This line from a blog post about Tim Russert grabbed my attention: "He was also the tallest sentry standing guard at civility and seriousness' weary gate against the encroaching barbarity of cable TV excess."
If you want to see Exhibit A in exploitive cable TV's , here's a clip from Nancy Grace interviewing Elizabeth Smart (who was kidnapped several years ago), ostensibly about a bill that was before Congress. Grace's approach is beyond parody, and illustrates so much of what is wrong with such shows: