our idiot culture
Over twenty years ago , a little drama began with the Watergate break-in and ultimately ended with the resignation of this nation's 37th president , Richard Nixon . the American press engaged in a frenzy of self-flattering and defensiveness about its performance in that affair . They need not have congratulated themselves , but they were right to be defensive . Since that time the America that is served up today by the media is increasingly illusionary and unpredictable . It is disfigured , unreal , and disconnected from the true context and fabric of our real lives . When the media does cover American life , as it actually exists they tend to break new ground in getting it wrong ! What I mean is that the coverage is so distorted , either by celebrity or by the worship of celebrity . They have a way of rendering real news to gossip , which is actually deviating from society's true condition . They are also pretty good at turning news into a political or social discourse , which in turn is turned into a sewer by practically everyone---the media , the politicians , the citizens ,etc .
Have you ever been watching television and suddenly there is a "late breaking" news item flashed across the screen ? When they start reporting , have you seen all the media vehicles , the vans with their transmission and receiving equipment in the background ? How quickly they seem to get to the trouble spots ! And after they do their reporting , we are left knowing and understanding little more than we did before they started . They are in such a great hurry so as not to miss a major story that thoroughness and quality reporting is discarded in favor of speed and quantity . They seem under such great pressure to compete , the fear that somebody else will make the splash first , and a frenzied environment is created in which a blizzard of information is presented and serious questions may not be raised ; and even when such questions are raised , no one takes the time to do the work of properly sorting it all out so the questions can be answered properly.
In truth , I think that reporting should be the best obtainable version of the truth , irrespective of who reports it . Just look at some of our magazines and newspapers today ! they aren't designed to sell the truth , nor the real truth . most national magazines are selling themselves by using sexy models on their front covers with hardly anything of real , honest to goodness substance between their pages .This is just one indication that their commitment is not toward the best obtainable version of the truth , not toward cultivating a journalism based on serious , thoughtful reporting . No , these are not the priorities that jump out at you when you turn pages in your newspaper , or when you turn on the 11 o'clock local news or even network news shows . It's all about money and ratings now . these are their foremost concerns on their agendas .
The world seems to have moved away from real journalism toward the creation of a sleazy info-entertainment culture in which it is hard to distinguish the lines between top reporters . I could be wrong , but I think the lines are now obscured even between the New York Post and any one of our many newspapers ; at least on some things . In this new journalistic culture it would seem most of the time that trivial things are actually significant , that the sensational , offbeat and crazy are more important than real , honest to God news about the good and bad that affects people's daily lives . The viewers seem to eat it up . Journalism used to SERVE its readers and viewers , now it simply panders to them . it condescends to readers and viewers , giving them what all the studies say they want . Actually , they are giving the readers and viewers what the sudies have calculated as being viably commercial ; it will sell products ,boost ratings and readership ,ncrease current sales or all the above . But in all fairness , this kind of journalism could not be sustained if readers and viewers did not rise to the occasion and warm to the trash they have been given . Still , I think that instead of doing this , journalists should have as their goal , at least partially , to challenge the masses and to foster their intelligence , not merely amuse them and cater to their curiosity.
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Have you ever been watching television and suddenly there is a "late breaking" news item flashed across the screen ? When they start reporting , have you seen all the media vehicles , the vans with their transmission and receiving equipment in the background ? How quickly they seem to get to the trouble spots ! And after they do their reporting , we are left knowing and understanding little more than we did before they started . They are in such a great hurry so as not to miss a major story that thoroughness and quality reporting is discarded in favor of speed and quantity . They seem under such great pressure to compete , the fear that somebody else will make the splash first , and a frenzied environment is created in which a blizzard of information is presented and serious questions may not be raised ; and even when such questions are raised , no one takes the time to do the work of properly sorting it all out so the questions can be answered properly.
In truth , I think that reporting should be the best obtainable version of the truth , irrespective of who reports it . Just look at some of our magazines and newspapers today ! they aren't designed to sell the truth , nor the real truth . most national magazines are selling themselves by using sexy models on their front covers with hardly anything of real , honest to goodness substance between their pages .This is just one indication that their commitment is not toward the best obtainable version of the truth , not toward cultivating a journalism based on serious , thoughtful reporting . No , these are not the priorities that jump out at you when you turn pages in your newspaper , or when you turn on the 11 o'clock local news or even network news shows . It's all about money and ratings now . these are their foremost concerns on their agendas .
The world seems to have moved away from real journalism toward the creation of a sleazy info-entertainment culture in which it is hard to distinguish the lines between top reporters . I could be wrong , but I think the lines are now obscured even between the New York Post and any one of our many newspapers ; at least on some things . In this new journalistic culture it would seem most of the time that trivial things are actually significant , that the sensational , offbeat and crazy are more important than real , honest to God news about the good and bad that affects people's daily lives . The viewers seem to eat it up . Journalism used to SERVE its readers and viewers , now it simply panders to them . it condescends to readers and viewers , giving them what all the studies say they want . Actually , they are giving the readers and viewers what the sudies have calculated as being viably commercial ; it will sell products ,boost ratings and readership ,ncrease current sales or all the above . But in all fairness , this kind of journalism could not be sustained if readers and viewers did not rise to the occasion and warm to the trash they have been given . Still , I think that instead of doing this , journalists should have as their goal , at least partially , to challenge the masses and to foster their intelligence , not merely amuse them and cater to their curiosity.
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