Former “U.S. News” editor: Levy story is “infotainment”

Meanwhile, former U.S. News & World Report editor James Fallows chided cable news outlets for dishing out “infotainment” and said that their preoccupation with the Chandra Levy story is symptomatic of their “all or nothing” approach to subjects “that have the magic combo of violence, celebrity, mystery and sex.” Interviewed on the Web site www.JournalismJobs.com, Fallows, currently national correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly, commented, “If you watch cable news, there is only one thing happening. So it’s finding what is the most entertaining thing and just running that into the ground. It’s not that it’s wrong to cover Chandra Levy; it’s like with Diana and O.J. Its just one story that eclipses everything.” Asked about the CBS Evening News decision, Fallows remarked, “I don’t watch that show so I can’t really comment. To the extent that they did it to have more time for other stuff, I say that’s good.”