Topic: Media
Britney's Bod Beats A Million Dead Bodies: The Sorry State of US Journalism Where are the true reporters? Why do we have feeding frenzies over Sen Kennedy's brain tumor or Michelle Obama's fashion sense instead of detailed truth about the slaughter in Iraq?by Sherry Baker
(Libertarian)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Stick a fork in us, somebody. We're done.
I used to joke that the psychopaths were running the asylum. It's no joke any more. From the White House to the boob tube, the evidence is beyond doubt.
So this is a column about Britney Spears tummy, the "ewwwww" factor of Fox News, and a whole lot of other things that spew a sorry smell that warns us something is rotten in the state of US journalism.
Say whaaaat?
Say, keep reading.
Trust me, I'm not a Britney Spears fan and I don't care whether she wears undies or not or whether she ever has another hit record. I wish her health and happiness and that she becomes a good mom. But she managed to wiggle into this column because I just saw a picture of her looking darkly tanned, toned, happy, healthy, playing in the ocean over a caption of "chubby singer in little bikini".
That's right. Two points: number 1, this is considered news ? And, number 2, what has happened to the so-called media, entertainment and otherwise ( more about that in a momento) that refers to a healthily rounded, far-more-beautiful-than-average woman's body as "chubby" ?
The answer, of course, is that shallow, superficial, anything-for-attention-at-the-moment headlines are considered fair game and pass for "news" ( and, as an aside, wouldn't you just LOVE to take a picture of the person who wrote the cut line in his or her Speedo and plaster it all over?).
But I digress.
Britney isn't in this usually politically minded column because of the moronic coverage of her body. But it's a small example of the silly-beyond-belief, slanted-for-a-good-punchline-truth-be-damned story telling that passes for news. And it is by no means limited to show biz coverage.
Where are the thinking, well-read, probing, interesting reporters? The go-for-the-easy story a la Britney is the same venue we see even covering the national news.
Look, Senator Kennedy has a terminal brain tumor and this is sad. It deserves news coverage. But let's get real: the frenzy over his diagnosis was nothing short of gleeful.
I'm not saying the reporters want him to die, but they are falling over themselves blubbering hyperbole that virtually screams, " Oh, boy!!! What luck! Another Kennedy tragedy... woooo wooooo!!Now we have something else to milk and get some more ratings.. Let's dig up that dead woman in his past, his plane crash. Let's show more pics of brain tumors and talk about how he will probably die really SOOOOOON". Over and over and over ad nauseum.
Where are the true journalists? Why aren't they documenting the loss of life in Iraq with such enthusiasm? The U.S. has slaughtered over one million Iraqis and , of course, over 4,000 of our own young soldiers have been wasted for George W Bush and company.
Isn't this mammoth, important news? If the holocaust in WWII killed six million Jews ( and I say "if" not because I don't believe they were killed but because I believe in being factual and the actual documentation of how many died is sketchy), then the U.S. holocaust in Iraq which has destroyed that country has already take 1/6 the number of lives the Nazis destroyed.
Isn't this more important than endless news stories about Michelle Obama wearing pearls in Vogue while Cindy McCain ( who, God forbid, anyone should actually cover critically for her past charity con game that she used to pilfer drugs) wore jeans?
What about the U.S. use of depleted uranium in Iraq and the reported resulting birth defects and horrendous ecological disaster left behind? Is it too complicated for the pea-brained reporters? Have too many years of hairspray and pancake makeup disrupted their brain cells?
Which brings me to the odious Fox News.
Have you ever noticed -- and how can you not -- that there's something sexless about the flabby male, aging , jowly anchors while the women must set some new record for short skirts and actual inches of big hair and thick make-up. The females all seem to be trying so hard to exude some kind of in-charge sexuality( It ain't working, dears..) as they read the news as if they were trying out for a TV toothpaste commercial and their male counterparts all seem to sit back with smarmy smirk while they pontificate rather than report.
What does this have to do with journalism?
Nothing. It's just another example of the sideshow that passes for news and "journalists".
It is pathetic and we are pathetic if we watch it. Or if we don't stand up and say something, or sit down and click off the talking heads babbling on as they try to entice us with their show biz personalities rather than delivering the news that is true, and right and needs to be told.
Thankfully , we have the internet. Do your OWN reporting. Read the European, Asian and, yes, Arabic papers available on-line in English. Think, compare, consider. Don't buy propaganda from anyone -- including cable news or the U.S. government.
Search for "depleted uranium" and send the facts to your friends and family. Share ANY news that isn't reported nationally that you find online and that you know in your heart and mind is indicative of truth.We must report what's going on if those who are supposed to be doing so have failed. And they have. In fact, they've made it a joke.
Let's make it our job to reinvent journalism and do-it-ourselves. We won't even need hairspray of pancake makeup, either.
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The views expressed in this
article are those of Sherry Baker only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Sherry Baker is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
I agree 100% and would like to add un unprecedented event. The article of Impeachment were nowhere to be seen or read. From all EU countries to Asia and the Middle-East, (I checked with friends) and none knew of this usually front page news. Clinton got the global coverage for the duration, and W managed somehow to get the total silence while having tea with HMQ. Something seriously changed and it is not pretty, when such an important event is not covered anywhere, Unless you think this news is unworthy of reporting, and should not be front page news, I would like to be instructed of the reasons. Check it out yourself, ask people in different countries. Same global censure with Ron Paul by the way.
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