Judging from the media coverage February 19, 2010 will be “a day that will live in infamy”. You will be asked “Where were you when it happened?” A frantic man can be heard giving commentary, “OH! THE HUMANITY! THE HUMANITY!!!” The day, of course, is the day that Tiger Woods issued his public apology to the world for his marital infidelity. Every television channel aired the event, the radio and Internet were abuzz and the following day it was on the front page of every major newspaper. Wait, wait, wait -- Hold on… a man cheating on his wife is not front page news. Is it? Well, it is in America; the most entertained and the least informed nation on the planet.
February 19, 2010 will not be remembered for Tiger Woods. But did anyone hear about anything else on that day? Were there actually no other more important press conferences? How did this event appeal so much to the American masses? Well, the story’s appeal is due to the fact that it involves the two most popular news items of the day. What could be more delicious to a consumer population bloated with sports and sexy gossip than a dessert-like fusion of both? Today's media regards tabloid journalism with as much deference as should be reserved for professional journalism. The average media consumer finds nothing wrong with this trend in spite of the obvious futility of it. To have our top news outlets and most talented journalists take one whole day and devote it to Tiger Woods saying sorry for a personal matter is nonsensical.
It could just be that the pace of life is slow enough so that more momentous happenings can not occur daily by the 7 o‘clock news hour. After all, the Titanic can’t sink everyday, thankfully, but the downtime between such events could most certainly be used more constructively than simply studying the trivial events in life. While our collective inner-sociologists are intrigued by such an event as a recognizable sports figure pulling a one-hundred degree turnabout right in front of us, it still does not deserve the amount of attention that Tiger Woods has gotten.
It must be the gossip factor. The primal attraction to such gossip is undeniable. A social scientist may argue that as a social animal the human being does learn from an event that is merely gossip. Humans devour gossip as an evolutionary tool and learn what to do and what not to do by other human’s actions.
But what is learned from this recent event? Why study it and pick it apart? Events that are newsworthy should be lessons we can learn from or that reflect the state of our nation or society. Gossip is for the water bubbler and can be traded inter personally with the same effect. Besides giving an entirely different meaning to playing 18 holes without the wife knowing, what did Woods’ actions accomplish? The answer is, “Nothing.” It is just another dirty bomb from the American Media’s arsenal of weapons of mass distraction. While I am not suggesting that the media is run by some ill intending cabal, I am suggesting that us proles are allowing ourselves to be distracted. The media is an ever changing animal which molds itself to our preferences. So it can not be blamed for the amount of nonsense that it feeds us because we say we want it.
As long as the ratings and the market exist that approve the garbage being reported the media providers will change nothing. So then, how can we change it? The obvious steps are to change our sources of media from the entertaining brand to the most informative one. When we stop buying gossip rags then gossip rags will stop being published. It is our ability as the consumer to control supply and demand, we should even start phrasing it “demand then supply.” By opting for media which is more specific to current events and news that covers state and federal government and local issues we could avoid all this trivial gossip. Or at least just save it for the weekends. Think of it as a diet for your mind.
Some may see no problem in all this. If they want real news they know where to get it. They will say no one is obsessed with celebrity news it is just so accessible. In line at the grocery store, on our web browser’s homepage and on the majority of our television channels. The latter perhaps being the best indicator of our nation’s gross misappropriation of attention. Try to find a channel which is constantly discussing matters such as the best school to send your child to, or how to take active steps in your local government. There are only a few. As you cycle through the channels being broadcast on one of the most important inventions in technology of the past millennium you will find mostly junk programs.
The time has come today when people must realize how more empowered they are than any preceding civilian population. Two words should explain: The Internet! Every Tom, Dick, Mary and Jane can access anything they want. The freedom of information and the speed of global communication is like a shiny new toy that now one has figured out how to use yet. The good news is that there are simple steps to make your daily intake of media more informative: Adjust your Internet homepage of choice so that the first stories you are prompted with are not filed under “OMG!” (like sonoffuzzy.blogspot.com); Adjust the presets of your car radio to talk shows. This step can make even a drive to the corner store packed with information; Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Yes, he does exist and you can communicate with him. Tell him what you want to see on the front page of his paper.
These steps and the many more that are similar are too obvious to enumerate. As the reader and the audience it is the American people’s jobs to make sure they are keeping themselves up to date on the pertinent news of the day. The fact that Tiger is on the front page and news of the wars, health care and the economy are buried is not the people’s fault. But it is our obstacle to overcome.
