Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Now featuring: Good news

I was reading a blog a few days ago posted by a Pittsburgh reporter about his decision to cut NBC's "The Today Show" out of his TV diet. By the way, the show is my favorite choice for televised morning news.

But is this show really about news any more for those who crave newsy national stories? At least that's what the blogger was complaining about. He said "Today" is more tabloid news than anything.

I only get a chance to watch about 40 minutes of the show each morning as I'm getting ready for work. But in the past few days I've noticed lots of featurey segments and less hard-core news. But maybe that's because I wake up too late to hear about all that. Instead, I get to catch:

• The on-going segment about how men cope being in their 50s (because "Today" reporter Matt Lauer, who is turning 50 soon, would like to know)

• Interesting myths about bathing

• Holiday gift ideas

• An interview with a guy who claims he's a serial-dating Casanova

• Actor Brad Pitt rebuilding houses for Hurricane Katrina victims

• A semi-boring segment about "Today" reporters tackling a few X-treme sports

• Oh, and about three minutes of national and world news somewhere in between all that.

But it's the holidays, right? Maybe "Today" is trying to give us a break from all the bad stuff that's happening. That's one reason I enjoy being a features reporter at the Herald. Amid all the tough news, we also offer stories that entertain and tell of good news.

— January Holmes

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