May 17, 2005

BS Meters

Last night, I watched Morely Safer (60 Minutes) interview Harry G. Frankfurter, a Princeton Univ. professor and author of a small book of philosophy, entitled "On Bullshit." It was a thoroughly enjoyable interview. Safer also met another professor who is writing a book on the subject. He was on the receiving end of the question as to the role of BS in journalism...to which he gave a definite "no comment".

Today, I was reading Charles Barkley's latest book, in which he admits to being a "politics junkie." Barkley continues "I watch probably far to many of the political talk shows. And what irks me after a while is it all boils down to the fact that one is a liberal, one is a conservative. They yell at each other for half an hour and nothing gets solved. They've made money for thirty minutes of talk. The network has made money. The show's sponsors have invaded my living room for thirty minutes or an hour and we're no closer to solving anything." -- from "Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man?"

For the record, my guidelines to identify those television shows most likely to produce BS.


  • Any show that would have James Carville and Mary Matalin as guests the same day.
  • Any show that would have either of them as guests ANY day.
  • Any show with more than 1 regular panel member. e.g. Crossfire or Hardball.
  • Any show on FOX News Network.
  • Any show whose lead story involves a poll result.

Posted by Wes at May 17, 2005 08:01 AM