freedom of speech (Jerry Springer)

Credibility in "the 10 o'clock news" (you know, that quaint, old-fashioned method of attempting to summarize noteworthy events of the day via the cathode-ray delivery system) has been on trial of late in Chicago. The brouhaha began when bosses at the local NBC affiliate WMAQ-TV announced plans to have daytime yakker Jerry Springer (the youngest mayor in the history of Cincinatti, doncha know) deliver personal editorials, or "commentaries," several days a week. It's important to note …

…walk in favor of whatever it is they think Springer brings to the ratings party. And it won't change the way TV news operations are run, like information chop-shops that cram as many riveting images as possible into the allotted time. Every once in a while, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press, translate into freedom to make aprofit. The paying customer can only make a difference by finding the remote, and clicking OFF.