To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Monday, April 04, 2005
OK! OK! Enough Already!!
Sometime on Saturday, T1 asked me if he could watch something on tv besides "Fox News: The Pope Edition." No, I'm not making this up.
Got me thinking. Granted, FoxNews is the only MSM I watch, so, my experience is somewhat limited. But, I have noticed something- the MSM is an obsessive bunch of folks, aren't they?
I mean, for the 36 hours or so before the Pope passed away, FoxNews paraded every person they could find who a: knew the Pontiff; b: was Catholic; or c: had enough medical knowledge to explain what he was going through and why he hadn't died yet. And did we really need to every person's opinion on what his legacy will be?
OK... sure... if anyone deserved this level of attention, it was John Paul II. But, this isn't the first time. Before the Pope passed away, it was Terri Schiavo 24/7 (another important story, but it was almost overload toward the end of her life.) Before Terri, there was a "news lull" of sorts, so we were treated to MJ's trial (gag). And let's not forget Scott Peterson. And every person who goes missing (before you start in on me, I think they do need to publicize any children who go missing, on the off chance that they are alive and can be rescued). Let's not forget Chandra Levy (I'm sorry that she was killed. Truly. But did we need Gary Condit 24/7 for months?) When President Reagan passed away, it was the same thing (ok... I'll admit it... I was fine with that for the first few days...)
I guess this is just the nature of the 24/7 news beast. Back in the day (before cable news channels), the networks broke in when there was a BIG story (like when the Pope actually died, not when he took a turn for the worse). Everything else was prioritized for the evening news. If it didn't make the network news, you didn't find out about it unless you read the papers. They didn't have to fill hours of airtime between breaking stories.
It's not that way anymore. Fox News is live from 5am-10pm (central). One of those hours is for financial news. O'Reilly and Hannity & Colmes are more subject driven, topical programs, and Greta is all crime, all the time. The other 13 hours are news. Is there really 13 hours worth of news in the day? (In my perfect world, they'd figure out how to have some time devoted to science, medical and tech news. There are ways to make it interesting, and I think that a half hour on Sunday morning with Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld is just not enough.)
But, I'm tired. I'm tired of the single-minded focus of the media. Just as you need a variety in your diet to be healthy, I believe you also need to feed your mind a variety of information. I'm beginning to stray away from actively watching the news... it might be on in the background (it's a noise thing), but I can't say that I'm paying attention. I'm listening to more music, reading all different types of books (right now, reading To Reign in Hell by Steven Brust, and I have a book on poetry and a crime novel on deck).
Nah... I'm still blogging... and I'm still going to be focused on politics and current events and news and religion and my family and... whatever else it is I write about it. I just wanted to rant. The pope was an awesome man, and I'm working on a post about him (not your standard issue eulogy post, I promise), but... please... isn't there a war or famine or something the news networks could look into?
Got me thinking. Granted, FoxNews is the only MSM I watch, so, my experience is somewhat limited. But, I have noticed something- the MSM is an obsessive bunch of folks, aren't they?
I mean, for the 36 hours or so before the Pope passed away, FoxNews paraded every person they could find who a: knew the Pontiff; b: was Catholic; or c: had enough medical knowledge to explain what he was going through and why he hadn't died yet. And did we really need to every person's opinion on what his legacy will be?
OK... sure... if anyone deserved this level of attention, it was John Paul II. But, this isn't the first time. Before the Pope passed away, it was Terri Schiavo 24/7 (another important story, but it was almost overload toward the end of her life.) Before Terri, there was a "news lull" of sorts, so we were treated to MJ's trial (gag). And let's not forget Scott Peterson. And every person who goes missing (before you start in on me, I think they do need to publicize any children who go missing, on the off chance that they are alive and can be rescued). Let's not forget Chandra Levy (I'm sorry that she was killed. Truly. But did we need Gary Condit 24/7 for months?) When President Reagan passed away, it was the same thing (ok... I'll admit it... I was fine with that for the first few days...)
I guess this is just the nature of the 24/7 news beast. Back in the day (before cable news channels), the networks broke in when there was a BIG story (like when the Pope actually died, not when he took a turn for the worse). Everything else was prioritized for the evening news. If it didn't make the network news, you didn't find out about it unless you read the papers. They didn't have to fill hours of airtime between breaking stories.
It's not that way anymore. Fox News is live from 5am-10pm (central). One of those hours is for financial news. O'Reilly and Hannity & Colmes are more subject driven, topical programs, and Greta is all crime, all the time. The other 13 hours are news. Is there really 13 hours worth of news in the day? (In my perfect world, they'd figure out how to have some time devoted to science, medical and tech news. There are ways to make it interesting, and I think that a half hour on Sunday morning with Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld is just not enough.)
But, I'm tired. I'm tired of the single-minded focus of the media. Just as you need a variety in your diet to be healthy, I believe you also need to feed your mind a variety of information. I'm beginning to stray away from actively watching the news... it might be on in the background (it's a noise thing), but I can't say that I'm paying attention. I'm listening to more music, reading all different types of books (right now, reading To Reign in Hell by Steven Brust, and I have a book on poetry and a crime novel on deck).
Nah... I'm still blogging... and I'm still going to be focused on politics and current events and news and religion and my family and... whatever else it is I write about it. I just wanted to rant. The pope was an awesome man, and I'm working on a post about him (not your standard issue eulogy post, I promise), but... please... isn't there a war or famine or something the news networks could look into?