Friday, March 12, 2010
INFORMATIVE MEDIA?
Judging from the media coverage February 19, 2010 will be “a day that will live in infamy”. You will be asked “Where were you when it happened?” A frantic man can be heard giving commentary, “OH! THE HUMANITY! THE HUMANITY!!!” The day, of course, is the day that Tiger Woods issued his public apology to the world for his marital infidelity. Every television channel aired the event, the radio and Internet were abuzz and the following day it was on the front page of every major newspaper. Wait, wait, wait -- Hold on… a man cheating on his wife is not front page news. Is it? Well, it is in America; the most entertained and the least informed nation on the planet.
February 19, 2010 will not be remembered for Tiger Woods. But did anyone hear about anything else on that day? Were there actually no other more important press conferences? How did this event appeal so much to the American masses? Well, the story’s appeal is due to the fact that it involves the two most popular news items of the day. What could be more delicious to a consumer population bloated with sports and sexy gossip than a dessert-like fusion of both? Today's media regards tabloid journalism with as much deference as should be reserved for professional journalism. The average media consumer finds nothing wrong with this trend in spite of the obvious futility of it. To have our top news outlets and most talented journalists take one whole day and devote it to Tiger Woods saying sorry for a personal matter is nonsensical.
It could just be that the pace of life is slow enough so that more momentous happenings can not occur daily by the 7 o‘clock news hour. After all, the Titanic can’t sink everyday, thankfully, but the downtime between such events could most certainly be used more constructively than simply studying the trivial events in life. While our collective inner-sociologists are intrigued by such an event as a recognizable sports figure pulling a one-hundred degree turnabout right in front of us, it still does not deserve the amount of attention that Tiger Woods has gotten.
It must be the gossip factor. The primal attraction to such gossip is undeniable. A social scientist may argue that as a social animal the human being does learn from an event that is merely gossip. Humans devour gossip as an evolutionary tool and learn what to do and what not to do by other human’s actions.
But what is learned from this recent event? Why study it and pick it apart? Events that are newsworthy should be lessons we can learn from or that reflect the state of our nation or society. Gossip is for the water bubbler and can be traded inter personally with the same effect. Besides giving an entirely different meaning to playing 18 holes without the wife knowing, what did Woods’ actions accomplish? The answer is, “Nothing.” It is just another dirty bomb from the American Media’s arsenal of weapons of mass distraction. While I am not suggesting that the media is run by some ill intending cabal, I am suggesting that us proles are allowing ourselves to be distracted. The media is an ever changing animal which molds itself to our preferences. So it can not be blamed for the amount of nonsense that it feeds us because we say we want it.
As long as the ratings and the market exist that approve the garbage being reported the media providers will change nothing. So then, how can we change it? The obvious steps are to change our sources of media from the entertaining brand to the most informative one. When we stop buying gossip rags then gossip rags will stop being published. It is our ability as the consumer to control supply and demand, we should even start phrasing it “demand then supply.” By opting for media which is more specific to current events and news that covers state and federal government and local issues we could avoid all this trivial gossip. Or at least just save it for the weekends. Think of it as a diet for your mind.
Some may see no problem in all this. If they want real news they know where to get it. They will say no one is obsessed with celebrity news it is just so accessible. In line at the grocery store, on our web browser’s homepage and on the majority of our television channels. The latter perhaps being the best indicator of our nation’s gross misappropriation of attention. Try to find a channel which is constantly discussing matters such as the best school to send your child to, or how to take active steps in your local government. There are only a few. As you cycle through the channels being broadcast on one of the most important inventions in technology of the past millennium you will find mostly junk programs.
The time has come today when people must realize how more empowered they are than any preceding civilian population. Two words should explain: The Internet! Every Tom, Dick, Mary and Jane can access anything they want. The freedom of information and the speed of global communication is like a shiny new toy that now one has figured out how to use yet. The good news is that there are simple steps to make your daily intake of media more informative: Adjust your Internet homepage of choice so that the first stories you are prompted with are not filed under “OMG!” (like sonoffuzzy.blogspot.com); Adjust the presets of your car radio to talk shows. This step can make even a drive to the corner store packed with information; Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Yes, he does exist and you can communicate with him. Tell him what you want to see on the front page of his paper.
These steps and the many more that are similar are too obvious to enumerate. As the reader and the audience it is the American people’s jobs to make sure they are keeping themselves up to date on the pertinent news of the day. The fact that Tiger is on the front page and news of the wars, health care and the economy are buried is not the people’s fault. But it is our obstacle to overcome.
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