Getting back to our friends, the FCC: It used to be that to use "public" spectrum you had to do public service announcements, news was considered a public service announcement. Once that rule was eliminated, the corporations that owned the TV stations quickly converted news departments into a profit sector. Now it doesn't matter if it's in the public interest, it only matters that that time segment makes money. They sort of made it into a moving picture version of the Enquirer.

It's my personal opinion that this was one of the powerful forces that started the decline of our great nation. Privatization (giving things that the taxpayer owns to corporations) sucks.