Saturday, March 3, 2012

What's missing from Sun News Network

Sun News is the best thing that ever happened to Canadian TV.  Its a breath of fresh air.  It cuts through the crap like a bullet through butter.  Its a regular item on a good diet of information and opinion. 

Only trouble is that excellent monologues, engaging guests, enlightening discussions, and original stories don't make a complete diet.  As good as it is, there are still hours upon hours of this stuff every day.  Just a few years ago Micheal Coren and Glenn Beck were the only things worth watching.  Now the conservative pundit field is positively saturated.  Its great!  I can't put in 6 hours of TV a day so its nice to pick and choose.      

There is something missing though.  Documentaries.  I think there is a hunger for more of the well directed, finely produced, deeper story that can be told in the documentary format.  After the the testimonials, charts, graphs, analysis and commentary the audience needs a minute of silence to digest the message.  Panning over rusting windmills or what have you to let the message sink in.  Its a real art.  The good guys need to master it.  The people need to see it.

I love a good documentary.  Fred Litwin's Free Thinking Film Society always makes me jealous of Ottawa.

That is what Sun News is missing.
 
CBC has The Passionate Eye and Doc Zone.  CNN has CNN Presents.  PBS has Frontline.

Sun News should free up an hour every Sunday night for some appointment television.  Run quick ads all week and the entire viewership will show up. The Prime Time line up can have a content bonanza as they interview the directors, experts, and people in the films.  There is huge potential for synergy.

Examples include Fracknation, a film about the truth of fracking.  Did you know that wells drilled all around the world over the last 40 years had the fracking process done on them?  Its standard procedure.  Don't wait for the CBC to tell you that.  CBC will be showing that phoney fracking piece for fractured minds: Gasland. (and you pay for it)

The same husband and wife team Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney also did a fantastic couple of documentaries Mine Your Own Business and Not Evil Just Wrong.  I'd love to see these movies on Sun News.

There are so many more.  Iranium was phenomenal.  Just showing the film created a diplomatic incident.  Freakonomics was interesting.  Even Glenn Beck has produced a handful of documentaries.   I haven't seen Runaway Slave yet but boy it looks promising.  The list is endless.  You just need to find 52 in a year.  I bet the Sun News team could put together a killer documentary quite easily.

The content is out there.  Sun News has the means and motivation to show it.  Sun News should enrich and arm Its audience with what they crave most: Truth done well.

     

17 comments:

Platty said...

"CBC has The Passionate Eye and Doc Zone."

CBC also has over One Billion dollars more than SUN News network, to spend each and every year, allowing them to put on whatever they bloody well please. Something that has to be cut, and hopefully will when the next budget comes at the end of the month.

Anonymous said...

It would be a VERY Good idea.

JoeFrmEdm

Cytotoxic said...

Great idea! Just make sure it's completely devoid of distortions and mistruths like "The Great Global Warming Swindle was".

robins111 said...

Great idea,I can think of a couple of pro-firearms documentaries such as Innocence Betrayed. Which would open up some minds... they would never be shown on msm channels

Anonymous said...

I wish they had a news later in the evening like around 10 o'clock. Even if it was only 1/2 hour. Their regular news is on too early. While I have like it when I catch it, it is just too early. Most of us are not free in the afternoon. Postpone the repeat of Ezra Levant until 10:30.

Is It Just Me

Anonymous said...

they have to have weekend staff not reruns then it would be better. they should have something like the five to.

Alain said...

I agree with you, but I also take the point raised by Platty. It is a new station without government assistance or public money (which is good) and SNN does not even benefit from the CRTC forcing providers to carry them like it does with CBC, CTV and Global. The truth is that they make it more difficult to obtain SNN. Let us not forget that SNN is not even one year old either. We need them to succeed in order to be able to obtain real news instead of the spin and propaganda that all the other Canadian networks provide. I think that if SNN survives and is successful enough we shall probably get even better programming.

