News Program on TV, Does It Need To Be Entertainment?

It is about 5am here in Japan when the US stock market closes in its summer time season. I am living Japan, so it is limited to get information of what has happened in the US market which has big and influential power to the Japanese market. Website, news flow through electric media, and TV are the main tools for me to get information quickly.

From 5:45, a program on economy starts from Monday to Friday. I watch this almost everyday, but I feel frustrated actually. The TV anchor does not seem to be interested what she reports at all. For example, there is a part of live report from New York, and the reporter just tells the results of the markets of stocks, oils, bonds and the like. The most important information is the reasons of the movements: why the oil future price climbed up today, or why the financial sector declined only in the stock market. But if the anchor does not care those points, of course, she or he cannot report or explain at all.

Unfortunately, in the program, they never show their insight on market movement in general. And I am also annoyed of the section in the program which the caster in New York tells on the US newspapers' topics. I need the information just related to economy, but she explains the entertainment news in detail... I like the Showbiz in general but not in the morning when I prepare for the day's work. The other day, the US financial situation was worried because of the concern on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, she mentioned about the scandal of Madonna and a baseball player.

The program is on economy, and I am sure the most of viewer is just people who are interested in economy. Why she had to introduces the scandal? Because of ignorance? Or laziness? News as an entertainment?

The word, viewers includes a variety of people. I can feel an assumption that most people are not interested in hard and technical news but like sports, entertainment and weather. The hard news such as politics or economic policies sometimes invite strong reaction, and it seems that TV anchors are intimidating to talk in depth without their deep knowledge. But it is hard for me to say this is not journalism, sad to say.