'The Best Political Team on Television'? Says Who?

The day of the New Hampshire primary was a big deal for CNN—so big that network honchos apparently couldn't resist forcing on-air talent to repeat their marketing slogan—“the best political team on television”—more than 50 times, by Jack Shafer's count. The cranky Slate media critic says the mind-numbing repetition damaged CNN's credibility, insulted its audience, and annoyed him to no end.

“Like a human tape loop,” the slogan was repeatedly inserted into the coverage, citing no authority yet asserting the “network’s bestness as fact.” Repetition is a terrible way to promote a perfectly decent effort, Shafer says; it calls into question “the earnestness of the whole enterprise” and reminds viewers that CNN “thinks they’re idiots.” Couldn’t Wolf Blitzer and company just report, and let us decide? (More CNN stories.)