News personalities can't keep opinions to themselves

I am one of those people who loves to learn about what is going on everywhere in the world. One would then assume it would be easy to turn on a television here in the United States, a shining beacon of free and comprehensive press for the globe, and get all of that information. However, for an international news junkie like me, getting a fix is not as easy as turning on CNN, Fox News, or even network broadcasts.

I use the BBC, because they give me exactly what I want: news. Unfortunately for the American network news agencies, which truly have an unlimited amount of resources, this process of actually providing quality news has become lost. Instead, turning on CNN in this day and age means inviting in self-centered, informal information, which completely eliminates any respect someone could potentially have for that news source.

A perfect example is the programming provided by Fox News.

Honestly, I really do not care what Shepard Smith, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly or Greta van Sustren think about what is going on. They sell the idea of presenting facts and letting "you" decide the story for yourself. If this is the case, why do we have to personalize the news? Is it possible to just sit Mr. Hannity behind a desk, have him read headlines, interview people who actually know, from experience, what is going on and do the news that way?

The anchors on CNN are even worse.

They personalize their news a little less conspicuously. For instance, when the Chile earthquake struck a few weekends back, my family and I were watching some morning reports on it. The anchors were doing a fairly good job, even though it was obvious they were hoping for the situation to turn into a disaster caused by a tsunami. Someone was explaining how the "tsunami" would develop and spread to the rest of the Pacific, and when they cut back to two people behind a desk, the first thing out of a male anchor's mouth was "Well, you know what I think?"

No, I do not know what you think, CNN anchorman, and I do not really care about your thoughts either!

It is not his job to give opinions on the stories, but this "news" anchor is too big headed and conceited to realize he is completely ignoring the biggest ‘no-no' in news reporting. This man and his respective colleagues are completely ruining the process of anchoring a newscast, at the consumers' expense.

The biggest and most infuriating example of how not to do network news is found on the Headline News Network. HLN is the whiny stepchild of CNN, and was initially made for what its name described: to report headline news. It used to be this way, until HLN decided to separate from its creator and go its own way. Now, HLN is exactly like the rest of them (except worse, because they gave a show to the last person on earth that needed an opportunity to be more conceited, Joy Behar.).

This network was the last chance for a concerned populace to receive unbiased reporting, stripped of any sort of opinion or personalization. Now, it sits all day trying to keep up with competitors by lining up talking heads (Nancy Grace, Jane Velez-Mitchell) one after another, and these personalities give a bad name to an already dubious practice.

On a daily basis, I try to watch the One-Minute World News on the BBC's news website. Guess what the anchor does at the beginning? He or she does not say her name, rather the anchor simply says "Hello, here are the latest headlines from BBC World News." There is no bias and no personalization. Isn't that the kind of news we all should be able to consume?