The death overnight of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was not a shock. He'd been battling brain cancer for a while, and had recently slipped out of the public eye. The fact that he didn't attend the funeral of his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, two weeks ago was clearly a sign of what was coming.
But when it was announced in the wee hours of Wednesday morning it was, indeed, breaking news. Hours later, however, MSNBC was still labeling the Kennedy story as "breaking news." CNN was calling it a "developing story," although the main development in the story had occurred hours earlier.
As Time Magazine's TV critic, James Poniewozik blogs, only Fox News Channel wasn't wall-to-wall Wednesday morning. But he suggests Fox News was doing the right thing for the wrong reason.
While Kennedy's death was a big story, it wasn't the only news on Wednesday morning. The curse of the 24-hour news cycle is that it doesn't bring us more news stories, only more coverage of a few big stories.
Two months ago, it was the death of Michael Jackson that bounced everything off the air. If you watch CNN's Larry King, you'd think Jacko's death was the only thing that happened since June. These big stories bring non-news watchers to the news channels, which is why they're over-covered.
That's an explanation, not an endorsement, of this silly practice.
Back to Ted Kennedy: His story is interesting on many levels, from the wider saga of the Kennedy clan, which has held the nation's attention for half a century; to the specific drama of a complicated life.
Yes, he was the "Lion of the Senate," as he's being eulogized, an unabashed liberal who had the ability to work with the opposition. But he was also a troubled personality. His behavior at Chappaquiddick in 1969 and in the incident that led to his nephew being tried for sexual assault are intrinsic parts of his complex story.
If you're still interested in that story, CNN is airing HBO's recent documentary "Teddy: In His Own Words" from 6 to 8 this evening.
MSNBC's Chris Matthews had a new documentary on the Kennedys set to air Thursday night. MSNBC has moved up "The Kennedy Brothers: A Hardball Documentary" to 10 tonight. It's previously scheduled airings were 6 and 11 p.m. Thursday.
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
