Syndicates should not sensationalize
Beth Clothier
Issue date: 10/23/09 Section: Opinion
As I sat in Beu Health Center Wednesday surrounded by a dozen plague carriers, I couldn't help but notice the television in the corner as I tried not to think about how I was probably being exposed to the swine flu. The "Today Show" was on, as is usual there in the morning, but the strange thing was that it looked a lot less like a news program and a lot more like "Animal House."
Don't get me wrong. I am all for a lighthearted approach now and then, a few less stories about murder and mayhem and a few more about the good things in life, but watching Matt Lauer encouraging his co-host to "Chug! Chug! Chug!" a combination of 10 beers left me wondering what was happening to national news programs.
It seems these days that all we see is filler, from the blowhards on cable news networks attacking one another like rabid dogs and trying to incite dissension with their narrow-minded propaganda to a rousing game of beer pong with the guy who played "Norm" on "Cheers." There is also a tendency toward sensationalism, as is evident to anyone who ever turned on a television.
Just last week the biggest story in the nation was about the balloon kid, which later (and not surprisingly) turned out to be a hoax. The boy's father relied on the networks' love of shocking tales to propel himself toward his 15 minutes of fame, knowing that all it takes to make it on the news these days is an incredible story. It's sad how he chose to do it, by using his child, but it's even sadder that he got everyone to take the bait.
I recently reread Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451," and I couldn't help but draw a parallel between today's news programming and the programs and magazines that were spoken of in its pages. Giant television screens and talking heads spewing nonsense designed to keep people from thinking and shiny pages with equally glossy images and stories.
We need to start thinking about what we are taking in each day and the information that is being offered. How much of it is actually news? What are these reporters actually reporting, and what is being said in interviews? Is there anything of substance, or is it all just mindless chatter designed to distract us from reality?
It's time to start thinking critically and demanding real news instead of the garbage we get now. If we don't, controlling and shaping our minds is going to be that much easier.
Don't get me wrong. I am all for a lighthearted approach now and then, a few less stories about murder and mayhem and a few more about the good things in life, but watching Matt Lauer encouraging his co-host to "Chug! Chug! Chug!" a combination of 10 beers left me wondering what was happening to national news programs.
It seems these days that all we see is filler, from the blowhards on cable news networks attacking one another like rabid dogs and trying to incite dissension with their narrow-minded propaganda to a rousing game of beer pong with the guy who played "Norm" on "Cheers." There is also a tendency toward sensationalism, as is evident to anyone who ever turned on a television.
Just last week the biggest story in the nation was about the balloon kid, which later (and not surprisingly) turned out to be a hoax. The boy's father relied on the networks' love of shocking tales to propel himself toward his 15 minutes of fame, knowing that all it takes to make it on the news these days is an incredible story. It's sad how he chose to do it, by using his child, but it's even sadder that he got everyone to take the bait.
I recently reread Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451," and I couldn't help but draw a parallel between today's news programming and the programs and magazines that were spoken of in its pages. Giant television screens and talking heads spewing nonsense designed to keep people from thinking and shiny pages with equally glossy images and stories.
We need to start thinking about what we are taking in each day and the information that is being offered. How much of it is actually news? What are these reporters actually reporting, and what is being said in interviews? Is there anything of substance, or is it all just mindless chatter designed to distract us from reality?
It's time to start thinking critically and demanding real news instead of the garbage we get now. If we don't, controlling and shaping our minds is going to be that much easier.
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