海角大神

Sunday morning TV is a playground for political junkies.

ABC's "This Week" 鈥� CBS' "Face the Nation" 鈥� CNN's "State of the Union"聽鈥� "Fox News Sunday" And the granddaddy of them all, NBC鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press,鈥� which has been around since 1947.

The phrase 鈥渦sual suspects鈥� comes to mind in looking at a typical line-up of guests. This Sunday that includes US Senators Ted Cruz, Dianne Feinstein, and Marco Rubio; US Representatives Peter King, Mike Rogers, and Dutch Ruppersberger; Henry Kissinger and Mitt Romney.

And oh yes, President Obama, who鈥檒l appear on 鈥淢eet the Press,鈥� a journalistic coup for MTP鈥檚 new moderator Chuck Todd.

NBC recently fired moderator David Gregory. 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� had fallen to third among the Sunday news shows; with the late Tim Russert as moderator for a record 16 years, it had held the top slot in ratings.

In a preview to his approach, Mr. Todd said last Sunday that he hopes to reduce people鈥檚 cynicism toward politics and politicians.

"The art of politics is a very important part of how the world governs itself, how America governs itself," he said. "If you have people who know how to practice the art of politics, the democracy gets stronger, the world gets safer, and that's when you realize politics is a good thing."

Reducing people鈥檚 cynicism toward politics 鈥� especially these days, and especially among younger Americans 鈥� is a tall order.

A recent poll of 18- to 29-year-olds 鈥� the millennial generation聽鈥� by Harvard University鈥檚 Institute of Politics found that 58 percent agreed that 鈥淓lected officials don鈥檛 seem to have the same priorities I have.鈥� An even higher number 鈥� 62 percent 鈥� agreed that 鈥淓lected officials seem to be motivated by selfish reasons.鈥� Only 23 percent said they would 鈥渄efinitely鈥� be voting in November鈥檚 midterm elections.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been clear for some time now that young people are growing more disillusioned and disconnected from Washington,鈥� said Harvard Institute of Politics Polling Director John Della Volpe in a statement.聽鈥淭here鈥檚 an erosion of trust in the individuals and institutions that make government work 鈥� and now we see the lowest level of interest in any election we鈥檝e measured since 2000.鈥�

As voters (and those who don鈥檛 vote) have become more and more frustrated with Washington 鈥� government shutdowns, the partisan gridlock and lack of comity 鈥� the Sunday shows don鈥檛 seem to have adjusted to that frustration, says Jay Rosen, a media critic at New York University.

鈥淲e have the same people having the same arguments,鈥� he told the Washington Post. 鈥淭he political class is still invited on in the same way. There needs to be some recognition of that.鈥�

In a sense, 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� with Todd at the helm has nowhere to go but up.

鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to nose-dive out of a basement,鈥� writes Lloyd Grove, editor at large for The Daily Beast.

鈥淲hile聽MTP聽still makes news and gets some 2.4 million viewers, the audience is much-reduced from the glory days of Russert, and the iconic Sunday public-affairs program is a battered franchise in need of repair.鈥�

Within the news biz itself, there鈥檚 more than a little cynicism about the parade of talking heads regularly feature on MTP and the other Sunday morning TV fare. (Sen. John McCain has the most number of MTP appearances over the years: 69.)

鈥淟et鈥檚 be honest: Why should any sane person care who hosts聽Meet the Press?鈥� writes Eric Alterman in The Nation. 鈥淪hould anything newsworthy occur on one of these shows, their transcripts become available within minutes of the broadcast, but this almost never happens. They remain influential with the rest of the mainstream media and therefore offer a clue as to how its denizens define their job, but they are not really 鈥榥ews鈥� shows at all; instead, they are branding exercises for network news divisions.鈥�

Still, millions of Americans 鈥� before church or in some cases as church 鈥� rely on MTP and the others to keep them informed on current affairs, at least as seen mostly through the eyes and opinions of Washington insiders 鈥� politicians and pollsters, consultants and pundits.

To juice things up a bit, Chuck Todd will regularly be joined by panelists MSNBC 鈥淢orning Joe鈥� host Joe Scarborough (a former Republican congressman) and NBC congressional correspondent Luke Russert (Tim Russert鈥檚 son).

Fresh voices, sort of.