Why network TV should stop airing all presidential speeches -- no matter who is living in the White House

Vulture

"Broadcast networks should get out of the business of covering almost all presidential addresses and press conferences, no matter who’s living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," Josef Adalian says in response to President Trump's immigration speech tonight. "This might sound like an early effort to secure a spot in the 2019 Hot Take Hall of Fame, but there’s simply zero need for broadcasters to blow up their regular schedules because a politician — any politician — is giving a preplanned speech. ABC, CBS, and NBC only do so because their respective news divisions whine loudly any time their West Coast counterparts in entertainment so much as suggest that maybe there’s no need to go live for (not really breaking) news. According to multiple Los Angeles–based suits I’ve spoken with this week and over the years, the argument always seems to boil down to competition: If Network X doesn’t cover this speech or that news conference, while the other nets do, Network X will look less committed to being seen as a primary news source and its brand will suffer. This theory is not without logic, and yet it also ignores the reality that national broadcast networks are not where most Americans turn for news these days."

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