Indeed, television news is comprised of fragments that are tailored for short attention spans. Those segments are, as Postman observes, punctuated by musical bits and other random sensory input. Although few anchors use the exact words "Now.This," to signal the transition, their meaning is implied with other phrases like "We"ll be right back," or through a simple change in tone of voice. The bits and fragments are arranged magazine-style, with catchy titles. As Postman states on page 112, "magazines have taught television that nothing but entertainment is news.".

             Although Postman does not suggest how television news could be improved to meet his high standards for public discourse, his observations are correct. One could object to Postman"s critique based on the fact that television does have a limited time frame with which to deliver the news, and that in order to inform people, the media must be sufficiently entertaining. After all, there is nothing wrong with entertainment value. However, CNN solidifies Postman"s claim that television news is the "idiot"s delight," (99). For twenty-four hours a day, CNN delivers bits and bytes of information, which amount to entertaining but fluffy fragments of news. Prime time anchor Aaron Brown even devotes part of his show to reading the headlines from newspapers from around the country: news doesn"t get any briefer or "now.this" than that.

             News on CNN is also divided into "shows," underscoring their connection with entertainment television. "News Night with Aaron Brown" is followed by "Lou Dobbs Tonight." These individual shows are listed separately in television guides much as "24" and "The Shield" are also listed side by side. Furthermore, CNN falls right into the television news pattern of making "celebrities of your newscasters," (Postman 106).