Thursday, January 10, 2008

frustration with the media...

i just wanted to vent for a second. these are rhetorical questions. unfortunately, we all know the answers.

why is it that the only things in the news these days are about britney spears, teachers having sex with their students, what is happening on myspace, parents killing their kids, or the like? why does the media focus so much attention on insignificant things? just get on foxnews.com or cnn.com today and look at the headlines. i guarantee you that over half of them will disgust you because they are not newsworthy... at least for the national news. does it really matter for america that britney is having another breakdown or someone was murdered or someone's dog ran away? i don't want to take away from these individual people's problems. i know that they are real and life is hard, but this stuff happens to people worldwide on a daily basis. it doesn't mean it doesn't suck, but really, is there nothing else going on in the world that is occurring on a much larger scale that we might be interested in knowing?

the international news really makes me sick. one of the leading stories for the past two days is about a man in poland who went to a brothel and found his wife working there. honestly, who gives a crap? is there nothing else more important to report on? i could care less that some man discovered that his wife is a prostitute on the side while he himself was being unfaithful. there are probably a million other people today that found out that their spouses are unfaithful. why don't they get news stories? i want to know what is going on in africa and asia instead. i want to know what is going on in iraq... besides the places we are bombing. they say the troop insurgence is working. really? what are the details? what is being accomplished? how can we really vote for a new president when we don't know what issues he or she should be focused on? we are seriously uninformed.

i just really feel like there are big things happening every single day, and ten years from now we will find out about them. we will say, "my gosh, that was happening and i had no idea... there was genocide that has been going on for ten years on a massive scale that we could have done something about. instead, we were hearing about britney's latest meltdown. media, the blood is on your hands. you have failed us at a very elemental level. you have sold out for corporate sponsors and television ratings, and people are literally dying because of it.

are people really that interested and consumed with what the media reports on that the media should continue in its current direction? if so, america is in serious trouble.

goodnight and good luck,
jw <><

4 comments:

D.Cooper said...

Whew, all that thinking and composing must have been exhausting! Good thoughts though.

Love,

Mama C.

Anonymous said...

right on, Jon. I don't bother to watch ORielly anymore for these very reasons.

Ebenezer Erskine said...

I agree. It is even worse where I am...

Anonymous said...

Yes-- I totally agee! I have all but quit listening to the news. How about a true report on the presidential canidates and their views or even a bit of good news about what is working in our nation and the world. i feel sorry that britney's values are so wrong--but I would not like my meltdowns and personal failures reported daily.

Mom W