The Oppenheimer Report 6/8/15

Some of the songs I’ve written so far are inspired either directly or indirectly by news stories I have seen over the years. Last Monday night I watched a show on CNN covering its 35^th Anniversary, including clips from all those years of coverage. Called “Chicken Little News” by some in the early days, CNN marked a seismic shift in the way news is presented. The network did not catch on overnight, and it was interesting to trace the stories that boosted its approval ratings. I remember some of the early stories, and I remember noting to myself that this was the first time I’d ever heard the expression “infotainment.”  I can’t believe it was all the way back in 1987 when Baby Jessica McClure fell down a well in Midland Texas, and CNN was there to cover the whole thing. I think Operation Desert Storm and the first Gulf War really put them on the map, because when the rockets began to fly, CNN had the only reporters in Bagdad at the time. I remember how strange it was to watch a war unfolding on television, and I was so moved by the experience I wrote a song called Watching the War on TV about the CNN coverage of the first Gulf War. That was my first real exposure to CNN news. The whole world was using CNN’s footage in Iraq, because they had to. Other news stories that were covered in the 35^th Anniversary show: The Rodney King beating, Clarence Thomas’ appointment hearings, wherein he was accused of sexual harassment, the Bosnian War, the first bombing of the World Trade Center, the death of Lady Di, “Blowjobgate” with Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton, the taxpayer-dollar-depleting Ken Starr witch hunt to link Bill Clinton to the Whitewater scandal, and many, many more events that don’t seem as if they happened so long ago.  

Like many of my songs, CNN news stories became my time markers for things that were going on in my life at the time. I watched the famous and very bizarre low speed car chase, OJ in his white Bronco, followed by a posse of LA’s finest, as Shauna and I were waiting for a plane on our honeymoon. When we returned home, Shauna and I became very interested in the trial. CNN was interviewing everyone involved in the case. Witnesses became temporary celebrities, enjoying their fifteen minutes of fame. Everybody wrote a book. I remember suggesting in one Opp Report that, according to his agent, OJ’s dog was writing a book entitled “Blood on my Paws.” Where is Kato Kaelin now? I’m sure he must have parlayed his fifteen minutes into some kind of lasting employment. It would be interesting to go back to Oppenheimer Reports I wrote during that period to see what developments in the trial I deemed noteworthy. I do remember at one point thinking very early on that this was way too much coverage of something that amounted to a crime of passion. There was even a musical theme to accompany all O.J. trial coverage, and I suggested that perhaps CNN should have themes for all their big stories.  If CNN had devoted as much coverage to the genocide in Rowanda, it may never have become the horrific tragedy it became.

 

As much as I joked about CNN and their sometimes ridiculous coverage, I watched a lot of it, perhaps rationalizing that I needed fodder for this report. What has become evident from the inception of 24-7 news broadcasting, is that hard news is being trumped by that which is scandalous, celebrity based, or involves puppies and children. A good example of this was a story reported on CNN a few years back wherein a hot air balloon escaped and there was some speculation that a little boy was trapped in it. I think there was a full day of coverage, and hot air balloon experts and meteorologists were interviewed, all the while airing video footage of this balloon, drifting into the upper atmosphere. It was like Geraldo discovering Al Capone’s wine bottles. As it turned out the kid was safe on the ground, probably hiding from his whacky parents, and meanwhile there was hard news occurring in the rest of the world which went unreported. Information dissemination changed with the advent of the internet and 24-7 news. Now we have a lot of facts, and damning video, and opinions disguised as facts, but are we any better informed? TMI dude.

"....The Muslims and the Western Satans, embroiled in the fight/ While the media stands up there on the front line, deciding who's wrong and right/ Me I want the big picture, I want the bottom line/ But although I'm watching the blow by blow, you know, the truth is hard to find, watching the war on T.V. ..."

 

Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED