Felix Salmon's account of his inaugural appearance on CNBC is, I think, a rather revealing document for those interested in understanding the state of cable news:My first appearance on CNBC happened to coincide with the single most important event of the century: Bernie Madoff getting out of a car. So there wasn't much time to talk about anything substantive, although I did try to chide the network gently for being such a central part of the Madoff circus. Yes, the Madoff scandal is a big story, but a bail hearing? Not so much.Fun fact: the newsroom erupted in spontaneous applause when Madoff appeared -- not for Madoff, but rather because Fox Business happened to be on a commercial break at the time, so CNBC had the live coverage to itself. Or something. Many congratulations to them, in any case.
And remember, this is the most important financial channel in the largest economy during one of the worst financial crises in history.
