It's probably only Jersey anyway

For yet another example of how the cable "news" channels have become bottom-feeding, ratings-driven panicmeisters, just look at the reporting on that mysterious gas smell that apparently afflicted parts of midtown and lower Manhattan this morning. (Here on the fabulous Upper East Side, I smelled nothing).

I turned on the TV at about 1 pm to catch the headlines. At 1:04, the local 24-hour news channel, NY1, was already on to another story. But the three national channels, CNN, FOX and MSNBC, were still breathlessly reporting on this smell, including meaningless shots of random buildings and street scenes, maps showing the area, and reporters live in the "field."

So a station devoted exclusively to New York City news has already decided there's nothing there, but channels that supposedly serve a national audience are speculating about unlikely scenarios, with the T word thrown out for good measure, trying to scare the shit out of their audience.

Pathetic.