Unknown said...

@ Platty: absolutely. Its completely unfair to the involuntary customer/shareholder.

@ Cytotoxic: Its important to get it right. Look at fakegate and how that backfired on the warmists. We need to take the high ground.

@ Robins111: for sure. We seek out the documentaries we are interested in. We should share with each other what we've found.

@ Anon1: they have news on demand on their web site. Alternatively you could check out what the other side is saying. Helps to appreciate what you have in Sun News.

@ anon2: Or maybe just movies. Atlas shrugged and stuff like that.

@ Alain: of course. This is a suggestion, not a demand. I don't care what CBC does, its just that they do it with my money. The other networks shows I mention is mostly as a proof of concept. If you follow those links its funny to notice which stations have the stuff you want to see.

Cytotoxic said...

Oops sorry I mispoke earlier. I meant to say that "The Great Global Warming Swindle" was full of mistruths and distortions and we must be careful to eschew that in future.

Unknown said...

@ Cytotoxic: I understood you but your correction is still wrong. I've heard from warmists that there were errors in that film. They then try to use that to say that the entire film is a lie and all the people in it are liars and anyone skeptical of CAGW is lying ad nauseum. AGW itself has changed since that movie was made. We were right and they were wrong. Now we are arguing about much smaller potatoes but the same level of destruction to the economy and liberty are still advocated.

Meanwhile CBC can air full blown lies like the 9/11 truther stuff and the moon landing hoax stuff. (with my money)

The high road is ours.

Jay said...

I want to see some ratings for Sun News. I love 'em, Telus doesn't carry them which is sad. That said, I watch video clips of the segments and did watch online when it was available.
I want some numbers so I can judge their success. Canada needs these guys.

OMMAG said...

Good point about documentary content.

I find SUN TV news to be very disappointing. What we need is not merely another source of mediocre reporting with the benefit of a somewhat contrarian POV from the existing mainstream liberal and politically correct garbage. We need BETTER news coverage period.


I think they need to work on their editorial efforts with more content, more background and better fact checking.

The day to day substance of their news presentation is at best only as good as the lamest of the TV news media.
The lack quality and they lack quantity.

These are all issues which can be addressed and corrected.... BUT .... they had better start soon.

Anonymous said...

The biggest mistake Brian Mulroney made was not reining in the CBC, he should have sold it off.
I was hoping beyond hope that PMSH would do the deed (don't think it is going to happen), mark my words this will be Harper's downfall,the CBC at the next federal election will make sure the CPC will lose.

balbulican said...

"I want to see some ratings for Sun News."

Ratings for all Canadian broadcasters can be viewed at the BBM.ca site. It grieves me to report that SUN News is doing very poorly, indeed. It's mostly because their "news", while warmly received by like-minded viewers, is poorly reported, and too obviously ideological to attract a broader audience.

Their much vaunted "Sun Freedom Weekend" crashed and burned last week - look for the network to do the same at the next license renewal.

Kari said...

I find it hard to believe it's doing poorly. I sometimes start with Ezra, never miss Michael, love Charles and then Brian has some great stuff on. It's getting hard to turn it off! Well I do try to PVR it so I can fast forward any robocall stuff, sorry that's a non issue with me. If i would have got a robocall to go to the wrong polling station i'd have drove back to the right one...this is really a scandal about people that were inconvenienced if anything....or morons...

Alain said...

I keep seeing comments that Telus does not carry SNN, but Telus satellite does carry SNN in their basic package, something that Shaw Direct does not do. I have Shaw Direct and was forced to purchase a much more expensive package to continue getting SNN. I resent this since I have no interest in the rest of this same package. Unfortunately due to my location Telus satellite does not have reception here. I know because I wanted to switch, but when the Telus guy came he found there was no reception, so I had to stay with Shaw Direct. I hope this helps clarify the situation.

Balbulican said...

"I find it hard to believe it's doing poorly."

Do you? consult the BBMs.

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