I will admit that I am possibly the only person under the age of 60 who actually watches the network's evening newscasts. Compared to the Crisis News Network (aka CNN) and other even more hysterical cable news outlets, I still find some of the most informative and level-headed reporting about the day's events resides on these broadcasts. And, unlike Fox News, they are about as close to "fair and balanced" that you will find on a mainstream outlet.
So I was slightly disturbed to notice that recently both the CBS Evening News and NBC's Nightly News have been featuring the American flag as a somewhat prominent backdrop for their openings as well as more in-depth news segments towards the end. I don't have anything against the flag but what is it doing as the backdrop for the evening news? Have the networks finally taken all those complaints about their leftist, anti-American leanings to heart, brandishing the flag as some sort of defense from this inane criticism?
IMHO, it seems to be there as a subliminal message of patriotism, saying that we may report bad news about Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, et al but hey, we still love our country, dammit! But is this sort of flag waving appropriate on the supposedly independent and objective evening news? Just askin'....
