I had never heard of this man. His family has my sympathy at their loss and I extend my condolences to his many fans and supporters. But the truth of the matter is that I really do not see that this is earth-shaking, and news flash-worthy; in short, this, to me, is part of the dumbing down of news programs.
When the mid-day news finally comes on, and I am still on the trainer, I discover that people are scratching around for nice things to say about this man; “not universally liked” was the comment from one reporter. There are tapes of him screaming at one of his managers and stories of him firing various people. Later in the day, as I am changing clothes and dressing for the evening, the opening episode of the 24th season of Oprah, bless her, is also broken into with further news flashes on the death of Mr. Steinbrenner. By now the news people have managed to round up some decent things to say. But couldn’t it have waited for a normal news slot? Senator Byrd’s passing got less coverage than this and I can only wonder if someone higher up the ladder of power were to pass on, would he or she also get this sort of coverage?
A while ago WPIX news had some game show elements worked into their broadcast where contestants had to dash into a cage and gather up as much money as they could in the allotted time. The embarrassment on anchors Jim Watkins’ and Kaity Tong’s faces was something to behold; they hadn’t signed on for this. The game show seems to have stopped, yet we still have ‘Help Me Howard’ handing out money on Fridays to people who seem to pretend they had no idea he had a pocketful of cash to give away. Over on WABC, the reporters seem to have adapted a reporting style reminiscent of a 19th Century melodrama. They come only short of beginning their slots with, ‘It was a dark and stormy night…’ The Beeb, or Aunty as we liked to call the BBC, was never thus.
When did news from around the world and the country become so unimportant in this country that the news broadcasts have to drum up business by not being all news?