I have Time Warner cable in my house with 70 odd channels. After returning home, I switch on the TV to catch up with the news. One common characteristic of all the 3 major news channels (Fox, MSNBC and CNN) is their intellectual bankruptcy. Opinion masquerades as news, with each channel giving a different spin on the happenings of the day. Debates are nothing more than shouting matches with each political contributor sticking to his talking points and shouting his message across.
In 8 years of living in the US, very rarely have I found incisive, logical and informed analysis of the happenings in the world on these 24 hour news channels. World news? Forget it. Look for that someplace else. In my conversation with people around me, I notice a general ignorance of the geography, history and current events of the rest of the world. I wonder to what extent the American media is responsible for that.
Of all the Indian and American newspapers I read, I would rate Indian Express as the best. Shekhar Gupta, the editor of Indian Express is one of my favorite columnists. I spent this weekend catching up with all his recent columns. He offers an excellent analysis of the US Af-Pak policy and the happenings in the Indian sub-continent. Some of his columns can be found here Shekhar Gupta Columns
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