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.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.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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