CNN International counted down to Greece’s … default – turning a national and divisive drama into a media circus. Well-known anchorman Richard Quest thought it would be entertaining for the network’s global viewers to get a direct telecast of the countdown to midnight, when Greece failed to repay its IMF arrears on June 30. With a direct telecast from the rally of supporters of the YES camp for the July 5 referendum at Syntagma Square, you’d think that the countdown to Greece’s default was a New Year’s Eve celebration…

CNN is trying desperately reverse its ratings slide and increasing irrelevance on the global media stage by turning to the sensational.