Picture This: Stop the presses, we're in a recession!

Jordan Golson — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:43:48 -0800

Moments ago, running at the top of CNN.com, was a massive banner alerting visitors to a fact that everyone has known for some time: The US has been in a recession since last December. The confirmation comes from the nonprofit research group, the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Is it news? Sure. But is it news that deserves breathless alerts and top-of-the-page treatment? Of course not.

Then again, this is CNN, an organization which is known for portraying back-page stories as major crises that deserve viewers' immediate attention. Drew Curtis, the head honcho of Fark, figured out long ago that CNN often lowers the bar on its definition for "news." In fact, he dedicated an entire chapter in his book (It's Not News, It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News) to CNN.com's amazing ability to write headlines that are neither breaking nor news, and then tout the results as information that potentially heralds the end of the world.

That's why Drudge is my homepage for breaking news. When he throws up the infamous siren, you know something big is going down.