Now I compare that news gathering experience to the latest cycle delivered on CNN's US broadcast with Wolf Blitzer... asking us before going to commercial to "stay tuned" because he had" breaking news about Sarah Palin's potential run for the Presidency".
Let me first state that at no time have I seed Wolf Blitzer and his "breaking news " on the CNN broadcasts in China, India or Europe. So... my question to the American Cable media is simple ....Really? Are Wolf, Shawn, Bill and Chris the best you can do? It is clear from my travels that your parent companies know the difference between what you do every night and real journalism which delivers the people of the world information they need and are interested in!
All of which leaves me feeling...somebody please save me from the American Cable Media stations and the Jersey Shore mentality of their audiences!
Good luck with that battle J-Mac! Here's one for "the world's going to hell in a handbasket" category: I just finished a stint as an American citizen doing my duty for the criminal justice system...jury duty. Another guilty man goes free. What seemed to me to be an open and shut case for anyone willing to apply their life's experience to the evidence presented, turned into a if the glove doesn't fit you must acquit disaster. After 2 days of minority status protest,I caved. Moral of the story is that everyone sucks...even me.
ReplyDeleteAt least you didn't suck for two days as you held on to your opinion and the facts as you saw them. I read the following in a Tolstoy novel the other day, which made me smile:
ReplyDelete"Stephan Arkadyevitch had not chosen his political opinions or his views; these political opinions and views had come to him of themselves, just as he did not choose the shapes of his hat and coat, but simply took those that were being worn. And for him, living in a certain society--owing to the need, ordinarily developed at years of discretion, for some degree of mental activity--to have views was just as indispensable as to have a hat."
I had the opportunity to watch CNN International during a brief stint in Somalia some years ago. I too was a little mystified to see the difference in content: what CNN International did and did not cover compared to our news at home.
ReplyDeleteWhy the difference in programming? One major and one ancilliary reason.
(1) More than probably any other nation in the world, the United States is driven by consumerism, and thus marketing. What we view and don't view on tv is determined by corporations whose main purpose in life is to sell us their stuff. So reports of world events are important only insomuch as how well they support the commercials.
(2) We live in a culture obsessed with celebrity; including political stars. And Sarah Palin, like Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears, sells more hamburgers than policy reports from China Unicom. As the old saying goes, "Sex sells."
Let's compare politics to religion--two dicey subjects. C.S. Lewis once explained the relationship between God and Man by saying that God (although all-knowing) didn't foresee the repercussions of free will. The result of unbridled free will is a world gone bad. So it is with capitalism. The founding fathers (with the possible exception of Thomas Jefferson) probably didn't foresee the endgame in the free-market system--a world we now live in of capitalism run amuck. The market controls our thoughts and behavior without us even knowing it. And perhaps the worst is...we like it that way. As Black Bear says (paraphrasing), we all suck.
Who is too blame? Corporations for their relentless blasts of commercial brain-washing, or us for watching it? That's a chicken-and-egg question that will only drive us crazy.
So what to do? Capitalism is like a spoiled child. We can't throw it out. It's all we've got and we love it. All we can do is try to control it and instill come discipline.
What's my solution? Turn off the tv, listen to music you like, read good books, eat good food, go to minor league baseball games, and surround yourself with the people you love. And repeat the Serenity Prayer often: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference."