Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2005 > May > 12 > Entry
Cable news: All crisis all the time
Glancing up at the ever-present TV over my desk yesterday gave the distinct impression that the United States was under attack. The end was near. Our government in the nation’s capital might be wiped out. We were teetering on the brink of a Really Big Crisis.
What really happened was a brief evacuation of the Capitol, White House, Supreme Court and several other government buildings about 11 a.m. This was prompted by a small plane entering restricted airspace and failing to respond to warnings.
Immediately the cable news networks posted scary headlines such as “Security Threat,” “Capitol Crisis,” etc. The actual “security event,” as it was officially dubbed, lasted about 15 minutes, until military aircraft forced a tiny Cessna and two befuddled occupants down in Maryland.
But the screaming headlines and the breathless “what-if” coverage lasted all day and into the night. One CNN report went so far to say this sort of “panic” hadn’t been seen since 9-11.
Watching cable news continuously tends to warp the psyche. I wonder what kind of world we would think we were living in if we watched CNN, MSNBC or Fox News all time time. We would probably assume that terrorists and serial killers were running rampant and some VIP was in deep trouble — physically or politically.
Normal people don’t watch cable news all day, but the TV set over my desk is on all the time. That happens in newsrooms. And since I’m short, the TV is hanging from the ceiling and the remote control is dead (no, it’s not the batteries), I’m stuck with perpetual disaster.
No wonder I’ve started ducking when I hear a car backfire. There’s an official psychological term for this: “dangerous world syndrome.”
The only time a kind, tall person relieves me of this tension is when a major storm is brewing, and the TV is switched to the Weather Channel. But then those purple globs look pretty scary, too. I’m doomed to a TV critic’s life of terror.
Glenn Close to end run on ‘The Shield’
Bummer. Glenn Close is turning in her badge on “The Shield.”
No, this is not because of “creative differences.” Close, we are told, signed on for only one season of the gritty FX cop drama, so she’s leaving after her scheduled 13-episode season concludes on June 14.
The five-time Oscar nominee, who plays LAPD Capt. Monica Rawling, is a New Yorker, and her daughter, Annie, wants to spend her senior year in high school at home.
Neither Close nor the producers have ruled out guest shots.
Close is credited with boosting “The Shield’s” ratings by nearly 25 percent this season. Emmy winner Michael Chiklis, who stars as bullet-headed Detective Vic Mackey, and Close have had remarkable chemistry. It was refreshing to have a character on the show who wasn’t about to explode.
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