Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/141640
THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET Hungry for News by MARGARET DICKSON full foster of colorful colleagues. My name is Margaret and I am a news junkie. I do not watch game shows with the occasional I have always been one and expect to be one exception of Jeopardy. Like everyone else in until I meet my maker. America, I might know many of the questions The first time it occurred to me that being for the answers while in my own kitchen but a news consumer on a grand scale might be a am confident that I, like bazillions of nervous problem was the day one of the Precious Jewels contestants over the years, would not punch told me I am "culturally illiterate," because I did that button quickly enough to be the champ. not recognize the name of some 20-something The saving grace in this category is the Precious celeb or popular singer and then left the room with a parting shot that I should watch "more TV … and CNN does not count!!!" Well! I confess to being a bit taken aback, but I gave TV, both broadcast and cable, a try and, for the most part, am sorely disappointed. Bear in mind that I come from the media world with decades in a family broadcasting business, so I understand that commercial television is in the business of attracting viewers by whatever means so that those viewers also see paid advertisements. I get that. Nevertheless, reality shows are almost uniformly appalling. Their underlying premises are sketchy if not ridiculous, their language and costumes offensive and I simply have to turn off the ones where contestants are required to eat smelly, vile or even living critters. The one saving grace for me is The CBS Morning News is moving up in the ratings. Amazing Race, because I love seeing where in the world they were going and how. Maybe the Jewel who, as a barely verbal young one who travel bug in me is even a tad jealous. apparently did watch the Price is Right with our Shows with ongoing story lines are sometimes babysitter, informed me that the new refrigerator fascinating, but I often miss a few episodes and the Dicksons needed would cost $800. then find myself so far behind that I cannot Who knew what a toddler was absorbing? figure out what is going on. I know, I know. I Sports? I understand sports coverage is can record programs and save them for later excellent these days, but since the sporting viewing. The problem is that I never get around gene largely skipped me, I skip most sports on to viewing them later. television. The exception, and it is a big one The saving grace in this category is The Good during the season, is college basketball. I can Wife, a series that has lots of politics and political whoop and holler with the best of them for my intrigue and is right up my alley. I miss episodes favorite team. of this one as well; when I get back characters I do tune in regularly to public TV which have new sweeties, but somehow I have managed presents outstanding programming of all sorts, to stay engaged with the good wife, her estranged but I am dealing with commercial broadcasting but still-in-the-picture hubby, their children and a here. I have to exclude the premium channels which I am told are putting together higher and higher quality programming these days, but since I do not have these channels, I have nothing to say about them either. Margaret the news junkie is trying to address her pop cultural illiteracy, but at the end of the day, quality news programming is hard to beat. Two of the very best are on CBS, the morning show the CBS Morning News in its latest incarnation and the venerable CBS Sunday Morning News, a magazine show initiated decades ago by North Carolina's own Charles Kuralt and which is every bit as good today as when it began if not better. As an early riser, I have long tuned into morning television for my first news fix of the day. When the network morning shows turned into video fan magazines for movie stars who then got more attention than the President of the United States, I tuned out. When CBS did its latest revamp of its dead-last morning show recently, I gave it a try and am delighted. Charlie Rose, a North Carolina native, Norah O'Donnell, a former chief White House correspondent and Gayle King who rose to prominence as Oprah's best friend are co-hosts who act like what they are — grown ups. They do insightful interviews, chat intelligently with guests and each other and the background music is terrific. And the best news, for them and for news junkies like me, is that the CBS Morning News is moving up in the ratings. Apparently, there are plenty of news junkies all around the country. Some of them may even be culturally literate. MARGARET DICKSON, Contributing Writer, COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. Daily Specials Breakfast Lunch Dinner Fresh Seafood Hand Cut Steaks Homemade Desserts Italian & Greek Children's Menu Banquet rooms available up to 100 guests WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 484-0261 1304 Morganton Rd. Mon-Sat: 6am-10pm Sun: 7am-2:30 pm Serving Fayetteville Over 50 Years! JULY 3-9, 2013 UCW 5