I can’t seem to stay away from the media. No, there aren’t photographers following me around to see whose car I bash with an umbrella at a gas station (at least not yet).
I mean that despite my disdain for CNN, MSNBC, FOX News and many of the online news sites, I’m consistently drawn to them. I can’t help but feel the need to understand what goes on in the rest of the world, so I flip to cable news when there isn’t a Seinfeld re-run on, and I click on those alluring headlines on Yahoo! News when I’ve looked at all the photos of the same person on Facebook that I can handle for one day.
Yet, I get so annoyed and sometimes disgusted by the latest trends in media that I need to get my thoughts out. And since I never hear anyone else complaining about the media, I’ve decided to use this medium to rant and rave about a few of the trends that really get under my skin.
First and foremost deals with the scary obsession with celebrities. Anna Nicole Smith, Britney Spears, Nicole Ritchie, Lindsay Lohan, Owen Wilson and of course, Paris Hilton have all been subjects of this sick obsession within the last year alone, and I’m sure I left some off of the list.
It hasn’t been said before, so I’ll say it first: It’s gotten out of control. The Paris Hilton debacle last summer was the pinnacle of the sickness-particularly the helicopters over her house as she got into the police car. It’s gotten beyond simply what celebrities do; now, literally nothing is being reported. A few weeks ago, I saw the following headline on the front page of Yahoo! News: “Mary-Kate refuses to smile for paparazzi.” Really? That’s a front-page headline? I guess there weren’t any wars or government corruption to report on, so they had to put something there. (I’m a sucker, too, though; I clicked it).
The obsession with celebrities has also been extended toward exaggerating or even manufacturing controversies and then forcing celebrities to apologize in front of cameras. Don Imus, if you remember, the very relevant fake cowboy radio host, had his career ended after he called the Rutgers Women’s Basketball Team “nappy headed hos” in an odd attempt to be funny. One of the players even tried to sue him for slander and defamation (thankfully, The King of All Media is safe on satellite radio). Isaiah Washington of Grey’s Anatomy was fired and condemned after a pretty innocuous statement at the Golden Globes. Rosie O’Donnell was fired and then forced to apologize after her argument with Elisabeth Hasselbeck on The View. And now, O.J. Simpson has again found himself unfairly in the cross-hairs of the media. Can the poor guy ever catch a break?
Cable news’ recent discovery of the Internet, and particularly YouTube, has been almost equally bad. Shows now dedicate entire segments to showing the most popular videos on YouTube and what the bloggers are talking about. They literally have someone surf the Internet on live television. I’m entertained by YouTube as much as the next person, but can I watch TV for more than 30 seconds without hearing about it? The train wreck that was the CNN-YouTube Democratic Presidential Debate should have been cause to remove YouTube permanently from cable news.
I like watching political debates between journalists, politicians, pundits and party leaders, but why does it need to be so formulaic? I saw one of the shows announce a debate with “a blogger from the left” and “one from the right” a little while ago. The two bloggers (who each obviously had great credentials) were set in front of corresponding blue and red backgrounds and argued with the usual babble that’s heard day in and day out. It usually goes something like this: “George Bush is Adolf Hitler. He is worse than Osama Bin Laden and if Democrats don’t impeach him tomorrow, the world will soon end.” And then, “You hate America. You hate freedom. George Bush is the commander-in-chief and if he isn’t allowed to do whatever he wants then the terrorists win and the world will soon end.” And so on. It’s no wonder that half of the country doesn’t vote.
Next on my list: the ridiculous dramatization of every single event. I think the new hot profession to be in is cable news crisis logo design. Each network has its own logo for whatever the latest story is. Whether it’s the word “Paris” behind grey bars, “Iran” written using the Iranian flag or “Iraq” written in cracked lettering, there seems to be no limit to how stories can be graphically represented. By far, the most tasteless graphic I saw was after the shootings at Virginia Tech this past spring. One of the news channels took the VT logo and put bullet holes in it. Real classy, guys.
Finally, I can’t stand when the media discusses itself. They actually have the gall to go from discussing Anna Nicole’s baby to discussing whether the media has “gone too far.” It’s as if each pundit, channel, blogger, or columnist thinks that they’re separate from the rest of the media. I mean, how many more times can I read the same tired diatribe about the media by some columnist with no other idea for what to write his or her column on?
Whoops! I gotta go. I’m missing The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.
Altin is a senior in Arts & Sciences. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].