CNN has been excoriated for the way it handled coverage of the Carnival Triumph fiasco. Quite frankly, we’d like to join in.

Anyone who stuck with the channel’s all day coverage saw essentially nonstop footage and discussion of the cruise ship’s arrival. We agree the story is both fascinating and terrifying, but it’s a boat traveling 5 mph. Few stories are big enough to warrant a news channel’s undivided attention; this was certainly not one of them.

Yet on went CNN, at times going upwards of an hour without commercial breaks. Erin Burnett’s show aired live from Triumph’s final destination in Mobile, Ala., a city we had hoped to never hear of again following our football team’s bowl loss there last month.

With a reporter in a helicopter, another following in a boat and two more stationed on the dock, CNN continued. Upon the ship’s arrival, the network shoved microphones into private conversations between travelers reconnecting with their loved ones. Even worse, its not-as-awful international sister channel simulcast much of the day’s coverage.

Who in their right mind thought this was a good idea? We have no clue how anyone possibly could. Surely even most people who don’t know the meaning of the phrase “news judgment” would consider such treatment to be overkill and would shy away from it.

In this era of partisanship and media bias, we can’t stress enough how much we wish CNN would work toward becoming a reliable source for careful investigative journalism about underreported issues, rather than overhyping stories such as Triumph’s return. In other words, new CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker should model his programming after “Anderson Cooper 360,” not “Piers Morgan Tonight.”

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.