Try and Identify the Carpetbaggers Trying to Capitalize on the Working Man's Woes

But for "60 Minutes", I don't watch any of the so-called news magazine shows because they tend to be offensively bad. They make you thankful that the 11 pm news folks only have 90 seconds to slather on the the false drama and phony "emotion." Case in point, last night's Primetime on the Sago Mine explosion. The show was an object lesson in all that's wrong with modern journalism (especially that of the TV variety).

Here's a story that, by itself, has more than it's share of tragedy and a ready-made good vs. evil dynamic. But rather than just telling those facts and letting them speak for themselves, Primetime pulls out every trick in the book that reporters learn to try and dress up otherwise dull stories. You had the cheesy music, the cheesy delivery from Chris Cuomo and perhaps worst of all, Brian Ross's shameful interview with mine owner Wilbur Ross. The guy owns a coal mine where a bunch of miners died, for Chrissake. 'Nuf said. You don't need to villify him any more than that! Instead, Brian Ross beats us over the head in a needless effort to draw a picture of Wilbur as a fat cat worthy of Thomas Nast. I kept waiting for Brian to stick a fat stogie in Wilbur's mouth and slip a top hat on his shining pate.

Yes, Wilbur has a house in the Hamptons and works out of a Manhattan skyscraper. (So does Brian, of course) But would he be any less responsible if he worked out of a suburban Georgia office park? This piece qualified as an "investigation"? Please...