This may make me sound really old but I watch the news on TV every night. In our house it has been what we do for many years. 10pm-11pm, we watch the National news and then the local news.
Currently we are in the habit of watching the CTV National news at 10pm instead of waiting until 11pm (which we used to do when 11pm wasn’t so hard).
But over the last year or so, we find ourselves looking at each other and saying – is this even news anymore?
Years ago, you watched the news at the end of the day for a nice roundup of what’s going on in the world and at home. It was generally not happy news, but it was actual news reported on by journalists. Then near the end, there would be maybe some sports and always some find of human interest story so people did not end the show hiding under the covers.
You would think in 2024, with everything going on in the world, the National news could fill 30 minutes easy. Well, they have chosen not to.
Now it seems more like they do their research on X and simply repost the news.
Very little world news. Very little national news. Actually, very little actual news. Certainly zero investigative news.
Last night about midway through the show, the CTV National news had stories on:
- Elmo saving mental health – This was just talking about a tweet.
- A mystery object in the skiy – They ended by saying, nobody knows what it is.
- A story about BC and Alberta arguing over wine.
- A fake story about bagels and if they need to have holes – As Katie pointed out, was a story 100% created by a promo being done by Philadelphia cream cheese.
Then Omar ends the show every night by saying, that was a snapshot of the day. WHAT?
There are literally 2 wars going on. The USA election is heating up. There are many interesting stories going on in Canada. I mean with Alberta and Ontario Premiers alone there should be a regular segment.
Go to the CTV news website and there is so much they have covered. So why does nothing of actual value make it to the big show. The show that they still want to peg as the most important news show of the day.
If they are going to continue to throw softballs so maybe people can sleep at night, why do we even need the show? We can all just go to the website, or X, or any number of news websites.
Ideally the National news show is supposed to keep us up to date on all the important things. But instead producers have chosen to bore us and play it safe with non news.
This I am sure has a lot to do with the cut backs last year. No more international reporting. Very little national reporting. It’s pretty sad.
I think we only still watch it because it’s our routine and it feels automatic.
But what is the future of the National news? If the people over 40 stop watching, the next generation certainly isn’t.
Maybe that’s the answer. The powers that be know it’s a dinosaur on it’s last legs, so why make it good?
But it still has great value. It’s a credible, single source. It puts us all on the same page when it comes to what is real and what is fake.
If we leave everyone to go and find their own news their own way, well you see what happens.
Maybe a centralized National show is just too far gone to matter anymore.
I also would say, look at the ad placements during what used to be a big hour of the night for eyeballs. The companies buying ad time is pretty C list. Trivago? Anyways, maybe that is also a sign of why the National news show is slowly going downhill.
I won’t even get started on local news and what has happened to that. Goodness.
Do you still watch the news before bed? What do you think?