Forget healthcare, gun control, illegal immigration, the economy or the defiict. This morning on CNN I figured out what's REALLY wrong with this country: The fact that what happened last night on "the bachelorette" somehow qualifies as NEWS.
Imagine that: CNN thinking they need to inform people - who weren't even interested enough to WATCH THE PROGRAM - what happened on it!
There is something seriously wrong with us if there's enough people in 'the market' who think they really needed that infomration.
This is something that I have been saying to my friends for years. Not just the bachelorette. DWTS, american idol, survivor, top model. For a while news programs have been reporting on these shows. I have nothing against the shows, but it's not fucking news!!! And it's not breaking news that some celebrity is getting a divorce or is having a baby!!! They cover this type of shit like it;s just as important or more so than the wars, or the economy, or the crime. It's sickening. And it makes me feel sorry for this population today.
ReplyDeleteKudos to CNN. If they would have reported on the deficit instead, they would only have screwed it up with some bogus conservative framing or false equivalence or whatever. If you can't help sucking, it's better to suck at trivia.
ReplyDeleteAnd what the viewers want is something to talk politely about with casual acquaintances the next day. In olden times that included major events that occurred in reality. But nowadays pretty much every major event refutes conservatism, so any significant news becomes politics, which isn't allowed at the water cooler.
The Bachelor/ette is one of the most painful, insanely stupid shows I've ever seen, EVEN for a "reality" show.
ReplyDeleteI'm especially hateful of it since my mom, a normally a respectable, intelligent person, watches it, and I have to listen to it while I cook supper when I get home from work.
I realize this wasn't the point of your post. I just hate it so much. -_- And this makes it worse!
"Imagine that: CNN thinking they need to inform people - who weren't even interested enough to WATCH THE PROGRAM - what happened on it! There is something seriously wrong with us if there's enough people in 'the market' who think the needed that infomration."
ReplyDeleteSo what happened on it?!!!
No, I'm not serious.
I'm pretty much with Steeve on this one. CNN sucks. Let them cover trivia. I would, however, note that such trivial diversion from real news is part and parcel of the institutional right-wing bias of the corporate press--the Fox News clowns obsess over this sort of thing right alongside the openly political nonsense. Quite a contrast to someone like Olbermann (a liberal)--his producers sometimes force him to cover such rot, thinking it will bring ratings, so his "coverage" amounts, almost entirely, to making fun of it.
The Media gives people what they like to see and hear. People, and americans in particular, don't like to hear about problems except perhaps people like you who are in constant search for topics for argument and debate.
ReplyDeleteAmerica has the largest number of Fiction readers in the world: the bad news is that these readers like fiction in their life too. That's how it is that they elect young , good-looking presidents (The Kennedys, Clinton, Bush Junior..) although Presidency and young age don't go well together.
That's how they come to think the Swedish Academy is the outer world, and not Afghanistan.
They don't like to hear about the source of the money they're happily spending - money that's being printed with no connection to real economy. They don't like to hear that a 'sneeze' from China could put an end to everything.
Happy Birthday America!
Again, I agree with you. Wouldn't it be nice if one news anchor said to the other after a spot on Tiger's philandering or Kate Gosselin's new hairdo "so effing what!?" It would be best if they used the swear word and it got bleeped out however. (I am not much of a swearer.) I take Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert more seriously then half the jokers on CNN(and all the jokers on Fox.)
ReplyDeleteSleepyjoe: I couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteSteeve: Wow, cynical much? LOL. But seriosuly, you're absolutely right. The Right and the Funny-Mentalists have divided this country so sharply that you can't even agree to disagree anymore. It's insane. And the Media, and their conservtaive bias, only futher this psychotic divide.
Dradeeus: No prob. And you're right, although pretty much the whole "reality show" genre is a pretty tightly grouped race to the bottom, IMHO.
Classic: Yeah, you (and Steeve) have a good (and pretty sad) point on that. But covering the Bachelorette as if it were news doesn't really HELP their cause any. LOL (What happened on it???!!!! LOL. Smart ass.)
Duta: You are correct. But I wonder if you realize that you are describing our conservatives FAR MORE than you are describing our liberals. (Though to an extent everyone IS guilty of it.) I really like the way you put it though... I'm thinking I'll use that as a basis for a future post. Interesting idea.
Jlarue: Stewart and Colbert: The most trusted names in news! Personaly, I get more info from MMFA than pretty much any other source, but the Daily show should win a Peabody Award!
Anyway, thanks for all your comments. Great stuff. There's a part-2 to this coming, but I'll admit that it's not nearly as juicy as gossip about the Bachelorette. LOL
...which is why I get most of my news from BBC now...
ReplyDelete"To the extent that we're now judging journalism by the same standards that we apply to entertainment, in other words: give the public what it wants, not necessarily what it ought to hear, what it ought to see, what it needs, but what it wants. That may prove to be one of the greatest tragedies in the history of American journalism." -Ted Koppel, on PBS' FRONTLINE'S: News War
ReplyDeleteThat quote essentially encapsulates the problem with the mainstream media.