Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Another one bites the fairy dust…

Spotlight.

Center stage.

A man is standing on a soapbox. He clears his throat.

soapbox

Man (with gusto and gesturing) : "Surely there must be more important news items in the world for CNN to cover as their lead headlines on their website other than the suicide of a troubled, faded country music artist with a one-hit-wonder ribbon from twenty years ago and a South African Olympian now on trial for murder.

In my humble opinion, this once worthwhile news source has gleefully skipped over the line into “infotainment” and tossed rose petals in the air while doing so.

It's a small wonder that so many citizens here in the states are so uninformed and care so little about truly serious issues. They are lulled into complacency by an American Idol mentality that has tinted almost every major news source in this country. To deny this is to shove one's head deep in the sand."

I don’t know how to fix this massive problem in our culture, but I do know of a good way to start. Stop giving in to the yellow journalism that has been re-branded as news.

Stop being a deer in the headlights of every bright, flashing, rainbow colored unicorn bearing, candy-coated news item that taps you on the shoulder.

The next time you find yourself drawn into the beam of blissful ignorance and complacency – channel your inner-Cher and try a little of this action on yourself.



What you will eventually start to realize is that there is a much bigger world around you that needs your true attention – and not only that, you’ll feel better not taking on the energy of those stories.”

Spotlight dims.

Man steps off soapbox.

Exit stage right.

1 comment:

Shawn said...

I'm a big fan of BBC radio coverage. I also like the NYT since they're one of the few sources that will allot enough space to delve deeply into complex topics. And really, what current problems aren't complicated? Anything easy should be solved already.