The past few weeks were, by many accounts, slow for major news. I’m sure it was fairly obvious to everyone who follows the news. Even though the stock market suffered the biggest drop it has taken in years, and it’s possible an attempt was made to take the life of our vice president, the headlines on most newspapers and Web sites followed Britney Spears’ latest hair cut. TV cameras followed her close with up to the minute developments, while stories based on world affairs got considerably less attention.
It struck me as odd that, in a country currently at war, and with the possibility of war with Iran, the most popular news stories have to do with the recently deceased (even if some would say that she was brain-dead long ago,) Anna Nicole Smith and the recurring rehab addict Britney Spears.
I believe that, as a society, we are tired of the same stories coming out of the Middle East. That’s a big reason that Democrats won most of the Senate seats during last year’s Congressional elections. America was, and still is, ready for a change in our policy on the Middle East. Yet, instead of offering any new solutions or change of direction, the president is essentially going against the will of most of the population and “surging” American troops into Iraq, when other countries, like Britain, have seen the error in escalating the situation and are removing their troops from the war zone.
I bring this up because arguably the biggest story of last few weeks, the removal of troops from Iraq, was placed “under the fold” by headlines about some pop star’s new ‘do.
I have to admit, I have no solution to this dilemma, and I am making a broad statement about most news stories, obviously not all of them. Overall, I feel as if most conglomerate news organizations, in the board rooms at least, are happy being vultures, getting fat from the suffering of others, and leaving stories that might be controversial alone because those controversial stories could cause trouble, or complaints and that could be bad for business.
I can only suggest that the cutback spending on newsroom budgets, which most newspapers have suffered, has kept in-depth reporting to a minimum. It’s a shame. Where will the next “Woodward and Bernstein” come from if enterprising young writers can’t get jobs and news agencies insist on devoting coverage to topics solely based on entertainment value? Entertainment is fine, but knowledge is power and by filling respected news outlets with stories based on entertainment, the industry is doing a disservice to society. It is the purpose of the media to bring valuable information to the educated public, not to perpetuate celebrity gossip.
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