Hey, here’s a great idea: a 24-hour news channel.

What, you say? There are already more news channels than news? Yes, and have you watched any of them lately?

CNN, Fox, MSNBC — it doesn’t matter: The much-maligned Jerry Springer has become the prototype for cable broadcasting.

Forget “just the facts, ma’am.” Here’s the scenario: Trustworthy anchor of a news “talk show” runs a two-minute clip of a story.

Then, in an attempt to appear unbiased, he introduces right- and left-wing shouting heads, who proceed to spew five-minutes’ worth of Republican and Democratic talking points at each other, pausing only to name-call, smirk and breathe.

Any day now, I fear they will resort to hair-pulling (except whoever sits opposite Democratic shill James Carville), cat-fighting and creamed corn wrestling. Sort of a Tim-Russert-meets-Russ-Meyer thing, or “Pundits Gone Wild” with co-hosts Paula Zahn and Snoop Dogg.

Whatever happened to the “news” in news channel?

Since the talking reached a fever pitch with last fall’s election, I’ve become a refugee from cable news stations. Bawling pundits and their pie-wide mouths send me scrambling for the remote.

There’s not enough liquor in North America to get me through an entire evening of Fox News. Or any of the rest of them, for that matter.

The pendulum has swung as far as it can go. The national volume is already on 10, and can’t be dialed any higher in the shrieking game of outrage-peddling. I want news, not talking about news. And I want it in quiet, rational tones.

Apparently, I have company.

In the aftermath of America’s noisiest election yet, former Reagan scribe Peggy Noonan, writing in OpinionJournal.com, made clear her feelings on the constant bickering:

“We have all been talking a great deal, and for a long time. We have been choosing a posture and verbalizing its legitimacy, its excellence. … Ssssshhhhhhhh, I want to respond.”

Similarly, comedian Jon Stewart, during an October guest appearance on CNN’s left-right screechfest “Crossfire,” told hosts Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala: “Stop hurting America. … You are — what do you call it? — partisan hacks. … You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably.”

Some viewers at the time expressed disappointment at funnyman Stewart’s deadly earnest guest appearance. But public reaction to his comments was swift and positive.

Perhaps we fed-up viewers owe Stewart a debt of gratitude.

It seems CNN officials have finally tuned into Americans’ increasing distaste for shrill opinions, regurgitated party lines and hunger for real news.

Executives at the cable channel announced last week that they are axing “Crossfire,” and will likely end its milder cousin, “The Capital Gang.” The network says it plans to take advantage of its stable of international correspondents to take the original 24-hour-news channel back to its hard-reporting roots.

In other words: less talk, more Christiane Amanpour.

“People screaming at each other adds a lot of heat, but not much light,” CNN’s new president, Jonathan Klein, said, adding, “I agree wholeheartedly with Jon Stewart’s overall premise.”

Let’s be real here. If CNN were making a mint off “Crossfire,” “The Capital Gang” and its other commentator shows, it wouldn’t be changing programming. And CNN will never be able to nab Fox devotees. That’s why it’s not even trying.

By abandoning the gooey comfort of mutually reinforced opinions for a hard-news format, CNN hopes to draw viewers ticked off by too much talk, too much manufactured outrage, and not enough old-fashioned reporting about world events.

And we TV news junkies have a hope of winning back our sets. And our sanity.

Bronwyn Lance Chester is a columnist for The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk. Her e-mail address is bronwyn.chester@pilotonline.com.